This Recent Lovie Smith Conspiracy Theory Is Delicious

The Chicago Bears are not expected to win on Sunday. That became obvious when quarterback Justin Fields was declared out for the game with a hip injury. Nathan Peterman will replace him. The Minnesota Vikings will play their starters, still chasing the #2 playoff seed. It will be stunning if they lose. That means most Bears fans won't be paying attention to that game. Their focus will be on Indianapolis, where the Colts will host the Houston Texans. A win by Houston would push their record to 3-12-1. If the Bears lose as expected, they will drop to 3-14, guaranteeing them the #1 overall pick in the draft. That is where the discussion of Lovie Smith begins.

Word surfaced recently that the Texans plan to evaluate Smith's position as head coach following Sunday, according to NFL Network. That is somewhat surprising since it's his first year, and he inherited a bad roster. Yet it sounds like there is a real possibility he could be one-and-done.

“The Texans plan to evaluate the future of head coach Lovie Smith at the end of the season, with the entire body of work being considered. The team has played well of late, including a win last week over the Titans and close losses to the Chiefs and Cowboys. But the Texans still have the worst record in the league (2-12-1). All of that will factor into where things go for 2023. Staff changes are possible if Smith, 64, gets a second season.”

This is where it gets fun. Former player Ross Tucker raised an interesting question on Twitter. Perhaps Smith knows ownership likely plans to fire him. So rather than acquiesce to their wishes to throw the game on Sunday, he instead ruins their plans by winning.

Lovie Smith has every incentive to stick it to Houston.

Remember, they already fired David Culley last year after only one season. Smith received a promotion from defensive coordinator to take his place. Now it appears ownership might be preparing to do it again. There are zero reasons for him to think the organization is loyal to him. Why should he follow their wishes to ensure the #1 pick? It's not like he'll be around to reap the potential rewards. Winning hands the pick to Chicago, who could auction it off to another team seeking a quarterback. Suddenly Houston misses out on what would've been their preferred QB target.

That would be such a fun story. It's also a reminder that crummy organizations shouldn't get rewarded for shady business practices. Lovie Smith took over a roster in clear rebuild mode. He had them competitive in many games they shouldn't have been. Any coach deserves at least two or three seasons to build the team they want. He proved in both Chicago and Tampa Bay that his teams always improved in their second years. If Houston plans on kicking him to the curb, it will be delightful to see their faces if he pulls off a win over the Colts.