This Timeline Of The Chicago Bears 2020 Season Looks Made Up

Somebody joked on Twitter recently that the Chicago Bears have had three seasons combined into one this year. That is how insane 2020 has been for this team. While a funny comment, it also happens to be 100% true. A normal season is filled with maybe two or three noteworthy ups and downs. Yet somehow the Bears have managed to cram nine or ten into this one. Head coach Matt Nagy and GM Ryan Pace have gone from certain to get fired to maybe surviving another year. Nagy gave up play-calling duties to a guy he hired just months prior. Mitch Trubisky went from unquestioned starter to benched to unquestioned starter again. The defense went from dominant, to really bad, back to okay. Simply saying these things doesn't do it justice. Let's take a look back at the timeline of the Bears' 2020 calendar year. Fair warning? Get some popcorn because this is every bit the wild ride you'd expect.

Chicago Bears 2020 season would make an incredible documentary

December 31st, 2019 - Matt Nagy fires three offensive coaches The Bears finished 29th in total offense and points scored last season. Nagy realized that something needed to change so he made the bold decision to completely revamp his offensive staff. Offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich, offensive line coach Harry Hiestand, and tight ends coach Kevin M. Gilbride were all dismissed. Each was replaced by Bill Lazor, Juan Castillo, and Clancy Barone respectively over the following weeks. The Bears rank 26th in total offense and 18th in points scored going into their final week of this season.

March 16th, 2020 - COVID-19 results in offseason cancellations

Things really began to get crazy when the pandemic officially began in March. As it continued to spread across the country, the NFL realized it had to make some difficult decisions regarding how they'd conduct business. One of the first sacrifices was most of the offseason programs like minicamps, OTAs, and eventually the preseason. This created a challenge for teams in terms of how they'd prepare for the upcoming season. Especially teams that might say, have high-profile roster competitions to conduct. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5U0fVJt_9Y&t=3s&ab_channel=NFL

March 31st - Bears trade for Nick Foles

With Trubisky having regressed the year before, Chicago hoped to find some competition for him this year. Despite having Cam Newton and Andy Dalton as options, they opted for somebody more familiar with the coaching staff in Nick Foles. It took a 4th round pick and $21 million in guaranteed money but the Bears secured the 31-year old former Super Bowl MVP from Jacksonville. The name value alone made the competition the talk of NFL media. Whether the Bears could actually make it fair with just 14 padded training camp practices was another story.

September 6th - Mitch Trubisky wins tight QB competition

According to media updates, it was a back and forth battle between Trubisky and Foles. Each of them exchanging quality practices and noteworthy mistakes. For a time it looked like Foles might have the upper hand but Trubisky's improvement in consistency eventually won the coaching staff over. Nagy declared him the winner of the competition a week prior to opening day against Detroit. Trubisky went on to lead a huge comeback against the Lions and then another win over the New York Giants to start 2-0.

September 27th - Trubisky benched for Foles after rough start in Atlanta

The season took a wild turn in Week 3. Trubisky floundered early against a bad Atlanta Falcons team. Chicago scored just 10 points through three quarters and things hit the red line when the QB threw an ugly interception that ended up giving the Falcons a 26-10 lead. Having seen enough, Nagy decided to make the switch. Foles was put in. He promptly led a furious comeback to stun Atlanta 30-26, all but ensuring he would be the starter moving forward. The Trubisky era appears over. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pyi9jigSff8&ab_channel=NFL

October 8th - Foles leads huge upset of Tom Brady and Buccaneers

Many might consider this the high point of the Chicago Bears season. Going into this game, they'd never beaten Tom Brady in the Hall of Fame quarterback's entire career. Things started out pretty much as expected. The Buccaneers raced out to a 13-0 lead. However, a crazy rally before the half saw the Bears take the lead 14-13. Khalil Mack had a dominant performance, getting in Brady's face all night and a late drive by Foles enabled them to jump ahead for good 20-19. This was when people started talking about the Bears as a possibly threat for homefield advantage.

October 26th - Rams defense delivers a Monday Night massacre

The first true inkling that something was seriously wrong with the Bears offense came in primetime against L.A. Facing former assistant coach Brandon Slay and that talented Rams defense, Chicago was thoroughly smothered all game long. They managed just 49 yards rushing and Foles was sacked four times. The offense managed just three points in the 24-10 beatdown. The other seven coming courtesy of a fumble return by the defense. This is where the dream of 2020 turned into a nightmare.

November 16th - Foles injures hip in loss to Vikings

While other ugly moments would follow, most can consider this the rock bottom moment for the Bears offense. Facing a below-average Minnesota Vikings defense at Soldier Field, the unit had nothing to offer all night. They had 149 total yards the entire game and scored six points. If that weren't bad enough, a hard hit on Foles ended with him being carted off with a hip injury. Just like that, it appeared Chicago would have to go back to Mitch Trubisky. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn0-h1fZL28&ab_channel=NFL

November 29th - Packers blow out Bears at Lambeau Field

If the Vikings game was the rock bottom for the offense, then the one up in Green Bay was the rock bottom for the defense. Aaron Rodgers and the Packers did pretty much whatever they wanted for most of the evening at Lambeau Field. They racked up 398 total yards including a whopping 182 on the ground. The most the defense had allowed since 2016. Rodgers also wasn't sacked all night. Green Bay put up 34 of their 41 points against the defense, making them basically quit towards the end of the game.

December 6th - Bears collapse against Lions for sixth-straight loss

It looked like Chicago was finally finding some rhythm offensively going into this game. Trubisky was back and had one of his better games of the season. The Bears led the Lions by double digits at multiple points of the game including 23-13 in the second half. Yet it wasn't enough. The defense continued to flounder and Matthew Stafford picked them apart to make it 30-27 late on a 96-yard drive. Then a Trubisky strip-sack deep in Bears territory allowed Detroit to take the lead with under two minutes left. An inexcusable sequence that dropped them to 5-7. By that point, everybody knew this team was done. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1STaJ0gVRX4&t&ab_channel=NFL

December 20th - David Montgomery runs over Vikings to cement upset win

After thumping the Houston Texans 36-7 to finally end their losing streak at six, the Chicago Bears were in a do-or-die situation against the Vikings in Minnesota. A loss would pretty much end any fleeting hopes of making the playoffs. In the end, it wasn't Trubisky or the defense who saved the day. It was David Montgomery. The often underutilized running back trampled Minnesota for 142 yards and two touchdowns, pacing the Bears to a huge 33-27 win to get them back to .500 at 7-7.

December 27th - Bears score 41 points in rout of Jaguars to reach 8-7

All of the emotions of the past two months seemed to flow into this game. After a slow start in which Jacksonville kept it even at 10-10, the Bears finally had seen enough. After all they'd been through, there weren't going to be any letdowns this time. The offense reeled off 31 unanswered points in the second half including 21 in the 3rd quarter. Trubisky accounted for three touchdowns and the defense forced a pair of key takeaways. It was one of the most complete team efforts of the season, setting up a chance to reach the postseason with a victory over Green Bay in the Week 17 finale. This is easily the craziest ride Chicago Bears fans have ever been on in the past decade. Maybe ever.