Are the Chicago Bears Stuck In 1985?

“This time will be different” is what Chicago Bears fans have been telling themselves about their 2021 first round draft pick, QB Justin Fields. It reminds me of that old Einstein quote, “Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”. The Bears have been “insane” lately when it comes to progressing their young quarterbacks. Justin Fields is the latest draftee Chicago is putting all their hopes in. Will he be the franchise QB who rejuvenates this lifeless offense, or will this time still not be any different? Fields showed flashes of being a franchise QB throughout his rookie campaign, but the overall body of work was not pretty. He averaged only 156 YPG and had more INTs than TDs. He gave Bears fans reasons to believe in him and also many to be nervous about him being their long-term solution. 

To be fair to Fields, he is not in an ideal situation. Most of the current NFL QBs would not perform well in his position. Last season, his offensive line ranked 17th in pass blocking and 22nd in run blocking (per PFF). Fields’ only real weapon was Darnell Mooney. Mooney seems like a fine wide receiver so far, but if he is a team’s number 1, they’re in trouble. 

Besides having little help when it comes to offensive talent, the coaching staff has been poor as well. Matt Nagy was one of the worst head coaches in the league last year. He did not want to start Fields to begin the year in favor of low-ceiling veteran Andy Dalton. Even when Fields showed signs of performing better at the QB position, Nagy still insisted it was Dalton’s job to lose. Bears fans and the locker room were continuing to lose more of their patience with their head coach who was already on the hot seat.

On the field, it almost seemed like Nagy had “the yips” at times. He’d call the weirdest plays at the wrong time or make decisions with timeouts that left you scratching your head. Bears fans shouldn’t worry though, Matt Nagy was finally fired. Now they can get Justin Fields an offensive minded Head Coach and some weapons or O-line in the draft, right? WRONG. The Bears hired Matt Eberflus, a career defensive positions coach/defensive coordinator and used 3 of their top 5 picks this year on defensive players. They drafted a 25 year old WR out of Tennessee who had one season of production and an offensive lineman out of Southern Utah. I’m not saying these guys won’t end up having respectable NFL careers but all indications are showing they will not immediately help Justin Fields. In free agency the Bears obtained Byron Pringle and Equanimeous St. Brown at the WR position. While these players represent some improvement, they are still limited role players that will not lead to a massive increase in Justin Fields’ production.

With this bleak offense, what is the outlook for the Bears? Pray that Aaron Rogers retires or falls off a cliff production-wise and hope the Vikings continue to waste their young talent on a streaky Kirk Cousins and underperform? I worry the Bears are setting Justin Fields up for failure. His story is starting to mirror another QB the Bears took in the first round: Mitch Trubisky. If Fields gets killed in this division and receives little to no help on offense for the next couple of years, it may be the Trubisky/Nagy era all over again. 

This team is STARVING for some offensive relevance. In the last 10 years the Bears have ranked 26th on average in the NFL in PPG and only finished inside the top 20 twice. One of those years was 2018, where the Bears forced the most turnovers in the NFL on defense and nearly twice as many as league average. Mitch Trubisky was the starting QB and had a limited “don’t screw it up” kind of role, so the offense was not very threatening in reality. It’s especially perplexing that in a league where offense is now king and contenders all have good to elite QBs, the Bears seem to run their franchise like it’s still 1985. The Bears have to find out if Justin Fields can be their franchise QB, but they have to give him a lane to succeed. Stop treating 2022 like it’s 1985 and get the man some help.