Chicago Bears Suffering from Paralysis of Analysis

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Aug 22, 2014; Seattle, WA, USA; Chicago Bears head coach Marc Trestman jogs onto the field prior to the game against the Seattle Seahawks at CenturyLink Field. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports

There’s something we learned when I was at the College of Engineering at the University of Illinois. It’s something that professors warned us about when we left the hallowed halls and entered the “real world.” It’s something that businesses encounter every day and I’m afraid the Bears have caught it. It’s called Paralysis of Analysis.

Paralysis of analysis is a simple principle. Here’s how it’s explained by Wikipedia, the ultimate authority on all things.

"Analysis paralysis or paralysis of analysis is an anti-pattern, the state of over-analyzing (or over-thinking) a situation so that a decision or action is never taken, in effect paralyzing the outcome. A decision can be treated as over-complicated, with too many detailed options, so that a choice is never made, rather than try something and change if a major problem arises. A person might be seeking the optimal or “perfect” solution upfront, and fear making any decision which could lead to erroneous results, when on the way to a better solution."

As I’ve listened to Marc Trestman speak to the media over the last few days, it occurred to me that the Bears are suffering from Analysis Paralysis. There are a couple of situations that point to this diagnosis.

The revolving door at safety

At least Lovie Smith’s revolving door at safety went week to week, not series to series, which is what Marc Trestman seemed to indicate when he said they would “roll their safeties” in the opener. Continuity is key. Clear communication is key. How can you achieve that when you’re rotating guys in?

The Bears safety situation reminds me of an old fable that also relates to the Paralysis of Analysis conundrum:

"In one “Aesop’s fable” that is recorded even before Aesop’s time, The Fox and the Cat, the fox boasts of “hundreds of ways of escaping” while the cat has “only one”. When they hear the hounds approaching, the cat scampers up a tree while “the fox in his confusion was caught up by the hounds”. The fable ends with the moral, “Better one safe way than a hundred on which you cannot reckon”."

I say better one safety tandem than a mix and match approach that you cannot reckon. Ryan Mundy has shown in the preseason to be a serviceable strong safety. I think the cupboard is bare at free safety because the best option appears to be Chris Conte until rookie Brock Vereen shows he’s ready for prime time. So suck it up and start Conte – assuming he’s healthy – and be done with it. Take it on the chin and hope that he plays like he did early in the Seahawks game and not late against Green Bay.

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