Chicago Bears: Chicago’s Biggest Loser
After the Cubs thrilling World Series win, ending their 108-year drought, the Chicago Bears are now the city’s biggest losers, with 31 years since their last championship.
Happy Chicago Cubs hangover! If you’re just coming down off the high of the Cubs World Series win, welcome back to the Chicago Bears blog. As they sweep up the confetti from the Cubs World Series parade, there’s a new lovable loser in town and it’s the Chicago Bears. With the Cubs win, I’ve hit for the cycle, seeing every team in town win a title in my lifetime. For a lot of you, you either weren’t alive or don’t remember back to the 1985 season and your only memory of “Bears Super Bowl” is XLI in Miami when the best highlight of the game came on Devin Hester’s return of the opening kickoff.
With the Cubs win, I’ve hit for the Chicago sports championship cycle, seeing every team in town win a title in my lifetime. For a lot of you, you either weren’t alive or don’t remember back to the 1985 season and your only memory of “Bears Super Bowl” is XLI in Miami when the best highlight of the game came on Devin Hester’s return of the opening kickoff. If might seem like it was just yesterday since it’s so over-hyped in this town, but the Bears haven’t won it all for more than three decades!
If you asked 12-year old me which team in Chicago had the brightest future on January 26, 1986, I would have emphatically stated the Chicago Bears. They had the best defense in the league by a mile, a legendary running back in an era when that really mattered, a play-making quarterback and Da Coach Mike Ditka at the helm. Who knew that over 31-years later, we’d still be waiting for another Chicago Bears championship while all of the other major sports teams in Chicago have won titles.
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Who knew that over 31-years later, we’d still be waiting for another Chicago Bears championship while all of the other major sports teams in Chicago have won titles?
Many will tell you that Mike Ditka may have been the reason the Bears won a title but many more will tell you that Ditka is the reason they only won ONE title. Ditka let his own ego and the egos on the team get out of control and the Bears were never the same. They continued to make the playoffs years after their Super Bowl XX win, but weren’t able to close the deal.
The Bears teased us with a “ridiculous” season in 2006 and made it back to the Super Bowl, but a rain-soaked night and Peyton Manning put a damper on another championship. Jay Cutler was brought to town to solve the quarterback position, but he’s guided the Bears to one playoff win and an appearance in the NFC Championship game since 2009.
Whether anyone at Halas Hall wants to admit it, the Bears are in the midst of the second rebuild since Lovie Smith left town. The defense appears to be on the rise while we’re still unsure what to make of this offense. Can they rely on Jordan Howard and the ground game to burn the clock and keep them close enough so they can steal a few wins?
The Bears still need difference makers on both sides of the ball. That will come through the draft because over-spending in free agency hasn’t proven to be the winning formula over the last couple of decades. For the Bears to move out of the “biggest loser” spot in Chicago, it’s going to depend on Ryan Pace or whoever the next GM may be to start making better draft picks. First and second rounders need to step in and become immediate contributors and difference makers. They need to have opposing coaches game-planning around them.
Let’s look at each team in town and when they brought their most recent title to Chicago.