Bears Takeaways: Week 17

7.) Cameron Meredith has earned snaps in 2017

I write about Meredith almost every week, but his play deserves it. He led the Bears in receiving again on Sunday with four catches for 61 yards and also threw a TD pass. Meredith also led the team in catches this season with 66, yards with 888, and receiving touchdowns with four (tied with Zach Miller).

The Bears started the season with Alshon Jeffery, Kevin White, and Eddie Royal as their three top receivers, but Meredith out-played them all. Granted he stayed healthy, while the rest of them missed multiple games, but being on the field is necessary to produce.

The former college quarterback is relatively new to the receiver position but showed significant improvement in his route running ability and hands. Meredith has the size (6’3, 207) and speed (4.49) to be a productive NFL receiver and if he shows as much as improvement next year as he did this season, he could be a legit starting receiver for the Bears.

8.) Hopefully we’ve seen the last of OC Dowell Loggains

The Bears offense struggled to score all season, finishing 28th in the league in points per game with 17.4. The offense moved the ball at about the league average level (15th in yards) but struggled once in the red zone.

The Bears have a good offensive line, a power running back, and plenty of receiving options with the size to be red zone weapons, but Loggains play-calling couldn’t take advantage of those assets. The red zone wasn’t the only problem.

The Bears abandoned the running game on a regular basis with Howard getting less than 20 carries in all but four games this season. There are plenty more examples of head-scratching play calls by Loggains, but the gist of the problem is that he didn’t seem to realize the Bears strengths and weaknesses.

The Bears have an above-average run blocking o-line and a good running back, but Loggains tried to make them a passing team. The fact that the Bears played with their 2nd or 3rd string quarterback and were missing their top three receivers for over half the season should have been enough reason for Loggains to focus on the run game.

Instead, Loggains threw more passes with Hoyer and Barkley under center than he did with their starter Jay Cutler in the game. It was like Loggains was going to make the Bears a passing team regardless of who was in the game, what the score was, or what the Bears were good at.

Loggains’ inability to understand the Bears strengths and adjust the game plan accordingly was my biggest problem with his first season as the Bears offensive coordinator and reason enough to find a new offensive coordinator who knows what he’s doing in 2017.

9.) This could be the last we see of DC Vic Fangio as well

While I could write at length about my issues with Dowell Loggains, I think Vic Fangio did a solid job considering all the injuries on the defensive side of the ball. Before the Bears last two disastrous games of the season, the Bears had a top ten defensive unit in most relevant categories.

The Bears pass rush was better than it’s been in over a decade. They were in the top five in sacks going into the last two weeks of the season and they got consistent pressure on opposing quarterbacks for the most of the year, despite a league-low blitz percentage.

Fangio did an admirable job considering the talent level and injuries on defense, but he may not stay with the Bears in 2017 if rumors are to be believed.  Rumors have been swirling about a rift between Fox and Fangio and neither has said anything recently to dispel the impression of a power struggle.

The fact that the defense mailed in their effort the last two weeks once rumors of Fangio’s departure surfaced is an ominous sign. Perhaps the defense gave a lackluster effort once they found out Fangio was leaving town? Just speculation, but it makes sense to me.

Fangio’s defense had it’s share of warts this year including the lack of turnovers and two awful performances to end the season, but overall I think he’s done a solid job turning around a unit that was a laughingstock before he took over in 2015. It would be a shame if the Bears lose one of their only coaches who seems to know what he’s doing.

10.) Final draft update!

The Bears did it! They secured the 3rd overall pick in this year draft, their highest pick since 1972. I fully expected the Bears to win their last two games and drop closer to the tenth pick than the first (like they usually do), but the Bears managed to play their worst two games of the year to end a miserable season.

I’ll be posting more draft articles soon, breaking down the potential Bears options with the number three pick, so check back soon!