Could John Fox be coaching his final game for the Chicago Bears?
The question about John Fox is no longer if he will be fired, but when. Many assumed that the coach will finish out the season and be fired on January 1st, but as the Chicago Bears continue to slide in the wrong direction, speculation is mounting that Fox may be fired before the season concludes.
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After the Bears were pointed in the right direction after back-to-back wins against the Baltimore Ravens and Charlotte Panthers, the Bears have suffered four consecutive losses and after being humiliated by the Philadelphia Eagles, the team seems to have bottomed out. The San Francisco 49ers have had a longer season than Chicago, but their fans have a little hope coming into this game with Jimmy Garoppolo starting at quarterback.
If Garoppolo is enough of a spark to have the 49ers come into Chicago and defeat the Bears, could that be it for John Fox? Even when NFL coaches are fired before the season ends, it’s usually just with a game or two remaining. A coach being fired with four games remaining is something that almost never happens. Would the Bears do it to Fox? A loss to the 49ers might do it.
If the Bears beat the Niners, Fox obviously won’t be fired after a win, and after that, they have two road games against Cincinnati and Detroit. A win against San Francisco buys Fox all the way to the final two games of the season.
What does that mean? It means the 49ers game is potentially a swing game. If the Bears lose, they may choose to fire Fox and let Vic Fangio finish out the season, but a victory means Fox coaches at least 14 games, if not all 16.
That doesn’t mean that Fox is definitely fired with another loss, but a home loss to a 1-win team extending the team’s losing streak to five games certainly isn’t going to do him any favors. Fox is going to be gone, this is something we all know, but holding onto him for the last month is only going to infuriate the fan base. If the Bears fall to Jimmy G and the Niners, the time will be right to end Fox’s tenure and officially start looking to 2018.