Hot Take Tuesday: The Incoherent Rantings of a Belligerent Bears fan.
I’m not surprised. I wish I was, but I’m not. All season long I had Sunday’s game circled as a win. Home against the putrid San Francisco 49ers. That was a lock. As the season progressed, the Chicago Bears looked semi-competent. My confidence grew. And then… November happened. November when the Bears returned from the bye, the bottom fell out and they were back to being the dreck of the NFL. The Bears were winless in November, embarrassed themselves on multiple levels and took any positivity the fans were feeling and flushed it down the toilet.
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So when the Bears opened December, and did it with the news that Jimmy Garoppolo would now be starting for San Francisco, it was obvious that the Bears were going to struggle. Because the 49ers were so bad there was hope that the Bears might pull off a win, but any reasonable fan knew the Bears were going to lose.
For most of the game, the Bears looked terrible but somehow led in the game. Despite the lead, there was an impending sense of doom, and sure enough, with four seconds to go in the game, Robbie Gould knocked his fifth field goal through the uprights and dropped the Bears to 3-9.
For the most part, the Bears did nothing well. They couldn’t run the ball, couldn’t pass the ball, allowed almost 400 yards of offense to San Francisco, and lost the game. From a coaching perspective, the Bears managed to fail on multiple levels.
The only thing the Bears did that was a positive was keep the 49ers out of the end zone. What can you say about this team that isn’t just beating a dead horse? The defense is wearing down after carrying the team, the offensive play calling is more basic than Tecmo Bowl, John Fox is inept. There is no other word for it, he is inept in every aspect. The game started passing him by in Denver which is why John Elway dumped him and immediately won a Super Bowl. He is a relic of yesteryear and the sooner he is gone the better off we will all be.
The Bears don’t make bold coaching changes in the middle of the season, but then again, neither do the NY Giants. However, John Mara had enough and told Ben McAdoo to take a hike. He didn’t care that the team went 11-5 last season, he saw a problem and remedied it. Why the Bears insist on waiting is anyone’s guess. Stupidity is really the only reason, and all they are doing is creating more and more of a toxic situation that the next coach is going to have to repair.
At least with an interim coach the Bears would be in neutral, with Fox they are going in reverse at an alarming rate and nobody seems to care. That makes it almost impossible to tune in for the last month of the season. The Bears have become a homework assignment, and not a fun one, they are more like a term paper, they are that painful to watch.
Now, word comes down that Kyle Long is on IR. That, my friends, is a major problem. When the Bears have only had 4 of 5 starting linemen out there, the line has looked significantly worse. That’s not a good sign for the rest of the year. That won’t be good for Jordan Howard and it certainly won’t be good for Mitch Trubisky. They simply don’t have the depth to withstand injuries to the offensive line and Long’s injury is going to be a problem. We know Hroniss Grasu isn’t a player, I wish they could trot Jordan Morgan out there, at least we could see what he could do, but thanks to archaic IR rules, hello, Tom Compton.
The Cincinnati Bengals are up next, you can lock in a loss with that one, 3-10? The Bears are on the cusp of NOT improving off their 2017 campaign and the only word I can think of to describe that thought is pathetic.
Quick Hits
- Tarik Cohen’s punt return was amazing… but stupid. But it showed what a playmaker he is. It’s amazing that after 12 games this entire coaching staff has no idea how to utilize him.
- At 3-8, the Bears game plan was to largely keep Adam Shaheen on the bench. No words.
- I know Tanner Gentry bombed his first shot up with the big club, but it’s time to see if he still has chemistry with Mitch Trubisky. With Long and Mitch Unrein headed to IR, let’s put Gentry back on the 53, they didn’t activate another WR after the Tre McBride release.
- Speaking of McBride, did Josh Bellamy give him an STD via his girlfriend? Read between the lines on a few tweets (including Harold Jones-Quartey) and that may have happened.
- Nick Kwiatkoski should be playing more than Christian Jones. Kwiatkoski has struggled some in pass coverage, but he’s the better ILB and will probably be starting next year.
- Chris Prosinski was eating Cheetos on his sofa last week and played 100% of the Bears defensive snaps this week, that’s where we are.
- John Fox is now battling Abe Gibron for honors as the worst coach in Bears history. For those of you who don’t know Gibron, look him up, you’ll be shocked at the level of ineptitude the Bears have regressed back to.