How the Chicago Bears struggles in the 1990s brought the end of two eras
The Chicago Bears had a string of horrendous seasons in the 90s. If it weren’t for the Chicago Bulls, there would be no championships to be won for Chicago.
I am officially the last person on earth to watch the Chicago Bulls documentary series The Last Dance. My wife is a nurse and I have two small kids (6 and 3) so my time has been limited. However, I know that shouldn’t be excused for being one of the many diehard Bulls fans of the 90s. The Bulls legacy helped us get through some god-awful Chicago Bears seasons. It seemed that when the Bulls were winning championships, the Bears were struggling except for 1991.
1991
The season of 1991 would be a year filled with hope similar to the Bear’s 2018 campaign where Cody Parkey had more luck hitting the field goal post. It was the last time Mike Ditka would make the playoffs as a Bears coach and it would be the beginning of the end of “Da Coach’s” tremendous run.
However, the Chicago Bears would face a tough test against the Dallas Cowboys who turned their season around after starting 6-5 and then winning the next five games. The Cowboys would lose to the Detroit Lions but the following year would begin the start of back to back championships.
1992
The Bears went 5-11 in 1992 and this would be the end of the Ditka era. Dave Wannstedt would eventually replace him. The Bears showed some promise as they started the season at 4-3 but would end up losing the next eight out of nine games.
The end of the Ditka era wasn’t pretty. Many assumed that his team quit on him and that he lost many of his player’s respect. In fact, at the end of the year press conference, he told the media he was coaching a bunch of “overachievers.”
1993
Brace yourselves folks, because we are about to enter the Wannstedt era. There were a couple back to back seasons where the Chicago Bears went 9-7 and even made the playoffs. It’s interesting because those were the years the Bulls didn’t win an NBA championship. However, for the most part, it was disastrous. In 1993, the Bears finished 7-9 and the Bulls would go on to secure a three-peat.
Were the Chicago Bears destined to be Super Bowl contenders in 1996?
In between dodging pimples and sucking on warheads, I was watching my beloved Chicago Bears not live up to their expectations. During an interview at the beginning of the year, Wannstedt claimed that this was the team to win it all. So naturally, especially as a naive thirteen-year-old, I believed him.
Instead of being a year that was supposed to be filled with Super Bowl dreams, it ended up with me having nightmares of Brett Favre. It was that the same year the Green Packers won their first Super Bowl since 1967.
1997
Don’t look now but the wheels are about to fall off the Wannstedt bandwagon. The Bears would be the only team in the NFC Central to not make the playoffs and would fall to 4-12. It would be a year where you could see the frustration beginning to mount between the front office and coaching staff.
Things were becoming unhinged and little did we know that this would be the second to last season in the Wannstedt tenure. The only thing that looked impressive during the Bears 1997 campaign was Wannstedt’s mustache.
1998
As the saying goes, fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. It would mark the second straight season of the Bears finishing 4-12. It would also be the last time that Wannstedt was the head coach. The fans were not happy with the decision to keep Wannstedt around in 1997 and were infuriated with his results in 1998.
The coaching staff looked worn down and didn’t have any support from the front office. In fact, the late Michael McCaskey wasn’t shy about his decision in regards to Wannstedt. On a couple of occasions, he would say without saying that there would be a change at the head coaching position.
It’s obvious the Bulls were Chicago’s team of the 1990s. Marring a couple of playoff appearances, the Bears would be the laughing stock of the town. The Dave Wannstedt era is one that we wish could be erased in Bears’ history. If anything, it will remain a solid reminder that the success of a team can change by decade.
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The Bulls right now are still trying to find their identity while the Bears are hoping after a depressing 2019 campaign can bounce back and play up to the potential that we know they have. Out of the two teams right now, the Bears have the best opportunity at bringing Chicago home a championship. Heck, maybe it will be the start of a three-peat.