The Chicago Bears history of poor quarterback play has a simple fix
The Chicago Bears have had a plethora of title-contending teams over the years. They’ve had defenses that are among the greatest of all time. But one thing Chicago doesn’t hang their hat on is offense — something that is constantly leaving room for improvement. This struggle is frustrating to fans since there never seems to be much of an effort to have a good offense.
It seemed like an effort was given when Ryan Pace drafted Mitchell Trubisky in the 2017 NFL Draft, but that turned out to be a huge flop and might have scared Ryan Pace away from adding a good quarterback to the squad.
For some reason, he passed up on a former MVP-caliber quarterback in Cam Newton during the offseason and turned his focus to career backup Nick Foles. I don’t mean to take out my anger on Foles though, because he’s not a bad quarterback and technically he’s a (Super Bowl) MVP himself.
The problem here is that Foles signifies everything that the Bears have done wrong on offense. He signifies the lack of care that upper management has put into the most important position in football.
Time and time again, instead of trying to find a franchise quarterback, they rely on an unproven young guy with a “veteran backup” or just a guy who will be good enough to not screw up the offense. This can be easily be tracked when you look at the best Chicago quarterbacks in the history of the Bears — most of whom would be considered average on any other team.
The best Chicago Bears quarterbacks of all time
Unfortunately for Chicago, the best all-time quarterbacks list does nothing to prove how strong the position has been. Rather, it does the exact opposite. The top guy in Chicago is Sid Luckman, a vastly underrated leader from the 1940s. He could be considered as a top ten guy of all time by some metrics and is a bright spot on a dark canvas for the Bears.
But fast forward to today and the Bears have yet to top a player who threw barely over 50% with almost as many interceptions as touchdowns. Obviously, it was another time, but most franchises have had a guy in recent years who put up undeniably great numbers.
To find the next best guy in Chicago, you’ll have to fast forward nearly a half-century to the ’85 Bears with Jim McMahon. McMahon only made a single Pro Bowl and isn’t even considered a top ten quarterback of that decade.
Chicago wouldn’t see another Pro Bowl quarterback until 2018 when Mitch Trubisky was honored with this selection as a replacement for Jared Goff, who was on his way to the Super Bowl. By this metric, Trubisky could be considered the best quarterback since McMahon. But he’s not; he’s largely considered to be the biggest draft bust in Bears history.
Trubisky represents Bear quarterbacks to a tee: guys who everybody hates that just seem to stick around too long. You’ll find the perfect example of this is the guy who would likely round out the top three: Jay Cutler. During his eight-year stint, he essentially accomplished nothing. He was a placeholder on a team that was constantly shuffling players and staff.
If you continue looking through the list, you’ll find names like Kyle Orton, Jim Harbaugh, Rex Grossman, and Josh McCown, none of whom were franchise quarterbacks by any stretch of the imagination.
How the Bears can change their luck
It’s not easy to find a franchise quarterback in the National Football League. For me to criticize people who have built careers on scouting the best players to add to this team is obviously a dumb notion. But as a fan who has been watching this team since I could comprehend football, I am aware of one thing.
Chicago needs to find a good fit for this football team. The most talented guy won’t always work. The front office has worked hard at times to get the guy they want, but not the guy that plays well in their system.
In 2013, Josh McCown replaced Jay Cutler after an injury and completed 66.5% of his passes for 1,829 yards, 13 touchdowns, and just one interception. This was good enough to give him the highest season passer rating in Chicago Bears history. Then his contract expired and they just sort of let him go.
Yes, he was 33 years old, but he was a great fit for the Bears offense; the best fit I’ve seen in my lifetime. He would play in the NFL for six more years and would have kept fans happier than any guy in between then and now. McCown represents everything that Chicago has done wrong at the QB position. No, he probably wouldn’t have won a super bowl, but would he have maintained a more miserable fanbase than Cutler?
This wasn’t Ryan Pace’s mistake, but if he wants to improve his situation, he should take some notes. Trubisky isn’t the guy; we’ve known that for a while. If he doesn’t have a strong season this year, it’s time to move on and look for that next guy.