Chicago Bears: Reviewing just how bad Ryan Pace was this offseason

The Chicago Bears are in a position to hopefully turn the corner offensively and start looking more like an NFL franchise of today rather than an NFL franchise of yesteryear. The team continues to strive for defensive greatness with a strong running game because that is what the McCaskey’s want to see. Ownership continues to live off the glory of the 1985 Super Bowl victory rather than embracing change. That championship was more than 35 years ago, stop living in the past.

On paper, it appears that the team has at least been trying to move into the future. They brought in a young, analytical mind in Ryan Pace. Pace was supposed to be the guy who changed things here in Chicago, but the front office pushed him to bring in John Fox as their head coach. A coach who had a defensive mind and clearly did not agree with much Ryan Pace wanted to get done. The two did not even communicate about players within the draft.

Has Ryan Pace been as bad for the Chicago Bears as many seem to think?

Fox was fired after three seasons and Pace was finally able to bring in an offensive-minded coach. A coach who was supposed to bring the Chicago Bears offense into the 21st Century. That coach is of course Matt Nagy. Things have not gone according to plan though. Nagy’s offense has not been anything close to what it was supposed to be. The best season the Chicago Bears have had under Nagy was the 2018 season when the team finished 12-4. Even then, the offense was ranked 26th in the NFL.

2019 and 2020 did not improve things. In 2019, the offense was ranked 29th and in 2020 it was ranked 26th. Will things finally change for the better in 2021 or will Nagy continue to lead this team into mediocrity? There have been some major changes to key positions, but will they be enough?