The first half of the season has flown by, and we are through ten weeks of the 18-week schedule. The Bears are now onto the back half of the season. There have been some pleasant surprises, but the team is sitting at 3-7, so there are certainly more disappointments. What are the biggest issues?
6. The Chicago Bears failed to address the center position
This is an issue that we all saw coming going back to around March. It was clear that the Chicago Bears needed to release Cody Whitehair and Lucas Patrick, which would have cleared over $10M in cap space. The Bears could have spread that money to sign younger and more depth options, and the team had enough picks to draft a center.
However, they decided to keep Cody Whitehair and Lucas Patrick, and they did not add anything else to the center position. They thought that one of these two would be fine after all evidence suggested otherwise. This bit them in the butt hard.
Injuries played a factor, but injuries were why the Bears should not have held onto those cap hits. Doug Kramer, Dieter Eiselen, and Dan Feeney have all been depth options who give fans hope, but they are not the answers.
Whitehair and Patrick are the disappointments because of their play, but this is really about Ryan Poles, who should have seen what any common fan saw but decided to be blind to it.
5. The Chicago Bears wanted more from Yannick Ngakoue so far
The Chicago Bears signed Yannick Ngakoue right around the start of training camp. When you look at his sack numbers, some wonder why he was still available as a free agent. The Bears are slowly learning why.
First, Ngakoue is supposed to bring sack production no matter what the downside is. His career-low in sacks for a season is eight. Of course, with the Bears, he has just three through ten games, a bit behind the pace of his career-low.
When you look at his pass rush production score as well as his pass rush win rate, you can see that this is not just bad luck, he is playing worse.
Year | PRP | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|
2023 | 4.6 | 4.6% |
2022 | 6.9 | 7.1% |
2021 | 6.6 | 10.7% |
2020 | 5.6 | 9.7% |
2019 | 6.5 | 9.9% |
We all knew that his rushes were inconsistent, and he struggles against the run. Now that we are seeing him struggle to produce as well we are wondering what he can bring to the table.
Ngakoue had a sack against the Panthers, but it was not a pass-rush win for him and was more of a product of the people around him. He may see more stats with Montez Sweat making his life easier, but Ngakoue is going to be one-and-done with the Bears, just like all of the other teams.
4. The Chicago Bears do not have enough answers about Justin Fields
This season was all about the Chicago Bears getting as many answers about Justin Fields as possible. They cannot enter the offseason with questions about his future on the team. We are ten weeks into the season, and the Amazon Prime cast was debating what the Bears should do about Fields.
First, it looked like Fields’ days were numbered. He looked awful through about three weeks. In week four, he started to turn it around, and week five was his best game. Then, he got hurt in week six.
The Chicago Bears are 2-2 with Tyson Bagent, but fans have also seen how limited Bagent is, and it is easy to see that the Bears would have won those games and maybe even the New Orleans game with Fields.
So, now that the roster is better than it was in the first four weeks, can Fields play better as well? He has seven games to prove himself in a season where everything is on the line. The odds are that the team has to move on, but if the Panthers end up picking third or fourth, and the Bears win enough to get out of the top five, do they use those picks to help Fields and not replace him?
Can we please get a little more clarity?
3. The Chicago Bears ended the Chase Claypool nightmare
This feels so long ago that it could not have happened this season. Yes, the Chicago Bears started Chase Claypool this season and as recently as the Kansas City Chiefs game in week three.
Chase Claypool has not done much in Miami, but this was still a nightmare for the Chicago Bears. They have not found a second wideout to step up beside DJ Moore. Cole Kmet is the clear number two.
Tyler Scott and Equaimeous St. Brown morphed together would be good, but apart, they both lack significant skills, and Darnell Mooney is in the slot. He has been up and down this year.
If they had a big body that could block on the outside and also stretch the field, this offense would be just as they would like it to be. They got almost nothing for Claypool, and they do not have the piece their offense needs, oh, and Joey Porter Jr. was following DeAndre Hopkins in a Steelers win when we saw him last. That was the pick that the Steelers got for Claypool.
This is, fortunately, one of the last times we have to re-live this.
2. The Chicago Bears two rookie interior defenders have not been good enough
The Chicago Bears decided to pass on Jalen Carter for Darnell Wright despite a huge need for a defensive tackle. Instead of Carter, the Bears doubled up on Gervon Dexter and Zacch Pickens.
We cannot knock the idea too much because Darnell Wright has been so good. However, Pickens and Dexter have been huge disappointments.
Dexter flashes at times. He has 11 pressures this year. However, his playing time is limited because the Bears view him as a poor run defender. He has 163 snaps on passing downs and 78 snaps on run downs.
Meanwhile, Pickens had 87 snaps on passing downs and 61 snaps on run downs. That is a lot less than Dexter. The issue here is that Dexter had the upside to be a better pass rusher but was less pro-ready. His season is closer to expectations. Pickens had a lower ceiling but a higher floor. He was more ready to play. If this is what he is going to bring as a pro-ready player, the Chicago Bears have problems.
Justin Jones is a free agent after this year. Does he start to lose snaps to Pickens and Dexter, or do they remain disappointments?
1. The Chicago Bears secondary and offensive line are not good enough
One of the big issues with the Chicago Bears this season has been their health. Their offensive line and secondary were supposed to be their best and most upgraded units from the offseason.
On the line, Nate Davis got off of the ground. It was a personal issue early and an ankle issue now. Braxton Jones had a neck injury sidelined him from weeks three through eight.
Teven Jenkins missed the first four weeks of the season, and it has led to Lucas Patrick and Cody Whitehair shuffling. The only time the team had Jenkins and Davis at guard, the Bears ran all over Washington and scored 40 points.
Braxton Jones started and finished his first game since week two, and the Bears beat Carolina.
In the secondary, the Bears lost Kyler Gordon in week one and Eddie Jackson in week two. Jaylon Johnson went down in week three. Jackson was back in week six but then missed time again.
When he returned, Jaquan Brisker missed weeks eight and nine. Finally, in week ten, the starting five from the preseason started and finished a game. One game out of ten is a major disappointment for what was supposed to be the best unit on the team.