What The Hell Happened?

[The Marshall Plan]

I’m trying to figure out how this season got so bleak.

Yes I know there was a thought going into this year that this was a throwaway year. The real fun is supposed to begin next season with the cap money and now with the added benefit of a first rounder that’ll either be 2 or 3 overall.

However the season started with us beating the 49’ers albeit in a monsoon but they played in the same weather.

Then we lose to the Packers. We’ve been doing that for years. Nothing special.

But then we respond by beating the Texans.

Now JF1 has his breakout season. He’s arriving. With the exception of the Jets game when he didn’t play the previous few weeks we were scoring 30 with regularity.

Yet we can’t beat anybody.

So I ask, what in the hell happened?

In my mind, the collapse began with the Giants game. We were humiliated and lost to a team that did rollout after rollout and we refused to adjust. Then they didn’t even field a QB for a lot of the game due to injury. We still lost.

In between the Giants game and now we’ve experienced everything from JF1’s breakout to a defense that cannot rush the passer at all to an offense that can score 30 but a defense that gives up 40. Not to mention a shit ton of bullshit calls / non calls that have cost us games.

I blame a combination of Poles for not fielding a team to Flus not being a good HC to Williams failing as a DC but then also the total lack of players.

It’s just maddening because we started off so good and now? It’s a cluster fuck.

[Moriarty]

I'd point to a couple factors:

• As usual - with this fanbase and others - we wishfully overestimated this team (to varying degrees)
• Having the Texans and a Monsoon Game early on got this team off to a deceptively good record
• Early in the season, the Bears were phenomenally healthy. When injuries caught up to normal, the weak roster was exposed
• Losing Quinn, the only excellent player on the front 6, really, really hurt

[Ditka’s dictaphone]

Seems like Quinn took the defense with him.

We been totally lost on defense since Quinn was traded.
Either that or we are genuinely playing to tank but I find that hard to believe.
I don’t think it’s in the nature of JF1 and Jenkins to tank. It’s been mainly the defense that’s been garbage.

I think that is a result of having so few defensive players under contract for 2023. Who have we got?

Gordon, Brisker, Robinson, Gipson, Sanborn, EJax, AQM, Jus Jones, Weatherford, Jay Jones, Hicks, Vildor

Not many leaders in there I’m afraid.

[spudbear]

I'd point to a couple factors:

• As usual - with this fanbase and others - we wishfully overestimated this team (to varying degrees)
• Having the Texans and a Monsoon Game early on got this team off to a deceptively good record
• Early in the season, the Bears were phenomenally healthy. When injuries caught up to normal, the weak roster was exposed
• Losing Quinn, the only excellent player on the front 6, really, really hurt

Team overestimation: New coaches (goodbye Nagus) and new GM as unknown quantities so you want to be optimistic, Fields should have his rookie experience over with and understand the NFL game, Flus is a defensive coach who seemed to make the whole greater than the parts when using average players.
The Niners game was a shocker, and seeing the joy of slip-n-slide Justin at the end gave us all hope. The Pats game was deceptive as the Bears were underdogs yet dominated a Bellicheck team, with glimmers of JF1 leading the offense to scoring nirvana. How did we lose so badly to the Jets just after Pats had smacked them the week before?
The luck with injuries has finally caught up with them.
I don't know about losing Quinn, as he was showing his typical every other year struggle. He was a vet that all of the D looked up to so without him there you lost leadership.

As Bears fans we have seldom seen a team with such a porous D, so keeping in games by scoring a bunch is strange. Many of us wanted a modern NFL offense and we are on track for one. Now we just need a decent D to keep us in games, and then find a few stud pass rushers to take the team to playoff success. Not much to ask.

[wab]

The simplest explanation is usually the correct explanation.

The Bears can't:
1 - Protect the QB
2 - Rush the QB

#1 is a little quicker fix than #2.

Slight upgrades here and there, coupled with health, will address the protection issues. I saw yesterday that the Bears have had 8 starting OL combinations this season - the 2nd most in the NFL. Fix the center position and upgrade at RT and I think it'll be fine.

I truly believe that the secondary and LB positions are fine, but the Bears are going to have to sink some money and picks into the DL.

[crueltyabc]

I don't think Poles did a particularly good job shopping in the bargain bin. The lack of diamonds in the rough is really being spotlighting now that the handful of "name" players we had are/were injured.

Of that bargain bin group...
"Big money free agents" Patrick and Pringle have barely played at their intended position so who knows.
"Late round picks" Braxton Jones and Sanborn are pleasant surprises.
"Mid season pickup" Armon Watts has been fine (?)
Everyone else is sorta who their previous teams or the majority of draft analysts thought they were.

[Moriarty]

I don't think Poles did a particularly good job shopping in the bargain bin. The lack of diamonds in the rough is really being spotlighting now that the handful of "name" players we had are/were injured.

Of that bargain bin group...

Yeah,

Pringle
Muhammed
Morrow
Patrick
Jones
ESB

Not a single one that anyone is eager to see return next year. A shoulder shrug is the best case for them.



(Remember preseason when I was insistent that midround comp pick(s) were worth more than veteran stopgaps?)

[Arkansasbear]

The reality is team parity in the NFL is closer than many think it is.

The difference is the good teams find a way / big deep when the need to / whatever you want to call it. This team simply can't get over that last hump.

Look at the loses we've had:

Green Bay - as you said, it simply is what is and don't get it

Giants - We laid an egg as you pointed out

Vikings - This was set up to be Fields' moment and Smith-Marsette fumbles it away on a bone-headed play (granted if he had gotten free and taken it the house, we'd be saying something different about him)

Washington - Again set up to be Fields' coming of age moment and a poor play at the goal line

Dallas - We are setting up the game to be great, fumble return for a TD and it falls apart

Phis - third time we are put in a spot for Fields to take the spotlight and ESB has the ball go through his hands.

Lions - Defense pisses away Fields' taking the game over and lets them score late. Fields again is primed to take the stage and we fail - again.

Falcons - Poised yet again to have "the game" for Fields and he throw a pick

I know we are what our record says we are, but I think we are a much better team than our record shows.

I hate to keep coming back to it, but we have also gotten some unbelievably bad officiating this year. Both calls and non-calls at key moments.

At least until last week Fields made the games worth watching. If he is back under center, I'll make an effort to watch the remaining games, if not,. if I see them great, if I don't great.

[Grizzled]

We're seeing the end result of years of Pace mismanagement, giving Poles little wiggle room to make needed changes. It's depressing. I don't expect Poles to draft and sign 30 blue chippers in the offseason and the Bears xhallenge the 1972 Dolphins record but things will look better. Big improvements in teams seem to be t common in the NFL and we'll hope the Bears are another such story.

[docc]

Kids..scubs..one contract year cast offs..players moved to see where they might work...and. 125,000,000 in the next season happened and high picks ..

This was a deceased year early on

Should be interesting spring

[dplank]

DL and OL, that is all. BUILD THE LINES. Fix that and we are fine. 5 GOOD players changes this whole team IMO: C, RT, DT, DT2, DE (I can live with Gipson/Robinson at one side, and AQM as a backup on the other, but would mean we need a real big player at the other DE spot, or else we need two).

[o-pus #40 in B major]

DL and OL, that is all. BUILD THE LINES. Fix that and we are fine. 5 GOOD players changes this whole team IMO: C, RT, DT, DT2, DE (I can live with Gipson/Robinson at one side, and AQM as a backup on the other, but would mean we need a real big player at the other DE spot, or else we need two).

This.

[UOK]

The injuries/poor depth on the OL and the trading of Quinn/Roquan spelled the end of any potential this season had to be moderately successful in terms of wins and losses.

[Burl]

If you look at the 2022 predictions thread, a number of us correctly predicted such a season.

Nothing "happened". The talent wasn't there to begin with.

[wab]

If you look at the 2022 predictions thread, a number of us correctly predicted such a season.

Nothing "happened". The talent wasn't there to begin with.

Most people predicted between 6-9. The Bears only face two teams with losing records the rest of the season. Their best hope is the Lions game.

I think winning another game is going to be a stretch.

[Mikefive]

The simplest explanation is usually the correct explanation.

The Bears can't:
1 - Protect the QB
2 - Rush the QB

#1 is a little quicker fix than #2.

Slight upgrades here and there, coupled with health, will address the protection issues. I saw yesterday that the Bears have had 8 starting OL combinations this season - the 2nd most in the NFL. Fix the center position and upgrade at RT and I think it'll be fine.

I truly believe that the secondary and LB positions are fine, but the Bears are going to have to sink some money and picks into the DL.

100% agree with your assessment.

Was just thinking to myself yesterday... What if the Bears sign TWO top flight DL guys this offseason, an edge AND a DT? Is that even possible, considering it will cost $50M/year, even with all of our cap space, since we have so many other contracts to bring in?

[o-pus #40 in B major]

The injuries/poor depth on the OL and the trading of Quinn/Roquan spelled the end of any potential this season had to be moderately successful in terms of wins and losses.

...and thank you sir for a succinct summary of the season in a single sentence.

[Arkansasbear]

The simplest explanation is usually the correct explanation.

The Bears can't:
1 - Protect the QB
2 - Rush the QB

#1 is a little quicker fix than #2.

Slight upgrades here and there, coupled with health, will address the protection issues. I saw yesterday that the Bears have had 8 starting OL combinations this season - the 2nd most in the NFL. Fix the center position and upgrade at RT and I think it'll be fine.

I truly believe that the secondary and LB positions are fine, but the Bears are going to have to sink some money and picks into the DL.

100% agree with your assessment.

Was just thinking to myself yesterday... What if the Bears sign TWO top flight DL guys this offseason, an edge AND a DT? Is that even possible, considering it will cost $50M/year, even with all of our cap space, since we have so many other contracts to bring in?

I think FA will have the bulk of resources spend on the offensive side of the ball.

First we MUST get more talent around Fields and second FA appears to be lining up with more talent available on that side of the ball and the high end talent in the draft appears to be 3-4 QB and then mostly on the defensive side of the ball. No real top 10 talent on offensive outside of the QBs.

[LacertineForest]

If you look at the 2022 predictions thread, a number of us correctly predicted such a season.

Nothing "happened". The talent wasn't there to begin with.

Most people predicted between 6-9. The Bears only face two teams with losing records the rest of the season. Their best hope is the Lions game.

I think winning another game is going to be a stretch.

I was one of those, but I think the schedule also turned out to be tougher than expected. Both the NFC East and AFC East have been really strong. Even with all of that, the Bears have been competitive in almost every game, just a play or two away from being able to pull out a win or tie (a few exceptions, most noticeably last week). I'm actually thankful it's broken this way and they're looking at being in a great draft position that can set them up for years to come. I salivate thinking snagging the #2 spot and having someone trade 2-3 1st round picks + or taking a game-changing stud.

[Arkansasbear]

If you look at the 2022 predictions thread, a number of us correctly predicted such a season.

Nothing "happened". The talent wasn't there to begin with.

Most people predicted between 6-9. The Bears only face two teams with losing records the rest of the season. Their best hope is the Lions game.

I think winning another game is going to be a stretch.

I picked 17 wins. I think I didn't understand the question.

[wab]

I'm oddly comfortable losing out. I have never, and I mean NEVER, cared about losing for draft position before this season. I always wanted the team to win...but with two very highly sought after QB's going in the top 4, the prospect of racking up future 1st round picks is very enticing.

[The Marshall Plan]

I'm oddly comfortable losing out. I have never, and I mean NEVER, cared about losing for draft position before this season. I always wanted the team to win...but with two very highly sought after QB's going in the top 4, the prospect of racking up future 1st round picks is very enticing.

I totally agree. I feel kinda dirty being OK losing but yeah the prospect of getting the 2 pick and selling it for a massive gain is pretty enticing.

[Rusty Trombagent]

Losing Quinn, the only excellent player on the front 6, really, really hurt

While I'm definitely not going to contend that our pass rush isnt horrendous... Quinn wasnt doing anything before he left, and we certainly arent missing anything. His production has been horrendous in Philly and he's barely getting any snaps now.

https://www.nbcsports.com/philadelphia/ ... 0QB%20hits.

I think we actually did fleece the Eagles on this one.

[dplank]

Most people predicted between 6-9. The Bears only face two teams with losing records the rest of the season. Their best hope is the Lions game.

I think winning another game is going to be a stretch.

I was one of those, but I think the schedule also turned out to be tougher than expected. Both the NFC East and AFC East have been really strong. Even with all of that, the Bears have been competitive in almost every game, just a play or two away from being able to pull out a win or tie (a few exceptions, most noticeably last week). I'm actually thankful it's broken this way and they're looking at being in a great draft position that can set them up for years to come. I salivate thinking snagging the #2 spot and having someone trade 2-3 1st round picks + or taking a game-changing stud.

Preseason strength of schedule analysis is a pet peeve...it's utterly meaningless.

[wulfy]

Next year is an odd-numbered year, Quinn will be great next year whoever signs him on the cheap. #science #facts

[LacertineForest]

I was one of those, but I think the schedule also turned out to be tougher than expected. Both the NFC East and AFC East have been really strong. Even with all of that, the Bears have been competitive in almost every game, just a play or two away from being able to pull out a win or tie (a few exceptions, most noticeably last week). I'm actually thankful it's broken this way and they're looking at being in a great draft position that can set them up for years to come. I salivate thinking snagging the #2 spot and having someone trade 2-3 1st round picks + or taking a game-changing stud.

Preseason strength of schedule analysis is a pet peeve...it's utterly meaningless.

Definitely, but when you're trying to project a team's record, you have to try and project other teams' strength. I think a lot of people here were expecting some of the opponents to be a bit weaker (I know I did), which is a big part of why I pegged the record where I did. I felt like this was a relatively weak roster from a "talent" perspective (I'm careful to use that word now because I don't mean just raw measurables but on-field production/capability) but that the schedule would still yield about 6 wins.

[Boris13c]

DL and OL, that is all. BUILD THE LINES. Fix that and we are fine. 5 GOOD players changes this whole team IMO: C, RT, DT, DT2, DE (I can live with Gipson/Robinson at one side, and AQM as a backup on the other, but would mean we need a real big player at the other DE spot, or else we need two).

100% correct and something I've been harping on every time some star WR or RB might be available that has everyone in a tizzy of excitement ... without solid lines on both sides of the ball those luxury item high end WRs and RBs mean little

check your Bears history to also back this up as Jim Finks was the GM who successfully built the lines on both sides of the ball as a foundation for the team that won Super Bowl XX ... it is pretty sad we have to go back to the 80s to see when the Bears had the right ideas on how to build a successful team ... they came close to duplicating that effort that led to the 2006 team success ... other than that, it has been lots of stops and starts without a solid foundation from which to build ... it is important to learn from one's mistakes, but equally important to learn from one's successes and build on that ... the Bears have been lost on both of those counts for quite some time

[karhu]

DL and OL, that is all. BUILD THE LINES. Fix that and we are fine. 5 GOOD players changes this whole team IMO: C, RT, DT, DT2, DE (I can live with Gipson/Robinson at one side, and AQM as a backup on the other, but would mean we need a real big player at the other DE spot, or else we need two).

With ya nearly all the way, but I'd trade DT2 for a DE if we're focusing on five positions. I'm as sanguine about Jones as you are about the DE rotation, and I'd love to see him between a good DE and a real-life NT with some pass-rushing stuff (which from what I've seen boils down to Ika and Smith in the draft).

[Otis Day]

I'm oddly comfortable losing out. I have never, and I mean NEVER, cared about losing for draft position before this season. I always wanted the team to win...but with two very highly sought after QB's going in the top 4, the prospect of racking up future 1st round picks is very enticing.

I was just thinking this same exact thing within 15 minutes ago, riding the elevator to my office. I have always been the win as many as possible guy. At this moment, I could care less if they lose out. If they make an L entertaining, that will be enough.

As for what happened this year, nothing. Most realistic fans put the win total around 5 or so. It was a bad team going in and they got lucky with some of the early Ws. Due to those wins, I never thought any different of the team or expected anything more.

Lets hope they lose out and some team comes knocking at draft time to move up and Poles makes a haul.

[wab]

It still sucks that this was a wasted year. Makes it hard to invest any emotional energy into the team. Looking forward to what the team does in free agency and the draft when there are still 5 regular season games left... is pretty depressing.