The Chicago Bears Are a Complete Mess

It has been quite a week for the Chicago Bears. Losing the first two games has been bad but not the worst thing that has happened in the past week. Injuries, scandals, and lots of finger-pointing have brought the dysfunction to light. The Chicago Bears are a complete mess. What happened and where do they go from here?

Chicago Bears In 2022

2022 ended with a huge losing streak. It also had some questionable decisions. The biggest was the trade for Chase Claypool at the trade deadline. Many teams were in on the young receiver which drove up the price. The Bears gave up their second rounder which turned out to be the 32nd pick in the draft. His production has been horrible and his effort has been questioned at the beginning of the season. Still, finishing last isn’t a problem if it happens once. For a rebuilding team, it is a way to add some top-level talent or stockpile assets.

Chicago Bears Offseason

I personally thought the offseason was good! If there was belief in Justin Fields, they made the absolute right choice in trading out of the first overall pick. While someone like Jalen Carter or Bijan Robinson would have helped this team, anytime you can get a king’s ransom for a pick, you take it. The trade didn’t just involve picks but brought in DJ Moore who instantly elevated the wide receiver room. Tremaine Edmunds added a veteran to the middle of the defense. The young secondary was primed for another leap. Everyone was saying the right things and seemingly doing the right things.

There was a lot of hype around this team. Fans were ready for a Jalen Hurts-type ascent. There were upgrades that happened all over the roster. Furthermore, the division was finally open. Aaron Rodgers was no longer in the division and the rival Packers were going to start a quarterback with one career start. The Vikings were primed for regression after one of the luckiest seasons in NFL history. The Lions were the favorite but not a heavy one. Everything was primed for a bounceback season.

Week 1 Disaster

Week 1 was a disaster for the Chicago Bears. It wasn’t just that they got beaten by their rivals again. It wasn’t just that the offense looked like a clone of 2022. They got shellacked in their building. The game was over midway through the third quarter. The final score was not indicative of how thoroughly beaten the Bears were. The Packers played their rookie backup quarterback Sean Clifford in the game. After the game, the team was left with questions about why they couldn’t beat the Packers. Despite all of this, it was only week 1.

Another Disaster In Week 2

Tampa Bay surprised many people by winning in week 1 against the Minnesota Vikings. With Baker Mayfield under center, the team was slated to take a step backward. The Chicago Bears kept the game close but the offense couldn’t operate when it mattered most. The offensive struggles were highlighted by the calling of three straight screen passes which resulted in a pick-6 to end the game. Fields missed wide-open receivers and took bad sacks. It pushed the Bears to an 0-2 start which historically is a death sentence for playoff hopes. After an offseason of playoff promise, it was already looking bleak after two weeks.

The Floodgates Open

I don’t remember a team having this much turmoil in such a short period of time. Defensive coordinator Alan Williams resigned and the details have been hazy. I am not going to speculate on what happened but regardless it isn’t good when your DC quits midseason. Justin Fields seemingly pointed fingers at the coaching staff as the reason for the offensive struggles and had to clarify in subsequent press conferences. At practice, Fields and offensive coordinator Luke Getsy playfully hugged for the media to see which felt like two parents heading towards a divorce hugging in front of their child to assure them everything was okay.

It didn’t stop there. A hot mic after the Chicago Bears lost to the Bucs caught DJ Moore talking with Devin White saying that the team doesn’t know how to use him. Moore then liked a tweet referencing Stephen A. Smith’s comments on the Chicago Bears organization being a dumpster fire. It’s bad. To make matters worse, the team has to go into Arrowhead and play the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs. It likely isn’t going to get better in the win column.

Silver Lining

Let’s look on the bright side for a second. The Bears own their own first-round pick as well as the Carolina Panthers first-round pick this year. The Panthers are also off to a 0-2 start so the Bears could have two very high picks. The quarterback class in 2024 is deep and even if the Bears miss out on Caleb Williams, there are plenty of other prospects that could be franchise quarterbacks. They could then get another top player with the other pick. Chicago has the ability to reload very quickly. However, the issue hasn’t been getting the talent, it has been developing it.

Head Coach Woes

The Chicago Bears fired Lovie Smith after a 10-6 season in 2012. Since then, the Bears have only had one winning season and two seasons finishing at .500. Marc Trestman, John Fox, Matt Nagy, and now Matt Eberflus have not been able to take the talent given to them and develop it. Fields might have been the answer but as of this moment, it seems the coaching staff botched his development. They could get a top quarterback in the draft but can they actually develop him? History tells us don’t count on it.

The Chicago Bears are in a tough spot. Nothing is going right and week 3 doesn’t look like a great week to get a win.