Bears: 2010 NFC Championship was the worst moment of the decade

The Chicago Bears have had a rough decade, even though many seasons the talent was there. If there were an award for most hyped-team, the 2010s Bears would win it.

The Chicago Bears‘ decade can be summed up with this date, January 23rd, 2011. This was the worst moment of the decade for the Bears. The worst moment of the 2010s wasn’t Cody Parkey‘s double doink, hiring Marc Trestman, and no, not drafting Mitchell Trubisky. The first three were bad, the jury is still out on Trubisky.

The poll Waddle and Silvy put out on Twitter had (dis)honorable moments for the worst moment of the decade. There is an argument for all of them. This isn’t my opinion but some people want Trubisky out of the city and hate Ryan Pace for not drafting Deshaun Watson or Patrick Mahomes. I don’t blame Trubisky, I’m someone who believes he still has the potential to be great. 2020 will be the key decider on if he has a chance to be successful here or not.

Parkey’s double-doink was terrible. It derailed a 12-4 Bears’ team that could have gone deep in the playoffs. Trubisky played well against the Eagles in the wildcard game. If Parkey hits the kick, the Bears would have traveled to L.A. to face the Rams. The Cowboys would have gone to New Orleans to face the Saints.

Who knows, maybe the Bears get passed the Rams and the Cowboys get passed the Saints. That gives the Bears their third NFC Championship game hosted in Chicago since 2006. Either way, it didn’t happen. That moment will haunt the city until they can make the playoffs again. There is no way to call it the worse moment though. There is no promise they would have made the Super Bowl.

Hiring Marc Trestman was a complete flop. Trestman was considered Jay Cutler‘s quarterback whisper. He was going to save Cutler’s career and take him to the promised land. Well, not really. The Bears went 8-8 in Trestman’s first season. They lost Week 17 to the Green Bay Packers in a winner goes to the playoffs game. That was all you needed to know about Trestman. He derailed the Bears defense, got rid of Brian Urlacher, and was one of the worst coaches in a long time.

Overall, here is why losing the 2010 NFC Championship game was the worst moment of the decade. It gave Aaron Rodgers his first Super Bowl ring for starters. Second, it showed the league what the Bears really were. A 2010 team that was good but couldn’t get past the Packers. If you cannot beat the Packers, forget about it.

If Caleb Hanie doesn’t turn the ball over on the last possession of the game and scores, overtime would have been interesting. If the team somehow won, the Bears in the Super Bowl would have been something great to see. Win or lose, they stopped Green Bay’s chance at another ring.

So yes, they probably would have gotten killed in the Super Bowl without Cutler but that defense was special. Either way, none of the other moments even touch the 2010 loss. It’s nothing to brag about. Let’s just hope the 2020s have more good moments than bad.