Chicago Bears: Pace must suffer through “Trubisky Bowl” with rest of us

Ryan Pace, the Chicago Bears general manager must suffer with the rest of us this Sunday.

You know the story by now. In the 2017 NFL Draft, Chicago Bears’ general manager Ryan Pace traded up to select Mitchell Trubisky No. 2 overall. In doing so, he passed on Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson.

To some extent, revisionist history has seemed to suggest more people knew what Mahomes would become. They didn’t. At least not to this extent. Watson, though, is a different story. His dominating performances at the highest level and on the brightest stage were abundantly clear to many. Except for Pace. Heck, even his college head coach Dabo Swinney compared him to Michael Jordan. Ironic considering the Bears seemed to have ended up with Sam Bowie.

Regardless, it no longer matters. The fact of the matter is Pace messed up and selected the wrong quarterback, and Trubisky will forever be compared to those two, whether or not fans like it.

If you are one of the fans who has grown tired of the narrative, then you might want to keep your television set in the off position from about 2-6:00 pm EST this Sunday. That’s because the aforementioned Mahomes and Watson will square off in the AFC Divisional Round playoff game in what has dubiously been dubbed the “Trubisky Bowl.”

While fans may tune out the game, I want Pace to be glued in front of his television with his eyes affixed on the screen. I don’t want him looking away from the television set. Not even for a second.

After the crushing playoff loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, Matt Nagy notably remarked that it was alright for his players to “feel it.” I’d like for Pace to do the same. I want him to feel what Bears fans will feel watching this game. That sense of an opportunity lost. Because the last time he let that pain sink in, he fixed the problem (Cody Parkey) that caused it by bringing in legitimate competition at the kicker position.

This offseason — a critical one for the Bears organization — Pace must do the same with the quarterback position. He must bring in legitimate competition in an attempt to fix their biggest problem heading into next season. If he doesn’t, the Bears could squander another season with a championship-caliber defense. Perhaps feeling the pain of watching the game on Sunday will be enough to spur change.