Chicago Bears: Tannehill winning the Super Bowl could be a good thing

There’s at least one reason Chicago Bears fans should root for the Tennesse Titans to win the Super Bowl.

For Chicago Bears fans, sitting through this past weekend’s playoff games was particularly difficult. It ended with a Green Bay Packers win over the Seattle Seahawks and included a high scoring affair between missed opportunities Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson.

However, the Tennesse Titans game may have been low-key difficult as well. That’s because of a different kind of missed opportunity it presented. You see, the Titans felt pretty good about their roster as a whole — particularly about their defense.

The one aspect of their team that they were worried could hold them back from making a serious run at the Lombardi Trophy was their former No. 2 overall pick, Marcus Mariota. Mariota flashed in his first two seasons and at times, showed why the Titans drafted him so high.

Unfortunately, things started to go off the rails for Mariota in year three, and it has been a steady decline since then. Sound familiar?

It should, because that trajectory is similar to the one Mitchell Trubisky appears to currently be on. The parallels between the Titans’ and Bears’ situations are eerily similar. Where they differ is that this past offseason, the Titans brought in Ryan Tannehill as competition and a potential backup plan should Mariota continue to struggle.

Now, as they sit one game from a Super Bowl berth, saying they are thrilled with that decision might be the understatement of the season. Pulling the trigger on Tannehill allowed them to give Mariota one last shot, but also provided them with a legitimate ‘plan b’ should he struggle — which he did. Ultimately Tannehill replaced Mariota and the rest was history.

This offseason, Ryan Pace sits in a similar situation as the Titans did last year. The question, however, is whether Pace will have the courage to bring in legitimate competition as a backup plan in the event Trubisky continues to struggle.

If he does, the Bears could enjoy a similar result to the Titans and make a legitimate run to the Super Bowl. If he doesn’t he runs a substantial risk of squandering this team’s Super Bowl window. Perhaps if the Titans make a run to, and win the Super Bowl, it just might be enough to influence the general manager’s decision and bring in a legitimate backup. Your move Mr. Pace.