Chicago Bears: Nick Foles doesn’t fix all the offense’s issues

Even if the Chicago Bears elect to start Nick Foles, he won’t fix all of the offense’s issues.

When the Chicago Bears traded for Nick Foles back in March, the move was viewed as one that would give the franchise a short-term solution to the quarterback position. For many Bears fans, Foles magical Super Bowl run just three years ago was enough to pull the Bears out of quarterback purgatory.

However, ever since the Bears traded for Foles, there’s been a common misconception amongst Bears fans. Many assume that if Foles starts, the issues that plagued the Bears offense in 2019 will go away. That simply isn’t true.

Let’s be honest here: Foles is a “franchise quarterback” for Bears fans merely because he went on a magical run a few years ago. Notice how there are quotation marks around franchise quarterback in the last sentence. Foles isn’t going to carry the Bears in 2020. He’s not going to take over games either. He’s merely going to do enough to get by so that the Bears defense isn’t on the field for half the game.

Back in January, Bears general manager Ryan Pace used the term regression when asked why the Bears finished the season with just eight wins. Pace used the correct terminology when describing the 2019 Bears. On offense, the offensive line regressed, there was little production out of the tight end position, the running game was below average, and at wide receiver, the team had no legitimate threat besides Allen Robinson.

You can look at Foles stats and try to convince yourself that he’s got what it takes to get the job done. The point is this: For Foles to be effective, the offensive line needs to be playing at a high level. The running game, despite the injury to David Montgomery, needs to effective as well. Wide receivers other than Robinson need to step up as well.

If the things in the paragraph above can happen, then the Bears will be in a situation where they’ll be able to have an offense that can move the ball effectively. The offense also needs to play mistake-free football, not committing penalities that will hold the whole unit back once momentum starts to build.

On Saturday, head coach Matt Nagy stated that the team would not be naming a starting quarterback until the Bears first game of the season, which is scheduled to take place in two weeks. Whether the starting quarterback is Foles or Trubisky, the rest of the positional groups on offense need to be playing at a high level if the quarterback is going to have any sort of impact in 2020.