Chicago Bears: Therapy for a Chicago sports fan, session 4

“I feel like I’m in a lousy horror movie.…”

I can’t get the events last two seasons for the Bears out of my head.

The year 2018 feels like it was yesterday. I remember Ryan Pace hiring “Offensive Guru” Matt Nagy from Kansas City as head coach. Nagy was a breath of fresh air and seemed completely genuine talking about great things like leadership and accountability.

The Bears ended up 12-4 that season won the division, and made the playoffs. Our Quarterback was the “hot bet” to win MVP, we had the NFL Coach of the Year and our defense seen as the #1 unit almost unanimously around the league. We hadn’t made the playoffs since 2010; It was so awesome.

Despite the double-doink, we finally had HOPE going into 2019.

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The offseason was so nerve-wracking—I spoke to everyone at work about the Chicago Bears like they were my true love. I defended every “false claim” Pro Football Focus made about their regression. Chicago Media and Fans were making Super Bowl picks. I was sold that it was our year and my wife even said she “officially lost me to football.”

Week one rolls around finally — at home against the Packers to open the NFL Season…

We blew it.

I remember sitting on my friend’s floor so depressed.

It’s like that type of relationship when you are head-over-heels for someone, and that person doesn’t love you back, and now you’re stuck? I’m in that marriage with the Bears, and I can’t believe how blinded I was to the warning signs:

• Mitchell Trubisky’s regression in the second half of 2018 clouded by a few huge plays in the playoff game.
• The NFL also figured out Matt Nagy’s scheme; Our offense did not score over 30 points after Week 10.
• The beginnings of Matt Nagy’s stubbornness to run the ball.
• Our defense had an insanely high amount of turnovers (36 total).
• Our amazing defensive coordinator being replaced by someone who hadn’t coached defense since 2011.
• We only scored 15 points in a playoff loss.

And here we are. It’s 2021, and our defense is now mostly over 30 years old. We have forced 37 turnovers in the past two seasons. Our 2018 coaching staff is almost all gone. Our #2 overall pick is about to leave via free agency, and we are 16-17 since the end of the 2018 season.

It’s a sick roller coaster we all have been on with the Chicago Bears. 

Wow, that’s a lot to process.

The problem isn’t just the on-field product- it’s Ownership who says things like this to our fans:

“Have we gotten the quarterback situation completely right? No,” he said. “Have we won enough games? No. But everything else is there.”