What a time for the Bears to fall off the map for two weeks. They don't know which injured quarterback is going to be the starter, their best offensive player's agent is making headlines, and suddenly both the head coach and general manager are firmly on the hot seat. Their All-Pro safety is preaching (questioning?) accountability, their defensive leader strained his hamstring, and their next game is a nationally televised game in Green Bay. All I'm saying is, just make sure to carve some real you time over the next week or so. Appreciate the tranquility of a bye week. And speaking of tranquility, some tweets:
VERDICT: I Think It's Fair To Say This Was Never Really An Overreaction So It Certainly Isn't One Now
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I think most people, somewhere in their hearts, sort of knew what the Bears' ceiling was, right? Nick Foles played really well for a couple months in Philadelphia and won a Super Bowl in the process – he deserves all the credit in the world for how he played during that stretch. It was impressive. But Nick Foles has been in the NFL for a decade; it's not difficult to see what type of QB he's been for the vast majority of it. I understand the rationale, and allure, of saying Foles could win a Super Bowl in Chicago because he did it in Philadelphia, but that's ... not how that works? There's exactly one (1) way to stumble into long-term relevancy in the NFL, and instead of addressing the issue, the Bears have spent three years trying to compensate for it. When the *2018* defense couldn't even carry this offense past a Wild Card berth, how much hope was there really for a 2020 group that, even still, has already held up their end of the bargain. There just isn't a realistic path forward for this roster as it's currently constructed. Some degree of wholesale change seems inevitable, but exactly what that looks like feels less clear.
VERDICT: This Is An Overreaction But If Bears Fans Want To Embrace Trubisky For His Final Months In Chicago I'm All For It
As Bears Insider JJ Stankevitz pointed out this morning, Nick Foles has actually been worse in his first 8 games with the Bears (202/311, 1852 yards, 10 TDs, 8 INTs, 81.0 rating) as Mitch Trubisky was in the final eight games before he was benched against the Falcons (176/279, 1840 yards, 13 TDs, 7 INTs, 87.2 rating). Trubisky's not any more the answer now than he was back in Week 2, but he probably has a few 12-15 yard scrambles in him, and, well, beggars can't be choosers. At this point, Bears fans and Trubisky are basically Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid holed up in the Bolivian market. While they talk about their lofty plans for an escape (they're in the playoff hunt! that NFC East matchup looks good!), both secretly know what's coming when they emerge from cover. Might as well go out guns blazing.
VERDICT: This Is Technically An Overreaction Because Allen Robinson Is Not A Car But The Metaphor Works
There's a corner of Bears fandom that's underwhelmed by Allen Robinson's season, which I just absolutely do not get. You can be underwhelmed, so easily, by quite literally every other position on the Bears' offense. Choose one! Any one! Meanwhile, Allen Robinson: hasn't dropped a deep ball in three years, has the most targets without a drop this season, and is the league leader in Post Route yards in 2020. And oh, also – he ranks 96th in Targets/snap in the red zone. If I was his agent I'd be yelling about it too.
VERDICT: Brian Griese Is Doing Himself Absolutely No Favors Inside Halas Hall But He's Not Overreacting
It's been bad. So bad, in fact, that it's done a fairly good job distracting people from how bad the Jimmy Graham deal still looks. That end-of-year press conference is going to be quite the event.
VERDICT: This Is An Oddly Specific Diss But You Have To Admit Nagy Has A Lot Of Sayings
I mean, he does.
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