The Chicago Bears appear to be the punching bag of the NFL’s 2020 offseason. No matter this a team that had a majorly disappointing season and still came out of it with a 8-8 record.
When one analyst discussed the Bears being among the worst two teams in the NFL, it was a bold take. Then when others started piling on, it’s become a trend.
CBS Sports’ Jason LaCanfora is the latest to criticize the Bears, ranking them among the five worst teams in the NFL — those at “rock bottom” — which also includes the New York Giants, New York Jets, Washington Redskins and Jacksonville Jaguars.
No QB of the present, no QB of the future, not enough draft capital and a front office that has gone a long while without hitting a double much less a homer, with far too many K’s along the way.
The other four teams mentioned — the Giants, Jets, Redskins and Jaguars — all had less wins than the Bears a season ago. And considering the Bears were a 12-4 team the previous season with basically the same roster, there’s reason to believe that they should be better if they fix the offense in 2020.
Look, it’s easy to understand why the Bears have become the punching bag for analysts this offseason. Quarterback Mitchell Trubisky is the biggest reason. He regressed significantly in his third season to the point that the Bears brought in Nick Foles to challenge for the starting job in 2020.
But it wasn’t just Trubisky that was bad — although it’s easy to place the blame on him. The entire offense was bad, which was concerning considering Year 2 was supposed to be when this unit progressed under Matt Nagy.
While the offense remains the biggest concern for the Bears heading into 2020, analysts seem to forget that Chicago returns a top-five defense from the previous two season — a unit that has made some upgrades at pass rusher and safety.
This was also a defense that suffered injuries to key starters in defensive tackle Akiem Hicks and linebackers Danny Trevathan and Roquan Smith. Still, in spite of the injury struggles, they finished as one of the NFL’s top defenses.
While it’s fair to question whether the Bears can eclipse the .500 mark in 2020, ranking them among the worst teams in the NFL when they weren’t last season is a lazy take.
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