The Chicago Bears’ decision to trade for quarterback Nick Foles in the offseason has, in a word, backfired.
General manager Ryan Pace identified Foles as the ideal parachute to rescue the Bears from a potential Mitch Trubisky crash landing. Foles’ history with coach Matt Nagy and his familiarity with Nagy’s offense was offered as the explanation for why Foles, who’s now on his fifth team in nine years, was ‘the guy.’
But here we are, entering the Bears’ Week 11 bye, and Chicago is riding a four-game losing streak (all with Foles as the starting quarterback) and in danger of falling out of playoff contention before the calendar flips to December.
Foles’ play during the losing streak has been so underwhelming that he’s now ranked among the NFL’s worst starting quarterbacks, ahead of just Alex Smith (Redskins) and Drew Lock (Broncos) in NBC Sports‘ latest quarterback power rankings.
New play caller, same problems. Foles got a rare clean pocket early in the first quarter and could’ve had a big gain to Anthony Miller. But he threw a terrible pass and the ball ended up in the hands of a Vikings defender. Then with two minutes left in the game, Foles had a chance to redeem himself with Miller running free for what could’ve been a game-winning touchdown. But Foles overthrew him again and the Bears turned the ball over on downs. His 4.1 YPA was a season low, and ranks as the fourth-worst mark this season among all QBs who threw at least 15 passes in a game.
This ranking actually seems a little too generous for Foles. Honestly, wouldn’t Smith and even Lock look better behind center for the Bears right now?
With their bye week approaching, it’s possible we’ve seen the last of Foles as Chicago’s starter. Trubisky returning to the starting lineup is the only way to revive a once-promising season.