The Chicago Bears ended their NFL regular season on Sunday with a loss to the Green Bay Packers. It is bad enough that the Bears lost their 10th straight game to the Packers and were once again humiliated by their biggest NFL rival. What’s worse is that the Bears scored only nine points against a bad Green Bay defense which got lit up for 30 points by the lowly Carolina Panthers, a team which got shut out in each of its last two games (December 31 at Jacksonville, January 7 against Tampa Bay).
Many will say that the weak nine-point performance from the Bears’ offense is an indictment of quarterback Justin Fields, but in reality, it’s more an indictment of the Chicago front office and its failure to field a good offensive line and give Fields every possible chance to succeed. Fields was sacked five times in this game. He was constantly under pressure. It’s hard to say Fields isn’t reading the game well when he rarely has clean pockets.
The Bears don’t throw the ball down the field partly because they’re not deep at wide receiver, but mostly because their quarterback doesn’t have much time. If the Chicago franchise wants to make a run at the playoffs next season and beyond, it needs a lot of pieces to surround Fields. The idea that the organization has given Fields everything he needs does not pass the sniff test. It’s manifestly untrue.
If Caleb Williams steps into this situation in Chicago, he will not be in a good position to succeed. That’s not a commentary on Caleb’s skill level. It’s a commentary on the quality of work being done by the Bears’ front office.
The Bears, with the No. 1 pick, are in a position to pull off a trade which gives them several key pieces. If the Washington Commanders or New England Patriots really want Caleb Williams, the Bears can demand a lot in a deal and significantly improve their roster for 2024. The Bears might ask themselves if Caleb is better than Justin Fields, but in reality, they should be asking themselves how many different needs they must meet to help their quarterback — whoever he will be — next season. The Bears can’t get their quarterback situation right until they give that quarterback more and better resources.
Scoring nine points against the Packers should pound home that point.
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