The ChicagoBears’ tenuous commitment to Pace and Nagy might bring the worst possible outcome for the team’s future.
Wednesday may have been one of the darkest days in Chicago Bears history. In a disastrous 90-minute press conference over Zoom, owner George McCaskey and president Ted Phillips laughed in the face of their fans, expressing their acceptance of mediocrity and lack of commitment to winning at every opportunity.
After two straight 8-8 seasons, it was obvious to even the most casual of Bears fans that some sort of change was necessary. Many believed that would come in the form of GM Ryan Pace, head coach Matt Nagy or both. But McCaskey and Phillips not only announced that they’d be back, but also praised them for their efforts in an average-at-best season. Things went quickly downhill from there.
Obviously, many fans wanted Pace and Nagy out long before this presser. But what if McCaskey and Phillips’ key error wasn’t the act of bringing them back, but the conditions in which they did so? Would it have made more sense to – gasp – extend the GM and coach, or at least commit to them for more than just one year?
It’s important to acknowledge that there are very compelling arguments for letting both Pace and Nagy go. Pace has whiffed over and over again at the QB position: Mitch Trubisky, Mike Glennon, Nick Foles, Matt Barkley, Brian Hoyer, the list goes on and on. Nagy’s teams have gotten worse in each of his three years, and benching Trubisky early in the 2020 season backfired in epic fashion.
The Bears’ roster, salary cap and draft capital screams rebuild, and to do that, a new regime makes lots of sense. But there are rational arguments for keeping them around, too. Pace built a great defense after inheriting arguably the worst in the league. Nagy has never finished with a losing record despite never having a league-average QB. That’s hard to do in today’s NFL.
At the very least, McCaskey and Phillips see something in Pace and Nagy that fans don’t. There’s a good chance they’re wrong, but maybe they’re right. The question is, if they’re so confident in these two, why not extend them? Why show such lukewarm commitment? Because the way things currently stand, a lame-duck GM/coach combo might be the worst possible thing for the franchise in the long term.
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Neither Pace nor Nagy received contract extensions, according to the Bears’ brass. And despite vomit-inducingly speaking of how well they “collaborate,” McCaskey said he will know “whether there’s been sufficient improvement or sufficient progress to continue past 2021.” That’s basically saying, you have one year to fix this, or you’re gone.
The problem is, it’s simply an impossible task to fix this team in one year. The Bears don’t have a quarterback. They need at least two new starters on the offensive line. If Allen Robinson walks (likely), their WR room becomes a mess. Their defensive coordinator just retired. Their defense is full of aging veterans who will need to learn a new system. Even if Pace was remarkably good at his job (and he’s not), it’s almost a guarantee this team will be worse in 2021.
But McCaskey and Phillips boxed Pace in. They told him, less through their words and more through their actions, that he is on shaky ground. So what’s he going to do? He’s going to do everything he can to improve the team in the short term, even if it means damaging the franchise in the long term.
Pace has borrowed from the future to fix the present over, and over, and over, and over again. He traded a future first-round pick for Khalil Mack. A future second to move up for Anthony Miller in the draft. A third in the Mitch Trubisky trade. A fourth for David Montgomery. Every indication is that he’s prepared to do it again to land a quarterback. “Everything is on the table,” Pace said in Wednesday’s presser.
A big move is coming. If it’s via the draft, he’ll trade future picks to move up. If it’s through free agency or a trade, he’ll push money into the future to clear cap. Why wouldn’t he? If he fails, that’s the next guy’s problem. “There are always ways to create cap space,” Pace said in his press conference. Yeah, especially when it’s not your money, Ryan.
If Pace, and therefore Nagy, had a couple extra years of job security, the chances of them overpaying and mortgaging the future go down. It’s human nature. And there’s nothing to say McCaskey and Phillips can’t still fire them while under contract. If your organization is worth $3.5 billion, paying two coaches or GMs shouldn’t be an issue. Especially if everything isn’t just about the money, as they insisted during Wednesday’s press conference.
Again, there are so many reasons to rebuild right now. The team is old and expensive. They don’t have a high pick or a quarterback. It was a mistake to run it back, and any forward-thinking organization would not have done so.
But if they were set on keeping the status quo, they went about it in the worst possible way. Instead of giving Pace and Nagy the security to properly execute their vision, Bears brass put them in a position where they will act recklessly and without regard for the future. This likely all ends in everyone getting fired after 2021 – and the team in even worse shape than they are now.
The Bears would obviously love to solve their quarterback issues this offseason, but that is not going to be easy. Ideally, general manager Ryan Pace and company would be able to find a true franchise quarterback in the 2021 NFL Draft. However, picking at No. 20 overall makes that an extremely tough task.
There is a group of four clear quarterbacks at the top of the 2021 NFL Draft class. Trevor Lawrence leads the way and he is expected to go No. 1 overall to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Justin Fields, Zach Wilson and Trey Lance also stand out as premier quarterback prospects in this class and the Bears would love to get their hands on any of them. Unfortunately, they will all likely be long gone well before the Bears go on the clock at No. 20.
A trade up for one of those top quarterback prospects should certainly be on the table. Chicago should at least be considering piling some picks together to get in a position to land one of these premier quarterback prospects. That being said, it is much more likely that the Chicago Bears will be deciding whether reaching for the next tier of quarterbacks is worth the investment.
This leads us to Alabama quarterback Mac Jones. Jones is considered by most to be QB5 in the 2021 NFL Draft class and he undoubtedly has a chance to be an impact player at the next level. Jones led Alabama to a National Championship this season and was absolutely incredible for the team all season long.
Through 13 games this season, Jones completed 77.4% of his passes for 4,500 yards, 41 touchdowns and four interceptions. He did a great job of spreading the ball around the field and letting the impact playmakers in the Alabama offense do their thing.
Jones is an extremely smart quarterback prospect who reads the field well and rarely makes a poor decision. He is also accurate at all three levels of the defense and showed the ability to push the ball down the field well this season. Jones does not have elite arm talent but he does throw a pretty deep ball and can hit outside throws into tight spaces when needed.
The biggest knock on Jones as a quarterback prospect is his lack of mobility. In today’s NFL, the most successful quarterbacks can move inside and outside of the pocket and create plays with their legs. If nothing else, it is key to have a guy who can at least maneuver in the pocket and create extra time.
Jones’ limited mobility is a concern and that is what makes him such a poor fit for the Chicago Bears. This is not to say that a pocket passer cannot be successful in the modern NFL but pairing those guys with a strong offensive line is the key. Right now, the Bears simply do not have the proper talent up front to allow a young pocket passer the chance to be successful. Jones would be a sitting duck in the pocket with the Bears and their inability to protect him would likely stunt his development.
While Jones has a chance to be a successful NFL quarterback, it is extremely unlikely that success would come in Chicago. The Bears need to nail their first-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft and putting Jones in this situation would just be asking for trouble.
TAMPA, FLORIDA – JANUARY 13: Steven Stamkos #91 of the Tampa Bay Lightning looks to pass during a game against the Chicago Blackhawks on opening night of the 2020-21 NHL season at Amalie Arena on January 13, 2021 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
The Chicago Blackhawks are officially 0-2-0 after two games to open the season against the Tampa Bay Lightning. They have given up ten goals and have only scored three. It has been tough sledding and their goaltenders, Malcolm Subban and Collin Delia haven’t made things much better for them. The good news for Chicago is the fact that they aren’t going to be playing against the defending Stanley Cup Champions on the road in every single game. They are going to play Tampa Bay a total of eight times and two of them are already out of the way.
The good news is that despite the score, the Hawks looked a little bit better in this game compared to the first. The first period of this game especially was Chicago’s best period of the six they have played so far. This isn’t going to be a season that sees them make the playoffs (in all likelihood) so they should focus on improving the game of their young players that will be there long term.
Dylan Strome scored a goal in game number one but it is what you would describe as a “fluky goal”. In this game, Chicago managed to score two goals that you would call “hockey goals”. Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat are officially on the board this season which is very important for this Chicago Blackhawks team. They are going to be relied on to score a lot this season and going forward. Kane is in the second half of his career but he is still one of the best players in the NHL.
Both of those players should get more chances as the season goes on, especially as the competition becomes lesser. The Carolina Hurricanes are an elite team and the Dallas Stars are the defending Western Conference Champions but nobody compares to Tampa Bay right now. Even without Nikita Kucherov in their lineup, it doesn’t yet look like anybody can keep up with them for a long time.
The next game that Chicago plays will be against an old friend. They aren’t leaving the state of Florida before playing two games against Joel Quenneville’s new team in the Florida Panthers. On paper, the Cats are better than Chicago but that doesn’t mean they can’t win. They certainly aren’t as good as their cross-state rivals but they will present a big challenge.
It isn’t going to be easy but the Blackhawks can finally start to work on things for a game against an opponent that isn’t quite the Tampa Bay Lightning. When a team has that many great players coming at you in waves, and you aren’t that deep yourself, it is going to be hard to win.
In this next game against the Panthers, it would be nice to see some of these young defensemen step up and help the forwards out. We don’t know who is going to get tapped on the shoulder to play goal but whoever it needs to play better. Delia wasn’t very good in this second Lightning game as he turned the puck over a few times and it even led to an Ondrej Palat goal on one occasion. Things are looking bleak for this season and potentially the future but they need to continue working on these things as the competition gets less stiff.
Here’s the latest news on how COVID-19 is impacting Chicago and Illinois.
Latest
Pritzker’s latest announcement likely puts an end to hopes of a basketball season; football holds on by a thread
Kirsten Stickney/For the Sun-Times
Friday was confusing. Documents were emailed to media. Websites that allegedly outline the state’s entire sports policy during coronavirus weren’t updated (and then they were). The Illinois High School Association had a last-minute meeting with Deputy Gov. Jesse Ruiz.
Gov. Pritzker hit on high school sports very briefly in his COVID-19 update.
There was some good news for high school athletes. Low-risk sports will be allowed when regions move to Tier 2. Rockford, Peoria and southern Illinois hit Tier 2 on Friday and some regions in the Chicago area could be there as early next week.
“There are regions that are moving into lower tiers of mitigations,” Pritzker said. “In those tiers there are [sports] that are opening up. That’s a good beginning.”
Low-risk sports (boys and girls bowling, cheerleading, dance, girls gymnastics and boys swimming and diving and badminton) will be allowed to play conference and intra-region games.
Medium-risk sports will be allowed to conduct full practices and high-risk sports (basketball and wrestling) will be allowed to hold no-contact practices in Tier 2. There are no IHSA medium-risk winter sports.
10:00 a.m. Gibsons Bar and Steakhouse found in compliance with COVID-19 regulations after fire leads to evacuation
A city investigation into Gibsons Bar & Steakhouse found it to be in compliance with coronavirus safety regulation after a fire Wednesday evacuated the restaurant.
The fire, which started about 9 p.m. in a second-floor fireplace, was quickly extinguished, and while no one was injured in the blaze, the restaurant did have to evacuate patrons from the building, according to Chicago fire officials.
That led to an investigation from the office of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection, which had inspected the famed Gold Coast steakhouse just days before the fire and found them compliant with COVID-19 regulations.
BACP has reached the same conclusion after another investigation on Thursday, according to spokesman Isaac Reichman.
9:45 a.m. Pritzker will allow bars and restaurants to open sooner than planned — but not yet
Illinois’ cash-starved bars and restaurants will be allowed to welcome customers inside sooner than originally ordered by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, but that reopening is still a ways off for Chicago.
The Democratic governor announced Friday that limited indoor service will be allowed for regions of the state that see their COVID-19 metrics improve enough to move down to the state’s Tier 1 mitigation level.
That’s a shift from the original plan laid out by Pritzker’s health team, which would’ve required regions to improve even further to return to the state’s Phase 4 of reopening.
Still, most of the state’s 11 regions remain in Tier 3, including Chicago and its suburbs.
Pritzker’s layers of tiers and mitigations have caused confusion for the thousands of establishments that have seen revenue dry up since the governor shuttered indoor service statewide in November in an effort to stem a record-breaking COVID-19 resurgence.
Public health officials on Thursday announced 6,642 new cases of COVID-19 and 123 more deaths attributed to the disease. That makes 1,059,324 total cases and 18,049 total deaths statewide.
Analysis & Commentary
Who knew?
Apparently, only a few.
Who figured America’s presidential inaugural would be recalibrated by a gruesome twist in American history: sedition fueled by an accelerator named President Donald Trump and his thug acolytes.
The recent attack of domestic terrorism by the latest version of the historic “Plug Uglies,” is not expected to force President-elect Joseph Biden’s inauguration off the steps of the nation’s Capitol this week.
But it’s a good bet the nation’s “House,” invaded last week by soldiers of Trump’s alternative universe, will be hovered by a “Star Wars” sized military force ostensibly protecting celebrants looking sideways — and facing the possibility of a pat-down rather than a pat on the back.
Sadly, our nation’s inaugural transfer of power used to be a ball, a bash to celebrate the success of democracy.
The Bears were toyed with in their first two outings of the new year. | Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images
Wasn’t this year supposed to be a respite from the cruel and unusual? And we’re just talking sports here.
You think 2020 was bad?
You’re right, of course. It was pretty awful.
But then 2021 came around and — oh, by the way, you realize we’re just talking sports here, right?
Cubs fans rang in the new year with bags under their eyes from all the crying over the Yu Darvish trade and the stark realization that the good times are over. Notre Dame was manhandled again in a College Football Playoff semifinal on New Year’s Day, this time by Alabama. The Bears were manhandled by the dreaded Packers two days later in their regular-season finale, only to disgrace themselves further a week after that in New Orleans in a playoff game they had — let’s face it — no earthly business participating in.
Jeez, this column is off to an unhappy start. Kind of like 2021. Wasn’t this year supposed to be a respite from the cruel and unusual? Yes, still talking sports.
The Bulls are a noticeably improved lot under new coach Billy Donovan, yet they’ve spent the early days of the season piling up narrow losses. The Blackhawks had their helmets blown off 5-1 on Wednesday against the reigning Stanley Cup champion Lightning in both teams’ season opener, after which coach Jeremy Colliton surmised that the first period had been ‘‘fairly even.’’ If trailing 3-0 heading into the first intermission is fairly even, what the heck is the scoreboard going to look like when things are uneven?
Hey, have the White Sox started playing yet? No? Well, they’re going to be very good. Unless, that is, they aren’t. They should be, though, and they just might be all we’ve got.
I really seem to be spiraling here. Sorry.
The years 2018 and 2019 passed without a single postseason victory for the Bears, Hawks, Bulls, Cubs or Sox. Those were the first dry years since 2004, when none of those teams had a postseason defeat, either. No doubt, 2020 was a bit better, with the Hawks vanquishing the Oilers in a series that never would have happened under normal circumstances and the resurgent Sox taking one game from the Athletics before disappearing into that good night.
So we had that going for us.
What do we have now? So far, we have Kyle Schwarber waving goodbye and Kris Bryant twisting in the wind. We have Zach LaVine scoring in bunches but some saying the Bulls should think about trading him. We have Jonathan Toews and Kirby Dach on the shelf, Corey Crawford retired and Colliton already using words such as ‘‘desperation’’ and citing the need for his outmanned team to push through the adversity that — my words, not Colliton’s — will accompany it from here to the finish line of a hopeless season.
Northwestern’s basketball team has kind of face-planted after an encouraging start. Even Illinois’ enormously talented team is flirting with underachievement.
This column is darker than I intended it to be, but I think I know why. I listened to the same Bears end-of-season news conference many of you did Wednesday, a tire fire of excuses and equivocations that set off lots of folks.
‘‘The path to winning is rarely linear,’’ said longtime president/CEO Ted Phillips, whose Bears haven’t won a playoff game in a decade.
Are we to believe the path is a flatline?
‘‘Holding people accountable is much more than just starting over,’’ he said.
Isn’t that easy to say for someone who doesn’t want his position started over?
‘‘Have we gotten the quarterback situation completely right? No,’’ he said. ‘‘Have we won enough games? No. Everything else is there.’’
Is there anything else?
General manager Ryan Pace is six seasons into his whole-lot-of-nothing gig. Coach Matt Nagy is three seasons deep in the muck.
‘‘Big picture, I’m proud of our players and I’m proud of our coaches,’’ Nagy said.
For going 8-8 again? Forgive the rest of us if we aren’t beaming.
‘‘Bigger picture is, we need to do better,’’ Nagy said, ‘‘and what are we going to do and how are we going to get to that point?’’
One man’s best guess: You aren’t. This is 2021, after all.
Biggest picture? Look away, it’s hideous.
Are the Sox playing yet? No? Listen, it might be they’re all we’ve got. But I’m pretty sure I’ve said that already.
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