The Barbershop: Dennis Byrne, Proprietor

Nevertheless, it was an important day for head coach Matt Nagy and the rest of the coaching staff as they try to figure out (assuming they haven’t already) who will start at quarterback in Week 1 against the Detroit Lions.

However, for fans who were hoping to glean some insight into who the starter would be, that opportunity would not come. For starters, neither quarterback separated themselves in the competition. Once again it was a battle to not be as bad as the other guy. Unfortunately, that’s not going to be enough for the Bears to make enough progress on offense.

Fans had hoped that one of the two would step up in this type of situation and prove why they deserved the starting role. Instead, they were treated to more inconsistency and uncertainty as Nagy indicated he wasn’t in any rush to name a starter.

The other notable takeaway from the scrimmage was that the defense was — well — the defense. They continue to dominate at all three levels. The front seven were getting pressure and the secondary was blanketing the wide receivers and picking off passes (Kyle Fuller intercepted Mitch Trubisky twice and Xavier Crawford nearly picked off a third).

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It’s a familiar refrain for Bears fans. The defense looks stout and confident while the offense fumbles its way around the field looking nothing like the top 20 unit it needs to be to have a legitimate shot at the playoffs.

Im what must feel like Groundhog Day for Bears fans, the team will enter the first game of the regular season with uncertainty surrounding the quarterback position. The only thing you can count on us you’re probably not going to be able to count on either of these quarterbacks.

Let’s be honest here: Foles is a “franchise quarterback” for Bears fans merely because he went on a magical run a few years ago. Notice how there are quotation marks around franchise quarterback in the last sentence. Foles isn’t going to carry the Bears in 2020. He’s not going to take over games either. He’s merely going to do enough to get by so that the Bears defense isn’t on the field for half the game.

Back in January, Bears general manager Ryan Pace used the term regression when asked why the Bears finished the season with just eight wins. Pace used the correct terminology when describing the 2019 Bears. On offense, the offensive line regressed, there was little production out of the tight end position, the running game was below average, and at wide receiver, the team had no legitimate threat besides Allen Robinson.

You can look at Foles stats and try to convince yourself that he’s got what it takes to get the job done. The point is this: For Foles to be effective, the offensive line needs to be playing at a high level. The running game, despite the injury to David Montgomery, needs to effective as well. Wide receivers other than Robinson need to step up as well.

If the things in the paragraph above can happen, then the Bears will be in a situation where they’ll be able to have an offense that can move the ball effectively. The offense also needs to play mistake-free football, not committing penalities that will hold the whole unit back once momentum starts to build.

On Saturday, head coach Matt Nagy stated that the team would not be naming a starting quarterback until the Bears first game of the season, which is scheduled to take place in two weeks. Whether the starting quarterback is Foles or Trubisky, the rest of the positional groups on offense need to be playing at a high level if the quarterback is going to have any sort of impact in 2020.