Written by: John Stocco
Twitter: @realJohnStocco
Usually it would suck that it’s a bye week for the Bears, but today I couldn’t be happier that I don’t have to suffer through another Sunday of Bears football for a week. It’s a cleansing feeling.
Bears fans and the NFL world are about to find out what this team is made of in the next couple of weeks. I’m not going to talk about the Raiders because we know what happened. The Bears walked into London thinking they were going to walk right over the Raiders and they got slapped in the face. Now it’s the Bears chance to hit the restart button. They have a bye week to get healthy, the Bears have a bye week to figure out why this offense has been a complete bust, and they have a bye week to figure out this mess that is the offensive line. If the Bears can’t find the answers to their problems this week, we welcome the New Orleans Saints into Soldier Field, and this team is going to end up with more problems than they can handle.
First, the Bears have to figure out a plan with this offense. The Bears can’t lie to themselves anymore. This offense has been a complete bust and there are major problems. Where do we start? Let’s start with the weakest group of talent on this team. The tight ends are just flat out terrible. Trey Burton doesn’t even look like he wants to play football, Adam Shaheen runs with the ball in his hands for more than five yards, Bradley Sowell has been released about eight times this year, and if Ben Braunecker and JP Holtz are the two best tight ends on your team then it might be time to start thinking about an upgrade. If you want to keep going back to Matt Nagy’s days with the Chiefs, then look no further than the tight end he worked with. His name is Travis Kelce. Ever heard of him? Yeah, I don’t think he’s a problem for Kansas City. Now let’s look at the receiving core. I don’t think there’s a problem here. Allen Robinson is one of the ten best wide receivers in the NFL. Javon Wims has shown that he deserves targets just as much as anyone on the team. Anthony Miller hasn’t been healthy, but I still believe in his talent. Taylor Gabriel out with a concussion, but that game against Washington showed why he is a vital part of this offense. The receivers are a strength for the Bears, but it doesn’t help when career backup Chase Daniel is your starting quarterback, and the guy that’s supposed to be a franchise quarterback can’t throw the ball farther than six yards. Then there’s the running game. Mike Davis is injured and looking like a waste of money. Cordarrelle Patterson is a one-trick pony, and defenses have already figured out that trick. Tarik Cohen should be doing what Alvin Kamara and Tyreke Hill are doing, but he can’t stop getting in his own way by taking a million steps and not moving an inch on the football field. Then you have David Montgomery, and his potential is being wasted because of the awful effort by the offensive line. David Montgomery needs space, and when you give him space, he can be the most dangerous running back in the league. It doesn’t help that this offensive line is getting zero push off the line of scrimmage every time David Montgomery gets handed the ball. Charles Leno is putting in the work by getting a step slower every season. Kyle Long has been nothing but a dog that’s all bark and no bite. The chemistry between Cody Whitehair and James Daniels has been damaged ever since they swapped positions, and then there’s Bobbie Massie.
The Bears have a week to figure out this disaster that’s been shown on the offense. I’m willing to give this defense a break. It doesn’t help that Akiem Hicks will now be out longer from an elbow injury, but the defense is still in good shape. If Matt Nagy doesn’t start finding solutions to this offense, then we’re staring 3-3 dead in the face, and it could get even worse.