Da Bears are Da Worst?
The Trubisky/Glennon mess is the latest problem for the franchise that we don’t say is in complete turmoil, but they are
Let’s not sugarcoat it; the Chicago Bears are in complete turmoil and are a borderline dumpster fire. In the NFL Draft, the Bears pulled off the first major surprise in moving up from 3rd overall to 2nd overall to select quarterback Mitchell Trubisky. It is time for Chicago to make landslide changes.
The Bears, since their loss in the Super Bowl following the 2006 season, are 74–86 (46%). In 7 of the 10 seasons the team has finished in 3rd or 4th place in the NFC North yet, we all react to the franchise just as Jay Cutler reacts to throwing an interception, nothing.
Whether it has been Cutler, Hoyer, Barkley, Clausen, McCown, Campbell, Haine, Collins, Orton or Grossman, the Bears have not had a quarterback since Sid Luckman in the 1940's. The list of starting quarterbacks for the Bears is getting Cleveland-esk. Since 1999 the Bears have had 21 different starting quarterbacks — the Browns are at 28.
This offseason, the Bears knew they wanted to stop the trend of playing poor football. They gave a 3-year, $45 million flyer on former Tampa Bay quarterback Mike Glennon who played well his rookie season, but then this guy named Jameis Winston came to town. Glennon was the obvious veteran free agent quarterback a team would go after — but who would do that after the Osweiler nonsense last year? A team that needs a quarterback. Glennon had his opportunity to take over the reins of a franchise but it has since come crashing down.
With Glennon signing, it made complete sense to make him a headline guest of the Chicago Bears draft day party. It would be a coming out, a meet and greet with his new fans that could start embracing him. Awkwardness ensued when the Bears officially drafted Trubisky. What were the fans to do other than cheer for a new, young quarterback. It put Glennon in a funky situation and it made the Bears look like a grease-fire. Having this come through in the news cycle just proves how dysfunctional the Chicago football franchise is.
What is this franchise doing? Does General Manager Ryan Pace have job security? He shouldn’t. Is head coach John Fox on the hot seat? You betcha. Neither of these gentlemen will be in Chicago for more than two years. The trend around the league is hiring a young, quarterback-friendly offensive head coach to pair with the young quarterback (McVay with Goff, Peterson with Wentz, and Koetter with Winston and so on).
As a rookie, Mike Glennon put up a healthy 19 touchdowns and 9 interceptions in 13 games. In year two, Glennon went for 10 touchdowns and 6 interceptions in 6 games (5 starts). The Buccaneers were so bad that year (finished 1–15) that they ended up with the first overall pick in the 2015 draft and selected Jameis Winston. After not playing in 2015 and appearing in 2 games in 2016 (with only 11 pass attempts), Glennon was set to hit the market as the best available quarterback on the free agent market.
After releasing Jay Cutler and having Brian Hoyer and Matt Barkley set to be free agents themselves, the Bears were in need of a quarterback and ultimately awarded Mike Glennon with a 3-year, $45 million contract.
Glennon was finally able to be ‘the guy’ and Chicago ruined it.
If both Glennon and Trubisky get on the field this year and start, the Bears would be at 23 starting quarterbacks since 1999, inching oh-so closer to the daunted Cleveland Browns.
Are we even close to calling the Chicago Bears a dumpster fire? No, because we see the franchise for its history; the ’85 Bears, Walter Payton, Gale Sayers, Dick Butkus, Mike Singletary and more recently, Brian Urlacher. We don’t look at the team right now. Most experts and analysts say the team will struggle but then we all just shrug it off as if it were nothing. The team has not made significant, impact draft picks outside of receiver Alshon Jeffrey (who was always hurt and just signed with the Eagles), running back Matt Forte (entering year two with the Jets), iconic linebacker Brian Urlacher, and Charles ‘Peanut’ Tillman (whose final year in a Bears uniform was in 2014) — it is too early to consider interior lineman Cody Whitehair, running back Jordan Howard, and linebacker Leonard Floyd.
Put everything into prospective when taking a closer look at the Bears. They are in turmoil and we fail to say so. With a new quarterback, well now two new quarterbacks, maybe things can be on the up and up sooner than we think.
