Chicago Bears Q&A: Could the team’s ongoing struggles hinder the stadium efforts? Will they be flexed out of prime-time games?
The outlook for the Chicago Bears season went from bleak to bleaker with Sunday’s 41-10 rout by the Kansas City Chiefs that was over by halftime.
Before the Denver Broncos arrive at Soldier Field for a Week 4 meeting of two of the NFL’s four winless teams, the Tribune’s Brad Biggs reaches into his weekly Bears mailbag.
I’ve just about given up hope on the season and find myself more interested in 2024 draft possibilities than the remainder of the schedule. I am also looking forward to a new stadium in Arlington Heights. Will another brutal season, and one that is off to such a dysfunctional start, hinder efforts to eventually get shovels in the dirt and have building commence? Will the on-field product hurt the Bears in more ways? — Christopher T., Downers Grove
Interesting question with many layers to it. As I have written in this space previously, I do my best to stick to football here and not wade into the murky waters of politics. Losing is never good for business. That much we know. But it’s not like the Bears are headed to the polls this fall. They aren’t reliant on voters who may be soured by the team’s ongoing misfortune — one winning season in the previous 10 years. There isn’t a public referendum that could put the project in jeopardy.
If folks care about perception and politics, and the two can be rolled together at times, I can see how you could make this argument. But this is more about politics and money — LOTS of money — and the Bears, despite their losing ways, still have a strong brand. They still bring economic impact. Does the losing affect the appeal of a new stadium? I would tend to think not. I’m sure many fans associate the idea of a new stadium with future on-field prosperity, even if a correlation is unlikely .
The NFL is recession-proof. Its franchises make truckloads of money. Fan apathy always turns around in the offseason with free agency followed by the draft. You’re already focused on a draft in which the Bears project to own two very high picks. Recall the (unjustified to this point) optimism of this past offseason. Now multiply it in 2024. That will create excitement about the franchise once again. Whether it’s realistic is a conversation for a much later date.
If President/CEO Kevin Warren is immersed in football business at the end of this season, and it’s easy to see that happening, I suppose that could pull him away from the stadium initiative for a few weeks. But let’s be honest, Warren was hired with a new stadium as his No. 1 business priority, and I’m not sure the extended losing the Bears are going through necessarily would trip things up.
The Bears’ history of stumbling with these issues — they got what they consider a bad financial deal and subpar stadium when they went through this 20 years ago with the remodel of Soldier Field — is a real factor, but that’s why Warren was hired. He’s in a position to be the fixer with the dexterity to navigate this political terrain. Now let’s jump out of politics and get back into football.
Are we going to see some upcoming prime-time games flexed to Sunday afternoons? — Mike J., Chenoa, Ill.
The Bears have four prime-time games on the schedule, beginning next week with a Thursday night game against the Washington Commanders at FedEx Field on Prime Video. Dates and times haven’t been determined for two other games.
Week 5: Oct. 5 at Commanders, 7:15 p.m., Prime Video
Week 8: Oct. 29 at Chargers, 7:20 p.m., NBC-5
Week 10: Nov. 9 vs. Panthers, 7:15 p.m., Prime Video
Week 12: Nov. 27 at Vikings, 7:15 p.m., ESPN
Week 15: TBD at Browns
Week 18: TBD at Packers
The Commanders game is locked in, as is a second Thursday Prime Video game in Week 10 against the Carolina Panthers at Soldier Field. Yes, it’s possible both teams could be winless in the national game the league serves up on a Thursday night. Imagine the quips legendary play-by-play man Al Michaels would have if both enter 0-for-the-season.
New rules the league instituted this year to allow Thursday and Monday night games to be flexed don’t affect either of the Bears’ Prime Video games. The league can flex a maximum of two Thursday games but only between Weeks 13 and 17.
Flexible scheduling does allow the league to consider shifting the Bears out of the Sunday night slot in Week 8 against Justin Herbert and the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium. Sunday night games on NBC can be flexed up to twice between Weeks 5 and 10 and at the NFL’s discretion from Weeks 11-17.
The league also could opt to move the Bears out of the Monday night slot in Week 12 against the Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium. The rule changes give the NFL leeway to move “Monday Night Football” games at its discretion from Weeks 12-17.
That Vikings game comes at the end of Thanksgiving weekend, and I wonder if the league would hesitate to juggle the lineup in place. The NFL does bonkers ratings around the holiday no matter what the matchups look like, and there’s a smaller inventory of Sunday games to potentially shift that week. Also, ESPN might want one game with the Chicago audience this season; the same goes for NBC with the Bears-Chargers game.
Now let’s consider a few other points. The Bears are good for the networks. They put up strong television numbers even when they’re playing poorly. They have the largest TV market in a one-team city.
Second, there’s another team the league probably will be looking to shift out of prime time. The New York Jets won’t be much of a television draw nationally with Aaron Rodgers recovering from surgery to repair a torn Achilles tendon. The Jets have five prime-time games coming up, beginning Sunday night against the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs. That isn’t eligible to be moved, and neither are the Week 9 game against the Chargers on “Monday Night Football” or the Week 12 game against the Miami Dolphins on Black Friday. That game is locked in on Prime Video.
The NFL could punt the Jets’ Week 10 game against the Las Vegas Raiders from NBC’s Sunday night slot. It also could move their Thursday night Prime Video meeting with the Cleveland Browns in Week 17.
How the Bears play in the coming weeks will factor into those decisions, and there could be other teams besides the Jets that are unappealing to a national audience. The television rules get complicated. CBS and Fox can protect one game apiece every Sunday, so it’s not like the best matchup of the week can be cherry-picked for Sunday or Monday night. Sometimes it’s obvious which games will be locked. Other times it’s guesswork.
A few more guidelines:
If Sunday night games between Weeks 5 and 13 or Monday night games from Weeks 12-17 are to be moved, an announcement will be made at least 12 days in advance.
Flex scheduling for Sunday night games between Weeks 14 and 17 will be done at least six days in advance.
Thursday games between Weeks 13 and 17 will be shifted at least 28 days before the game.
Now to the TBD listed for the Bears’ Week 15 game at the Browns. The league designated five games that weekend as TBD. Three will be played in a Saturday tripleheader. The other two will be on Sunday afternoon. Here are the five matchups:
Bears at Browns
Falcons at Panthers
Vikings at Bengals
Broncos at Lions
Steelers at Colts
I’m hard-pressed to select a crown jewel from that slate to put in the Saturday prime-time slot. It’s unlikely any of those games will feature two teams with winning records at that point in the season. So the Bears could play the Browns on Saturday afternoon, late Saturday afternoon, Saturday night or Sunday afternoon. There is no date for when that scheduling will be finalized.
The league will play two Saturday games in Week 18 — one late afternoon and one prime time — and one Sunday night game. The rest will be played in the Sunday afternoon slots. That scheduling won’t be finalized until the end of Week 17.
Are the two rookie defensive tackles getting any playing time? Have they shown up on the scorecard? Are any defensive units (DL, LB, etc.) above average? — @middleagecrazy4
Gervon Dexter, the second-round pick from Florida, and Zacch Pickens, the third-round selection from South Carolina, are part of the rotation up front. Dexter has logged 82 snaps (39%) through three games with seven tackles and one quarterback hit. Pickens has played 54 snaps (26%) and has four tackles. Neither has made a big impact to this point, and their development will be crucial to any progress for the defensive line.
Dexter has a lot of inconsistency in his game, and that’s not surprising for rookie linemen. He has immense power at 6-foot-6 and 312 pounds but struggles with leverage at times, and in talking to personnel officials who have watched the Bears, his effort can wane later in games. He’s raw in terms of instincts and having a feel for what offensive linemen are trying to do. That should improve with experience.
Pickens was the more productive of the two in the preseason but hasn’t made any splash plays in the regular season. He’s also sort of finding his way at the professional level. The best defensive lineman to this point has probably been nose tackle Andrew Billings. He has everything you’re looking for at that position, but he’s not going to make a lot of plays when the ball is going away from him. Billings is a base-down defender, too, so he’s not really a factor in the sub packages. But he is playing well.
I would say the linebackers with Tremaine Edmunds and T.J. Edwards are definitely above average, and Jack Sanborn is coming off a nice game in Kansas City. What the free-agent pickups Edmunds and Edwards haven’t done yet is put together big, momentum-changing plays, and that was the hope when they were signed. It’s fair to say that until the Bears are better up front, the linebackers will have a hard time playing to their ceiling. That’s the way it works. The entire defense is connected. The better the line is, the better the second and third levels look too.
“They’re right there,” coach Matt Eberflus said Monday. “They’re right in position where they need to be. Those guys have been making a lot of plays. It’s more about the strip attempts that we have to have when we’re going to tackle. We might be missing that some. We’ve got to do a great job with that. But they’re in position to make some plays, and we’re going to get them in position.”
To me, the defensive line is the glaring position group on this roster — besides quarterback — when you’re asking what’s wrong. Dexter and/or Pickens need to emerge as foundational pieces for this defense or there really isn’t anything to get excited about for the future when you put the position under the microscope.
Has there been any indicators that the Bears are willing to fire a head coach midseason? — @tacokingkevin
There are no indications of what was a question on the minds of many mailbag contributors this week. We need to take this another step, though. Fire Matt Eberflus and then do what? Defensive coordinator Alan Williams already left the building, leaving Eberflus to run the defense. If Eberflus goes, then what do you do? Offensive coordinator Luke Getsy has his hands full. That would leave perhaps special teams coordinator Richard Hightower to pull double duty. But what in the world would the Bears do for supervision of the defense?
I get it. Fans are fired up about the slow start and want to see the team react with similar disdain and make a move. Firing a coach in the first four or five weeks of the season would be a sign the organization is rudderless, especially in this instance with one coordinator already gone under unusual circumstances. Answering the question of what’s next is what really stalls this conversation.
How can Matt Eberflus claim the Bears are “close” after a humbling 41-10 loss to the Chiefs and an 0-3 start? I am genuinely puzzled. — Kevin T., Hammond, Ind.
Eberflus was asked Monday about the process of getting quarterback Justin Fields on track and replied with a broader response about the entire team.
“I think we’re real close. I really do,” he said. “I know a lot of people say it’s a far way away. I don’t believe that. I think we’re close. I think it’s more about the details of the individual person. If we just keep doing that right, right things are going to happen.”
Eberflus referenced the 2018 Indianapolis Colts, whom he was a part of. That team started 1-5 before going on a tear and winning nine of its final 10 games to finish 10-6. The Colts had veteran quarterback Andrew Luck in place, and from my vantage point, that makes it a faulty comparison.
But what else do you expect Eberflus to say? “We stink”? He’s at a point where it doesn’t matter if what he says resonates with the media or the fan base. He desperately needs what he says to connect with the players. The Bears are in the middle of adversity — general manager Ryan Poles used that very word last week. They cannot afford for the coach to lose the locker room. So everything Eberflus does has to be with the goal of maintaining buy-in from a young roster and coaxing improvement out of the players.
If it sounds hard to believe, it probably is, but Eberflus has to continue attempting to push the right buttons and maintain a consistent approach with his players. Perhaps that isn’t the answer you’re seeking, but I’m trying to frame this from his point of view and assess what his goals have to be at this time.
If this team continues its tailspin, do you foresee Ryan Poles trading anyone on an expiring contract? Darnell Mooney and Jaylon Johnson come to mind. — @mosconml
If the Bears continue to struggle, I am sure phone lines will be open at Halas Hall. I don’t think Poles would get a whole lot in return for players on expiring contracts, but you never know what kind of position another team could be in because of injuries. Johnson left Sunday’s loss to the Chiefs with what the team said was a hamstring injury. Nose tackle Andrew Billings could be of interest to a team in need of a run stuffer. He’s on a one-year contract. It’s hard to envision any real sell-off.
Where does this season rank on the dysfunctional scale? Is it behind the Dave McGinnis hiring debacle? — @jtel14
I can’t recall a more embarrassing moment than the McGinnis situation in January 1999, when the team scheduled a news conference to announce his hiring as the replacement for Dave Wannstedt as head coach. The Bears had not agreed to a contract with McGinnis, a linebackers coach for the team from 1986 through 1995, and he wound up removing himself from consideration for the role. It doesn’t get messier than that.
In the midst of a 13-game losing streak and on the heels of Alan Williams’ exit last week, there is a dark cloud over Halas Hall, but this doesn’t come close to the level of dysfunction the team displayed attempting to hire McGinnis. There’s one way for the Bears to change the tone and that’s to start playing more competitively. They have to keep the focus on the field and see if a softer portion of the schedule that awaits them can lead to improved results.
For whatever reason Khalil Herbert doesn’t seem to be quite the same explosive runner he was last year. His production is off and he violated the “T” part of the HITS principle with a fumble against Kansas City. At the same time, Roschon Johnson has shown flashes that he may be an excellent running back on the rise. By leaving Herbert installed as RB1 in their by-committee pecking order, is that sending the wrong message to the team about accountability? — Chris R., Midlothian
Similar questions about the depth chart in the backfield have come in every week. Herbert has started all three games and has been in on 87 snaps (49%). Johnson has 74 snaps (42%), so the playing time has been divided pretty evenly. As I always say, playing time is a better indicator than who is starting or what the depth chart says. Yes, Herbert fumbled against the Chiefs. It didn’t appear to me that he was using poor or sloppy technique. Johnson has a dropped pass and looked a little uncomfortable as a pass catcher in the preseason.
I don’t think the team is sending the wrong message. Herbert has 93 yards (4.0 per carry) and Johnson has 90 (5.3). Herbert has had some explosive plays in the screen game. Both will continue to play a lot. Maybe Johnson will supplant Herbert as the lead back at some point, but we’re not talking about — not at this point anyway — why the team isn’t giving an elite back more playing time. That’s not a knock on Johnson either. He has run with conviction and looks like a solid fourth-round draft pick. It has been only three games. Let’s see how this shakes out.
No matter what happens, Ryan Poles isn’t going anywhere this year (at least), and it is highly unlikely Matt Eberflus is getting sacked midseason. Barring injury, Justin Fields is going to be playing the remaining 14 games. If we take those as givens, then what can be done to make the team at least competitive? That has to be the first step, right? What can be done just to play competitive football? There’s not going to be any trades or upgrades with free agents off the street coming through the doors of Halas Hall. Respectfully dismayed. — Bill B.
The Bears need to break through at some point, and the young roster needs to begin experiencing some success. If the Bears are nearing the conclusion that Fields is not the long-term answer at quarterback — and everything we have seen would indicate it’s headed that way — one thought is to do whatever they can with him to play winning football. If that means he runs more, which could expose him to more contact, do it if it would help the offense extend drives and get in the end zone. What I’m saying is the Bears need to do anything possible to put every player on the field in position to have success.
Beyond that, what did we hear when Eberflus was hired and assembled his staff? They talked about having great teachers on the staff. That was a point Eberflus hammered home. It’s on the coaches to put the players in position to have success.
