Bears must stick with the plan for now

The Bears are in bad shape, very bad shape in fact.

An 0-2 start could be spiraling toward an 0-4 first quarter of the season.

This is the reality of the Bears right now. Their margin of error was razor thin coming into the season because of a lack of depth but now that injuries have mounted the team is in deep.

The Bears are in for a long season and frustration is building among the fans.

Some are screaming for changes but the fact is, it’s too soon to do that.

The fact is that Ryan Pace and John Fox has had two drafts and two seasons to turn this thing around and it appears to only be getting worse.

While the team might be going in the wrong direction, it is way too soon to talk about blowing it up and starting over yet again.

Bad teams make changes every two years. Bad teams let one or two drafts decide the future of the franchise before hitting the restart button.

Yes, the Chicago Bears have problems but the undertaking that Pace and Fox had was huge when they got here.

Former general manager Phil Emery inherited a bad roster from Jerry Angelo and he in turn, made it worse.

That might be an overstatement, Emery found a few good players, mainly Kyle Long and Alshon Jeffery but he made a couple good free agent signings, such as Lamarr Houston and Willie Young. Emery’s main shortcoming was not drafting many good players and hiring Marc Trestman.

As soon as they got the boot, Ryan Pace was left picking up the pieces. Changing the defense to a 3-4 required serious re-tooling with the elements that were there. The roster was still aged and in need of a talent infusion. Many of Emery’s picks that didn’t pan out where chosen to fit a system the Bears no longer ran.

The process has been slow and the jury is still out on some of Pace’s picks as well. The fact is this roster still isn’t where it needs to be but there is some promise. While Kevin White doesn’t look impressive yet, Leonard Floyd has shown a little potential and there are some good picks he’s made.

Pace has made some questionable moves, sure but what GM hasn’t. The signing of Bobby Massie has been a bust but he found Josh Sitton. He couldn’t have known Pernell McPhee’s knees were going to burn out as quickly as they did.

While this season is shaping up to be a long one for fans, the team has to stay the course.

Fox and Pace have been tied to Jay Cutler for the two years of their stay but now, with his injury and expiring guaranteed money, the decision makers have to see the opportunity in front of them.

This could be their best chance to rebuild from the quarterback spot. Sure they could start fresh from a GM and head coach spot but Pace should be the guy to make the choice.

The NFL has very few two-time general managers and even fewer GMs that get a chance at choosing two coaches and franchise QBs. There is only one shot for this regime to get turn it around.

If the Bears blow it up now there is a chance they will need to rebuild again if the new decision makers’ picks don’t work out. They need to go ahead and ride it out with Pace and Fox.

Teams in the NFL are so quick to hit the reset button but patience can pay off. Regardless of the team’s lack of draft picks used on QBs, there have been rumors tht the Bears were trying to make a play for QBs such as Marcus Mariota and that they did extensive scouting on Carson Wentz.

The opportunity hasn’t presented itself for Pace to get the QB he wanted but perhaps 2017 will finally be that year.

Being quick to start will never lay the foundation for success that the Bears need. Fans have been waiting long enough for a contender, so what’s the harm in waiting another year?

An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Jay Cutler’s contract is expiring. It is not expiring, it runs through 2020 but the guaranteed money is done after 2016 and he can be cut with only a $2 million dead cap hit in ‘17.