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With their fifth consecutive loss, with an offense that has failed for the better part of two seasons, and with a defense that didn’t do much of anything last night, the Chicago Bears are inching towards a change of some sort.
Whether that be at the head coach position, the general manager, or even at the team president level, something has to happen as the Bears are spiraling out of control again.
Considering the Bears’ organization has never fired a head coach or GM during the season, don’t expect anything to happen with Matt Nagy and/or Ryan Pace until the season ends, but when it ends history suggests someone will get a pink slip.
I was curious about what the franchise has done in the past when the Bears have had a five game losing streak and I found an interesting trend.
Before this year, the last time the Bears dropped five straight games was 2017, and when that season concluded general manager Ryan Pace fired head coach John Fox.
Prior to 2017, the Bears lost five in a row in 2014, and when that season ended the Bears cleaned house by dumping both head coach Marc Trestman and GM Phil Emery.
And before the 2014 disaster, the Bears lost five straight in 2011, which led the franchise to fire GM Jerry Angelo.
Three recent five game losing streaks all led to change, but I’m not certain the Bears are ready to dump anyone quite yet. There are still some winnable games on the schedule and if the team can climb to a .500 record, I think they talk themselves into keeping one of, if not both of, Pace and Nagy.
There’s also the financials of both contracts to consider as brought up by my colleague Bill Zimmerman.
The question has to be asked:
— Bill Zimmerman (@ZimmermanSXM) November 30, 2020
Would McCaskeys fire Pace and Nagy and eat probably $15 million in doing so in the middle of a pandemic when their revenues are way down?
In the history of the franchise, #Bears have only fired a coach once with 2 yrs left on the deal (Trestman).
Money owed plus a strong finish could mean the status quo for this franchise in 2021.
Then again, getting blown out by the Packers was also something each of those seasons had in common, and that’s something that hurts the franchise to its core.
In 2011 the Bears fell behind 35 to 10 before eleven fourth quarter points made the score appear closer that it really was.
The 2014 season had the devastating 55 to 14 loss to Green Bay on Trestman’s resume, and the 2017 season saw the Packers whip the Bears 35 to 14 in what turned out to be the final game in the Mike Glennon era. After that Thursday night disappointment head coach John Fox turned the reigns of the offense over to rookie Mitchell Trubisky and we’ve been on that ride ever since.
The Bears end their season on January 3 at home against the Packers in what could be a pivotal game for this franchise.
Do you guys think this team will pull the trigger and make a move at head coach or general manager when the season ends?