Posted in: NFL, Sports | Tagged: Chicago Bears, entertainment, Matt Nagy, Mitchell Trubisky, nfl, sports

NFL Post Mortem – 2017 Chicago Bears

Published Thu, 15 Feb 2018 18:30:09 -0600

The Chicago Bears were coming off of a rough 2016 season. They went 3-13 with Jay Cutler under center for the final time. He would be released and retire at the season end only to sign with the Miami Dolphins after Ryan Tannehill got injured in preseason. It was a pretty safe bet that this was John Fox's last year to field a winning team and they went all in during the offseason. They signed quarterback Mike Glennon to be their new starter and then made a 1st round draft trade to move up one spot to take North Carolina's quarterback, Mitchel Trubisky. They gave up their 1st, 3rd and a 4th plus their 2018 3rd in exchange. You don't give up that much to get a player who isn't going to be on the field. The 2017 season started with a lot of questions.

What Happened?

Even though Trubisky had a strong preseason, the Bears went with Glennon as the starter. The team went 1-3 in his four starts, an overtime victory against the Pittsburgh Steelers being the only highlight. Fox benched Glennon after game four and the reins were given to Trubisky going forward. The change only garnered four more wins, leaving their season record at 5-11, which was a mild improvement over the previous year. But they also got 12 games with Trubisky getting to know his team and getting experience, something he lacked coming out of college. The young signal caller has a 59.4% completion rate for 2,193 yards, 7 touchdowns and 7 interceptions. He also rushed 41 times for 248 yards and 2 touchdowns.

What's Next?

To no one's surprise John Fox was shown the door and the Bears hired Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy as their new head coach. Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio stays with the team while they get Oregon's Mark Helfrich as offensive coordinator. Trubisky should benefit from the change of head coaches. Normally you don't want to change schemes early in a quarterback's career, but in this case Nagy is an offensive minded coach who has experience working with players like Alex Smith and getting the best out of them. Fox was a defensive coach who tended to focus on overpowering defense and a strong running game, asking the quarterback to just not screw things up. Nagy and Helfrich will be better at bringing out the best in Trubisky. Their biggest need in the offseason will be to build around Trubisky, giving him more protection from the line and to give him a true #1 receiver. Expect their first round pick to go with a wide out.

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