Former Blackhawks star Marian Hossa was a fitting presence at Soldier Field on Sunday, as the rebuilding Bears blew a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter in a 31-30 loss to the Lions — a reminder of a universal truth in sports: Great players teach you how to win.
Hossa was an ironic final piece to the Blackhawks’ rebuild — a player who came here in search of a tantalizingly elusive championship ring, and ended up being the critical addition that put the Blackhawks over the top in 2009-10 to start a run of three Stanley Cups in six seasons.
Even with Justin Fields literally breaking franchise records every week and developing into the real deal before our eyes, the Bears still are a few Marian Hossas away from Super Bowl contention.
After failing to close against a 2-6 Lions team at home, the Bears obviously still need to learn how to win. But while the Lions game was a “bad loss” it wasn’t a defining one that casts doubt on the direction of the rebuild. It’ll take a few more of those to do that.
If you’re expecting this current core to develop some kind of killer instinct, you’re likely in for a disappointment. The Bears should improve in the final seven games under Matt Eberflus, with a playmaking quarterback getting more familiar with his weapons and Luke Getsy’s offense and four rookies presumably developing on defense.
But upgrades and reinforcements will make the biggest difference. They always do. Jon Lester taught the Cubs how to win. Tom Brady taught the Buccaneers how to win. Patrick Mahomes taught the Chiefs how to win — and by throwing to Tyreek Hill more than Byron Pringle.
Let the record show that the Bears have earned the skepticism. At some point they will have to finish. But in a clear and clean — and refreshing — rebuild, the clock doesn’t really start on Ryan Poles and Matt Eberflus until 2023. Eventually, Poles’ biggest challenge will be finding his Marian Hossa.
2. The Bears should be trying to win every game, but you can’t ignore the reality that every loss for a team that is not playoff bound is a benefit in draft position.
At 3-7, the Bears currently have the No. 6 pick in the 2023 draft. At 5-5 — had they won close games against the Dolphins and Lions — they would have the No. 17 pick. That’s a big difference. Two years ago, the No. 6 pick was wide receiver Jaylen Waddle. The No. 17 pick was offensive tackle Alex Leatherwood.
It’s not like that every year — and you can find gems outside the top 10 — but in general, the higher the pick, the better the chance to get a difference-maker. In 2014, general manager Phil Emery was one pick from getting Aaron Donald instead of Kyle Fuller. In 2015, Ryan Pace was three picks from getting Amari Cooper instead of Kevin White.
(In 1997, the 4-12 Bears were two losses from having a chance to draft Peyton Manning — they beat the 6-7 Bills and 4-10 Rams in the last three weeks of the season to fall to No. 5 and took running back Curtis Enis).
3. Speaking of Emery and Pace, it will be old home week for some Bears personnel in Atlanta this week.
Emery and Pace are senior personnel executives with the Falcons. Five former Bears assistant coaches also are on the Falcons’ staff — offensive coordinator Dave Ragone, quarterbacks coach Charles London, outside linebackers coach Ted Monachino, secondary coach Jon Hoke and running backs coach Michael Pitre.
The Falcons also have seven former Bears on their roster — running back Cordarrelle Patterson, linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski, wide receiver Damiere Byrd, offensive tackle Germain Ifedi, defensive tackle Abdullah Anderson, running back Damien Williams and offensive lineman Elijah Wilkinson.
4. Poles’ house-cleaning was a rebuke of Pace’s roster — only 19 of the 77 players he inherited from Pace are still on the Bears’ roster. And Pace’s seven-year tenure was marked by big misses — not only the disastrous trade up to get Mitch Trubisky in 2017, but also White at No. 7 in 2015 and tight end Adam Shaheen at No. 45 in 2017.
But Pace deserves due credit for several key pieces — not only Fields, but wide receiver Darnell Mooney, tight end Cole Kmet, running backs Khalil Herbert and David Montgomery, guard Cody Whitehair, safety Eddie Jackson and place-kicker Cairo Santos.
5. Eberflus is a big believer in letting rookies and inexperienced players learn on the job — the Bears are starting four rookies on defense — so Velus Jones’ being inactive the past two games is even more notable.
Jones at No. 71 overall looked like an odd reach for Poles, who was otherwise prudent in his first draft. Most mock drafts had Jones being drafted from 128th (si.com) to 209th (The Sporting News).
It’s too early to consider Jones a lost cause. A project like Adam Shaheen never showed the skills he was purported to have when he was taken at No. 45 in 2017. But Jones’ speed not only is evident, but a skill that gives him a chance to make it in better circumstances.
6. The Bears’ offense has a long way to go in the passing game — the Bears not only are 32nd and last in the NFL in passing yards (128.1 per game), but their 1,281 passing yards are the fewest through 10 games since the 2009 Raiders (1,250).
But offensive coordinator Luke Getsy has earned at least a little bit of trust. Six weeks ago, Fields’ production was so poor after four games, he was drawing legitimate comparisons to Mitch Trubisky. Getsy pushed back on that (“I don’t think he’s had a rough month”) and saw progress where others did not.
Since then, Fields still is only averaging 169.7 passing yards per game (31st in the NFL in that span), but his completion percentage is up from 50.8 to 62.9 and his passer rating has improved from 58.7 (two touchdowns, four interceptions) to 99.6 (10 touchdowns, three interceptions) — eighth in the NFL in that span.
At no point in the Matt Nagy era was there even that level of evidence of quarterback development, so the final seven games — as long as Fields is standing — will at least be interesting to watch.
7. Sign of Progress Dept.: Over the past five games, the Bears have converted 35-of-53 third-down situations of nine or fewer yards (66.0%) — the highest percentage in the NFL in that span. Fields has run for 18 of those conversions.
That’s a big improvement over the first five games, when the Bears converted 41.5% of their third-down plays of nine or fewer yards — 25th in the NFL.
Overall, the Bears are seventh in the NFL in third-down conversions (59-of-133, 44.4%) this season. They were 28th after five games.
8. Quentin Johnston Watch: The 6-4, 215-pound TCU junior has jumped to the top of the wide receiver class and ninth overall on Pro Football Focus’s draft board — for whatever that’s worth.
Johnston played through an ankle injury in a huge game against Texas and had three receptions for 66 yards, including a 31-yard touchdown that made the difference for the Horned Frogs (10-0) in a 17-10 victory.
9. Josh McCown Ex-Bears Players of the Week: Commanders offensive tackles Charles Leno and Cornelius Lucas, linebacker Jon Bostic and punter/holder Tress Way all had a hand in a 32-21 upset of the previously unbeaten Eagles on Monday Night Football.
10. Bear-ometer: 5-12 — at Falcons (W); at NY Jets (L); vs. Packers (L); vs. Eagles (L); vs. Bills (L); at Lions (W); vs. Vikings (L).
