Over the last three decades, the Chicago Bears have been one of the NFL’s worst teams. They’ve won a total of four playoff games since 1994 and have just nine winning seasons in that same time span. Based on the sheer pandemonium the latest iteration has already faced, the 2023 Bears are somehow shaping up to enjoy the worst year of them all.
Below, you will find a timeline of everything that’s gone wrong for the Bears during this extremely young season. We haven’t even seen three games, and it feels like this franchise is about to be swallowed up by a massive sinkhole. Nothing is going right. Everything is broken. None of it is normal. And it doesn’t seem like anyone in a leadership position has solutions to right the ship.
Take a (very) deep breath, and let’s dive in.
Offseason offensive line issues
Before the Bears played any 2023 games, starting right guard Nate Davis barely practiced during the offseason and training camp. It was later revealed he had a death in the family, and he missed Week 2 as a result.
Meanwhile, former second-round pick Teven Jenkins strained both of his calves toward the end of Chicago’s preseason. The Bears’ starting left guard was summarily placed on injured reserve and will likely not return until mid-October at the earliest. Everyone knows it’s always good to be without two offensive line starters before you can blink.
Adam Schefter reports that Teven Jenkins is dealing with a strained calf x2: both legs. pic.twitter.com/k0ywOM1d3z
— Matt Clapp (@DaBearNecess) August 21, 2023
Week 1
The Bears’ Week 1 matchup against the rival Green Bay Packers was arguably the most excited their fan base has been for this matchup in a long time. With Aaron Rodgers gone, Chicago’s faithful believed the recent lopsided affair was going to swing back in the Bears’ favor.
Then the Packers absolutely crushed Chicago in a 38-20 win that didn’t seem all that close. After the defeat, all hell broke loose in a matter of days:
- -Justin Fields apologized to Bears fans for the lackluster outing, vowing the team would rebound and play better.
- -Past trade acquisition Chase Claypool was taken to task by former NFL players and national analysts for a lazy effort against the Packers.
Finally, after making two key catches to bring the Bears into scoring position against Green Bay, “CEO” head coach Matt Eberflus couldn’t explain why No. 1 wide receiver D.J. Moore was substituted during a key red-zone possession:
Matt Eberflus said he isn't sure why DJ Moore came out of the game after back-to-back receptions that got Bears into the red zone.
Might have been part of a rotation, but Bears HC didn't have answers
— Josh Schrock (@Schrock_And_Awe) September 13, 2023
Jaquan Brisker makes it worse
A talented second-year safety, Brisker is one of the Bears’ purported team leaders. Yet, he seemingly couldn’t help but pour gas on Chicago’s horrific optics after its listless Packers defeat.
First, the brash defender said Jordan Love was “nothing special,” despite the quarterback dropping 245 yards and three touchdowns on Brisker’s defense in a win. It’s never a good idea to share your negative opinions about opposing players in public. It’s a terrible idea to do it after your top rival blasts you on the field.
Then, Brisker asked Bears fans to be nicer to the team despite a ninth straight loss to the Packers in a game that never appeared competitive. Talk about a lack of self-awareness. These comments were stacked on top of a confused Moore, who wondered why Bears fans were booing as early as the second quarter during the Green Bay loss.
Week 2
After the fervor of Bears quotes started to die down (somewhat), the microscope zeroed in on Fields. Even for one game, the third-year quarterback looked lost in the pocket — like a potential bust — and clearly had minimal help from his coaches and teammates.
In response to the Bears’ awful offensive and defensive play, Eberflus and offensive coordinator Luke Getsy blamed “poor execution” for their respective units floundering about:
#Bears OC Luke Getsy on if he viewed the plan vs. the Packers as conservative: "I don’t look at it as that way. I don’t think I ever have. We look for advantageous looks. I know it sounds like screens have been a conversation, but a poor motion landmark, and a couple
— Josh Schrock (@Schrock_And_Awe) September 14, 2023
To top all the Bears’ verbal sniping off, it was revealed they would be without their defensive coordinator Alan Williams against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The coach stepped away from the team for “personal reasons”:
Bears’ DC Alan Williams will miss Sunday's game at Tampa Bay due to personal reasons. Bears’ HC Matt Eberflus told reporters he will fill in as the DC vs. the Buccaneers, and there currently is no time frame on Williams’ return.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 15, 2023
Once the Buccaneers game actually rolled around, the Bears lost a 27-17 winnable affair. It was capped off by an embarrassing Justin Fields pick-six to Shaquil Barrett from the shadow of Chicago’s own end zone. In the immediate aftermath of the Bears falling to 0-2, Buccaneers linebacker Lavonte David noted that Tampa Bay saw Chicago’s game-losing pick-six coming because the Bears had used the same formation for three straight plays.
Wednesday of Week 3
There’s no sugarcoating it. I have (unfortunately) observed the Bears for nearly two decades. Wednesday at their headquarters in Lake Forest, Illinois, was undoubtedly one of the most chaotic the organization has ever endured. Seriously, they placed their starting left tackle Braxton Jones on injured reserve, and it was a footnote.
Where do we even begin?
- -Before practice, a candid Justin Fields partially blamed the Bears’ coaching staff for making him play like a robot. (He would later walk these comments back).
- -Later, after a bizarre day on social media, Williams resigned as the Bears’ defensive coordinator. (Note: By Thursday afternoon, according to cornerback Tyrique Stevenson, Eberflus had apparently not addressed his players about Williams’ departure. The Athletic’s Dianna Russini would later refute this with a report that Eberflus had spent time speaking to his players.)
- -After witnessing the chaos in Chicago, Patrick Mahomes — perhaps the league’s de facto quarterback ombudsman — advised Fields to remember that he’s in the NFL for a reason.
Thursday of Week 3
With the dust from Wednesday settled, the national media — especially on ESPN — placed the Bears in its crosshairs. Most notably, you had Mike Greenberg ripping Chicago for failing to develop Fields. Meanwhile, Stephen A. Smith called the Bears a “trash” organization in a First Take monologue:
"The Chicago Bears are trash. Let's just call it what it is."
–@stephenasmith on the Bears organization pic.twitter.com/GH6fjr411q
— First Take (@FirstTake) September 21, 2023
Back to the Bears themselves.
General manager Ryan Poles held an emergency press conference to discuss all aspects of Chicago’s recent turmoil. He claimed that the organization isn’t panicking despite their overwhelming adversity. For context, most NFL general managers are not speaking to the media on a Week 3 Thursday. Poles deserves credit for trying to be a leader, but his presence in front of the podium at this time of year says the Bears are likely panicking. And a lot.
More from Thursday of Week 3
Later, after the apparent controversy from Fields’ coaching comments, he and Getsy made a show of conveniently hugging it out in front of cameras on Chicago’s practice field. Call me overzealous, but I’m not buying everything being hunky-dory between the pair.
Off the field, a new Bears clip from the Buccaneers’ YouTube channel surfaces. It features Moore agreeing with Tampa Bay’s Devin White that the Bears aren’t utilizing him right on a hot microphone. Oof. (He’s probably not wrong!)
Finally, Brisker made headlines again. People noticed he liked a harsh segment of Stephen A. Smith’s “Bears are trash” rant on Twitter. They weren’t sure if he agreed with Smith’s sentiment or if he was using it as motivation. Brisker soon clarified that he was keeping receipts and that folks criticizing Chicago would be “swallowing their words” soon.
Uh, sure. If that makes him feel better:
#Bears safety Jaquan Brisker on why he liked this tweet:
"I just really love the noise. Love everything about it. Just favorited that tweet just so I could remember exactly what they said. Stephen A. said. They're going to swallow their words pretty soon, so that's the reason… pic.twitter.com/fZu7yzPi76
— Nicholas Moreano (@NicholasMoreano) September 21, 2023
Friday of Week 3
While everything else above was going on at the Bears’ suburban practice facility, the team lost track of more than $100,000 worth of equipment, including gators and lawn mowers, which was stored at a parking structure at Soldier Field.
The Chicago Bears are trying to track down equipment that was stolen earlier this week at Soldier Field. https://t.co/bHwfFCgAve
— ABC 7 Chicago (@ABC7Chicago) September 22, 2023
Surely it will turn up on its own.
Sunday of Week 3
No one really expected the Bears to compete with the Chiefs, but, hoo boy, they looked utterly lifeless in a 41-10 blowout. They might as well have been the anonymous football team the Chiefs pounded in one of the first chapters of the Travis Kelce-Taylor Swift love story. Also, Justin Fields seemingly got concussed before D.J. Moore took the initiative to protect his teammate.
AWESOME: #Bears WR D.J. Moore GRABS Justin Fields to take him out of the game. pic.twitter.com/uUXc5PnzQL
— Tanner Phifer (@TannerPhiferNFL) September 24, 2023
If that weren’t enough, Fox decided that a game involving Patrick Mahomes and Swift wasn’t worth the viewership numbers after an abysmal first half.
Monday of Week 4
After the Chiefs’ blowout win over the Bears, Justin Fields sounded like a broken quarterback. Anyone talking about appreciating the little things — as if everything else around them is grim and bleak — is certainly not in a good place. The pressure of rising to the occasion for a bottom-feeding and hungry fanbase like Chicago’s can be a lot.
On Monday, betting oddsmakers in Las Vegas revealed the Bears would be home underdogs to the Denver Broncos — a team that had just surrendered 70 points. In fairness, it’s not as if the Bears deserved more faith.
Thursday and Friday of Week 4
On Thursday, Bears depth receiver Equanimeous St. Brown revealed he only goes out after Chicago wins. So, for a team on the NFL’s current longest losing streak, he hasn’t gone out in a long time!
On the following day, more drama followed around Chase Claypool. The receiver was asked if the Bears were using him correctly. He offered a succinct “no” while trying to offer some other light context. And the match was ready for this spark.
#Bears WR Chase Claypool asked: ‘have you been put In the best position as a WR 2 showcase the best of what u can do?
(Pause) “No.”
Follow up: is it not ideal?
“No, I wouldn’t say that. I think every situation has the ability 2 be ideal. I think we’re working towards that.”
— Mark Grote (@markgrotesports) September 29, 2023
Sunday of Week 4
After Claypool’s comments, the Bears made him inactive for their game against the Broncos. Any time a player for whom a second-round pick was traded is benched, the writing’s on the wall. Their future probably isn’t long for their current city. But that was only the start of this latest Claypool fiasco.
First, though, the Bears had a game to play. Justin Fields started 16-of-16, and through three quarters of play, the Broncos’ defense helped him make him look like a Hall of Famer. A final 28-of-35, 335-yard, and four-touchdown is easily the best passing performance of the young quarterback’s career. Then the Broncos came back. And with the game on the line, Matt Eberflus not only uses a timeout after trying to draw Denver offsides on a fourth-and-short, but he goes for it anyway.
The decision predictably blew up in Chicago’s face (especially wasting the timeout) in a stunning 31-28 loss where the Bears had a 28-7 lead with under 20 minutes to go.
Monday of Week 5
Between Sunday evening and Monday, it’s abundantly clear the Bears can’t even get their messaging right on player discipline. Eberflus explained the Bears gave Claypool a choice to stay home or play, implying he chose to stay home. Then, a Chicago public relations staff member quickly corrects him, noting the Bears did not give Claypool a choice. Hmm, why does it always seem like the head coach doesn’t know what’s happening with his football team?
When it was time to face the media the next day, the gathered contingent grilled Eberflus with nearly 20 consecutive questions about Claypool’s bizarre situation and the Bears’ poor communication. That is not a typo. He somehow deflected them all in the oddest way.
A sure sign of a healthy culture behind the scenes!
