If the Chicago Bears are going to live up to Super Bowl aspirations, it’ll be up to quarterback Mitchell Trubisky to shoulder the weight of expectations.
This is the most important season for the Chicago Bears since 1986. That was the season after the Bears won Super Bowl XX with arguably the greatest team ever assembled. The 1986 team couldn’t live up to the expectations that year and repeat as Super Bowl champions. The 2019 version of the Bears is met with similar, albeit different expectations.
It’s the wait for expectations that comes with the weight of expectations.
The trade for Khalil Mack on the doorstep of the season opener vs. the rival Green Bay Packers sent expectations soaring from possibly going 7-9 in a best-case scenario to going 12-4 and winning the NFC North. The season ended with a double-doink in the playoffs vs. the Philadelphia Eagles, but that loss has fueled the team in the offseason.
Head coach Matt Nagy won’t be content with the success of his first year as a head coach and has to prove last season wasn’t a fluke.
It’s incredibly difficult to be good in the NFL. It’s even harder to stay good in the NFL.
That’s the biggest challenge facing Nagy, Bears general manager Ryan Pace and the rest of the team as expectations from fans are Super Bowl or bust.
Continued development from former No. 2 overall pick Mitchell Trubisky is the most important dynamic to consider. Trubisky has the faith of most Bears fans who believe he will take a similar leap this year as he did last year. And then there is the other half of the fan contingent who are still wishing Pace drafted Deshaun Watson or Patrick Mahomes. Either of those quarterbacks on the Bears would make them prohibitive Super Bowl favorites.
But there are no do-overs. There is no point in thinking about what-ifs. In the immortal words of Lovie Smith, “Mitchell Trubisky is our quarterback.”
He may be fueled by those nationally who doubt him and motivated by those locally who love him. They’ll love him even more if he makes this offense dangerous. He has a talented supporting cast led by receiver Allen Robinson who is coming off a good first year in Chicago. As is the case with the team, expectations are higher for Robinson in Year 2 and another year removed from an ACL tear that ended his time in Jacksonville. Coupled with Taylor Gabriel, second-year receiver and breakout candidate, Anthony Miller, the receiver group is the strongest it’s been in Chicago in years.
Tight end is a concern with the injury-prone duo of Trey Burton and Adam Shaheen.
However, the running game is not a concern despite the trading away of Jordan Howard, who had been the focal point of the offense for the bulk of his Bears tenure.
Howard wasn’t an ideal fit in Nagy’s offense and that was clear for several weeks last season when he just wasn’t utilized much. Coupled with the development of Tarik Cohen and his big-play ability, Howard was the odd man out. The Bears addressed running back in free agency with veteran Mike Davis and with their third round pick (their first) n the Draft to take David Montgomery out of Iowa State.
Montgomery brings much more contact balance and the ability to make defenders miss. He can also help out in the receiving game where Howard was a non-factor. Look for a three-headed monster to lighten the pressure Trubisky will be under to ignite the passing game.
A quarterback’s best friend is a strong and dependable run game. That wasn’t there last year. It should be there this year. Having all five offensive line starters back is music to the ears of Nagy, Trubisky and offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich.
The kicker?
Well, it’s the kicker.
Cody Parkey’s double-doink in the playoff loss haunted Bears fans, players and coaches alike for a long offseason. They brought in nine kickers to minicamp. They were desperate to find a kicker they traded a conditional 7th round pick to the Oakland Raiders for Eddy Pineiro. Still not satisfied, the Bears offered a conditional 5th rounder to the Baltimore Ravens for Kaare Vedvik who was eventually moved to the Minnesota Vikings. Pineiro booted a 58-yard field goal in the third preseason game, which is far and away the most significant development from the preseason.
He’ll be the kicker tasked with getting three points when drives stall. With the Bears playing a number of close games, a made or missed field goal can be the difference between going 8-8 or 12-4.
Nagy, Trubisky and others are feeling the pressure and weight of expectations, but how well Pineiro responds to his pressures can be the difference in going to a Super Bowl and the season ending prematurely.
The Bears are a franchise known for their ferocious defense. The Monsters of the Midway. This year is no different. After having the top defense in the NFL last year, the national conversation seems to be centering around regression. The team lost coordinator Vic Fangio who took the head coach job with the Denver Broncos and replaced him with Chuck Pagano. His background with the Baltimore Ravens as a coordinator and as a head coach with the Indianapolis Colts suggests the defense will be different, but the effect shouldn’t.
Pagano is a little more aggressive and could dial up a few more blitzes, especially for outside linebacker Mack, Leonard Floyd who is due for a big year. Inside linebacker Roquan Smith could also be sent on various blitz packages this year. His first play as a Bear last year as a rookie was a sack. He could be headed for a breakout year that could see him garner All-Pro honors.
That’s what happened last year with free safety Eddie Jackson who blossomed into a superstar and former first round pick Kyle Fuller who had his best season as a pro. The pressure to back up those years and prove they weren’t a fluke is crucial to the defense avoiding a significant regression.
Can the Bears force as many turnovers as they did last year? It’s a tough thing to replicate, but the players are there and the scheme should present a number of opportunities to turn the ball over.
The defense is the least of Bears fans worries.
It’s rare territory for Bears fans to be good for more than one year in a row. As optimistic as they are, there is a percentage of them that can’t help but be skeptical. It’s a larger Chicago sports fan trauma that will take some time to get over. But on paper, this is shaping up to be the biggest year in Bears history since 1986.
Will they avoid the same fate as that group that had to shoulder the burden of Super Bowl hopes and unmet expectations that is still talked about in Chicago today?
Or will this 2019 Bears team be the first since 1985 to win the only game that matters?
It largely depends on the right arm of Trubisky who must prove he has the broad shoulders required to put the weight of expectations on him.