Since the Bulls couldn’t give us that W before Christmas, we had to rely on the Bears playing on Christmas Eve at Soldier Field vs the Cardinals. They did come through! I hope you all enjoyed this present from the Bears. Yes, we are still mathematically alive for the playoffs. I don’t care if it’s 0.9%… I know each and every one of us expected to see that little “e” next to the Bears in the standings a long time ago the way this season began. Well, we’re not there quite yet.
With the percentages so low, and every little thing needing to go right, I expect we will see that “e” at some point in the next 2 weeks, but it is amazing the Bears stuck around this long… and just think if we could have won ONE of those 3 games we lead by double digits in the 4th quarter… just ONE of them. Anyways, with this victory, the Bears accomplished the bare minimum goal for this season, at least in my head: they doubled their win total from last year. However you want to look at this Bears season, wherever you sit in all the debates about Fields and the coaching staff, the standings don’t lie. The Bears DID take a step forward this year, period. Yes, this step wasn’t the one we were expecting, but it is a step… a step that shows us maybe we need to be a little more patient as this team comes together, because doubling your win total IS something. Winning in the NFL isn’t easy (picking those winners isn’t either). And although we were only at a measly 3 wins, doubling that total is still an accomplishment… and oh yeah, we still have time to add to that total. Yes, it will upset the “protect our draft position” crowd, I think learning to win, and actually winning games is critical for positioning us going forward. So whether it’s 6, 7, or 8 wins this year, the bigger and more important question is, what will that win total be NEXT year?
There are many times when I’m a year off… and I’m not talking my timing in some things on the personal side. I’m talking about with my expectations for a team and/or player. This Bears team falls into that category in both aspects. I thought the Bears would be much better, challenging for the playoffs THIS year; technically, they still are. I thought Fields would make the hyper leap this year too; he hasn’t. Has he shown us enough? Is there still more growth/improvement there for Justin? Certainly we don’t think he has shown us all he’s got, right? I do think there’s more “meat on the bones” for Fields. Why that hasn’t been unlocked thus far, can certainly be debated. Saying Fields sucks at QB is not one of the answers though. He’s a good QB… is he a franchise QB? We can debate that all day long. Is it his weapons, his protection, the coaching? We can find many excuses for him. Or maybe, just maybe, he needs a little more time developing into that guy? I know it’s the NFL, and if you don’t show us something in less than 3 years, you’re shit, but… maybe patience IS the right way to approach this team… including Fields as well.
We still have 2 games to go this season; two more chances to add to our win total. The only one I’m really concerned about is the last week of the season, but I’ll take both of them. Will that mean we make the playoffs? Probably not, but like I said, if you told me this team would still be mathematically alive 2 months ago… I wouldn’t have bought it. Nice job protecting our home field on Sunday vs a team we should have beat. Bear Down!
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