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It’s been more than fifteen years since the Bears missed out on the chance to bring the Lombardi Trophy back to Chicago for the first time since 1985 after losing to the Colts in Super Bowl XLI, and it’s safe to say the franchise hasn’t given its fans a ton to cheer about since then.
The only real bright spot following that loss was the 2010 season that came to end after the Bears were vanquished by their rivals in Green Bay in the NFC Championship Game. That campaign also marks the last time the team won a playoff game, as the two postseason appearances they’ve earned since then each ended with a one-and-done showing during Wild Card Weekend.
There’s no telling if that will change this year after Chicago tapped Matt Eberfuls to replace Matt Nagy as head coach, which could be a very welcome change based on rumors concerning the detrimental impact the latter had on Justin Fields during the quarterback’s rookie year.
However, it’s safe to say the Bears are facing an uphill battle.
Earlier this year, GM Ryan Pole was roundly mocked for not only promising his franchise was poised to “take over” the NFC North but boldly proclaiming they will “never give it back” if that ends up being the case.
While he may not have intended to place the bulk of the burden on Fields’ shoulders, he managed to do exactly that. Unfortunately, his QB didn’t exactly inspire a ton of confidence with comments he made prior to training camp, and while Chicago has had time to improve, it’s safe to say there are plenty of skeptics heading into the season based on what’s transpired during practices (and the amount of money riding on the under at one sportsbook that set the team’s win total at 6.5 games).
It appears we can count Mike Martz amongst the crowd that isn’t too high on the Bears this season based on what the man who served as their offensive coordinator for a brief stint in the early 2010s had to say about Fields and his supporting cast in a column for 33rd Team.
Martz was asked to rank the four QBs who are slated to start under center for the teams in the NFC North and put Fields in the basement behind Aaron Rodgers, Kirk Cousins, and Jared Goff (in that order).
That seems like a pretty fair assessment when you consider Fields only has a year of NFL experience under his belt. However, the former OC couldn’t stop himself from throwing some major shade at his former team, as he went on to suggest the offense is in a position to be historically terrible while comparing it to the group that failed to help the Lions win a single game in 2008:
“Fields is a guy that makes a lot of mistakes and is not particularly accurate at times. He’s not a quick read-and-react guy, and he’s on a horrendous team.
I don’t know if I’ve seen an offense that bad in talent since the 0-16 Detroit Lions (in 2008). They just don’t have anybody there. … It’s a bad football team right now.”
Damn, Mike. Tell us how you really feel.
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