Embrace the mediocrity, Bears fans.
You might as well do it now, because the Chicago Bears certainly did this week.
Coming off an embarrassing blowout loss at home to their hated division rival, a good team goes out and finds a way to win the following week. It doesn’t have to be spectacular, but it has to be effective. Whatever it takes, good teams find a way to get it done.
The Chicago Bears proved this week that they are not a good team. Instead of finding a way to win by any means necessary, they had a game handed to them and found ways to lose it. So it’s high time that Bears fans universally acknowledge exactly what their favorite team is: mediocre.
Underachieving
On paper, this should not be the case. Chicago has the talent to be one of the best offenses in the league, which-coupled with an acceptable defense- should be enough to win a lot of games and propel them to they playoffs.
But games are not won on paper, and the Bears have proven through 5 weeks the peril of preseason paper analysis. The defense has mostly been about as expected so far, but the offense is not living up to its status as the highest paid unit in the NFL.
Familiar script
Both sides of the ball seem to be plagued by the same dumb mistakes over and over. A missed assignment here, a lazy effort there, a careless mistake costing the team at the worst possible time. These same errors keep repeating themselves time and time again, leading to a talented but inconsistent team that is the very definition of mediocre.
Perhaps worst of all is the seeming lack of leadership and attitude emanating from the Bears. Players don’t seem to care when they mess up, and nobody steps forward in a crisis to stop the bleeding and get things sorted out.
Now perhaps things can get better. The Bears have Been besieged by injuries so fast this year, and getting healthier should certainly help some. But all the talent in the world won’t make any difference until this team finds an identity and leaders who can hold them accountable.
Hope is not lost
Bears fans looking for hope need only glance north a few miles to Evanston, where Northwestern’s football team seemed headed for a lost season just two weeks ago before finding an identity , beginning to play with an edge, and reeling off two impressive victories.
It can be done, but the first step is admitting a problem. Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald did just that before helping turn his team’s season around. I will be watching Chicago’s leaders-Marc Trestman, Jay Cutler, and Brandon Marshall-very carefully this week to look for similar acknowledgement from them.
It is certainly possible that the Bears scan still turn their season around, but right now I look at them and see a whole bunch of mediocrity. They will beat some teams based simply on having more talent than them, lose some games they should win, lose to most good teams they face, and end up right around 8-8 again.
Embrace the mediocrity, Bears fans.
