It has been the strangest off-season in the history of the NFL. Now, the folks around here attempt to predict how the regular season will go. And there’s plenty of reason for optimism.
10-6, Playoff Berth.
This should continue to be one of the best defenses in the league, and the offense should be better than last year, but QB issues still limit their ceiling, and I’ll be surprised if the offense finishes better than around 20th in the NFL.
I’m also seriously concerned about the lack of depth at a number of key spots, including offensive line, edge rusher, inside linebacker, and cornerback.
Still, there’s enough talent on this roster that I have a hard time seeing them fall much below .500.
I’m certainly planning on enjoying this year as much as I can, because I think this is likely their best team until at least 2023.
9-7, Wild Card Loss.
This season could go very wrong or it could go very right, why not split the difference?
There is a world in which the quarterback play is just good enough. Trubisky has learned to read defenses and has made enough fundamental improvements to hit the open receivers. Or Nick Foles comes in and plays like he did for the Eagles.
They have talent around the quarterback and will unquestionably be improved at right guard and tight end. If the rest of the offensive line can play like it did in 2018 and the zone blocking scheme clicks, the running game could be explosive.
Defensively, they have arguably more talent than they did in 2018 when they were the best unit in the league. At the very least, they’ll be able to chase quarterbacks and that should lead to a ton of takeaways.
They can ride their defense to the playoffs and hope one of the quarterbacks gets hot like we have seen many times before.
