The Chicago Bears are getting read to line up for a new campaign, but for Bears supporters it’s still hard to forget the misery that 2024 brought out on the field for the Chicago outfit.
Despite making some seemingly positive strides in the postseason, the Chicago Bears had another baffling 8-8 season that brought up a huge load of issues and questions that have so far remained unanswered.
On offense, inquiries at quarterback and offensive line stay, alongside the fate of receiver Allen Robinson. Then on defense, where the Bears have contributed the majority of their salary cap, they went backwards as some large name players failed to take their game to the next level when it mattered.
For anybody expecting some change at the top, that won’t be coming any time soon as general manager Ryan Pace, head coach Matt Nagy and president and CEO Ted Phillips have all remained in their respective positions. Which simply just adds to the absence of trust in this group heading into 2024.
With Chicago’s offseason now well underway, we’re investigating what turned out so badly for the Bears in 2024.
1. Inconsistent QB play
It was apparent from the initial training camps that quarterback was going to be an issue once again for the Bears. That is the thing that happens when you have a quarterback rivalry that neither one of the candidates appeared to win. Which is actually why we saw both Mitchell Trubisky and Nick Foles all through the season. Certainly, Trubisky had this offense looking strong in the last rounds of the campaign.
In any case, that had something to do with the helpless defences they were playing again and an ideal circumstance with a dominant run game making things significantly simpler. While quarterback wasn’t the solitary issue on offense, it was a major one. It’s an issue that has tormented this establishment for quite a long time, and it’s at last why this group stays stuck in an in-between state.
2. Coaching
There’s a reason as to why so many were clamoring for the Bears to head out in different directions with lead trainer Matt Nagy and senior supervisor Ryan Pace — they weren’t taking care of business. Probably the main motivation for Chicago’s disappointments in 2024 was instructing, where there was an absence of order now and again.
Look no further than Javon Wims and Anthony Miller’s antics, where they punched the same Saints player in various games. It additionally took Nagy unreasonably long to concede his errors by giving up play-calling and returning Trubisky back to the centre role. While Nagy gets kudos for keeping the group together during a six-game streak, they shouldn’t have been in that circumstance in any case. What’s more, it wasn’t simply Nagy. It was defensive organizer Chuck Pagano, who fail to use his side to their best qualities.
3. Red Zone failure
If you were thinking that the Bears defense couldn’t do any worse than in 2019, then the made a good effort to prove you wrong in 2024. Chicago’s offense was among the most terrible in the NFL for the majority of the campaign, and probably the greatest issue was their inability to change over in the red zone.
The Bears notched a score on 56.14% of their red zone openings, which positioned them 22nd in the class. While kicker Cairo Santos indicated that he’s the group’s answer at kicker, there’s a season he achieved history with the Bears — the offense couldn’t change over in the red zone.
4. Offensive line battles
The Bears hostile line has been an issue going back to last term, and it’s something that is unquestionably a factor in the offense’s initial battles, particularly when it came to running the football. A COVID-19 alarm and wounds to James Daniels and Bobby Massie didn’t improve the situation. While the hostile line play eventually got better when they found the correct blend, which included embeddings Sam Mustipher and Alex Bars into the line-up, there are still worries with the tackles and depth on the line heading into 2024.
5. Defensive relapse
The Bears protection wasn’t awful, in fact it was far from it, however there’s no arguing that they’ve relapsed since Vic Fangio’s takeoff following the 2018 season when they were the best guard in the NFL.
Since Chuck Pagano’s arrival, the guard has been acceptable, not incredible, which isn’t actually a formula for progress with a striving offense. An absence of takeaways and a disappointing pass surge added to that relapse, alongside some enormous name players like security Eddie Jackson and edge rusher Robert Quinn neglecting to satisfy their lights and cameras. We’ll check whether things change with Sean Desai, a Vic Fangio follower, taking over for Pagano at defensive coordinator next season.
Betting on the NFL
The Chicago Bears now haven’t won the SuperBowl for over 35 years, and despite winning the NFC North as recently as 2018, you’d have to go back to 1985 to find the last time the Bears got their hands on the Super Bowl trophy.
This season, it looks unlikely that they’ll be bringing that trophy-less run to an end with the bookies installing them as 100/1 shots to become the 2024/22 Super Bowl champions.
Elsewhere in the Oddsmanager outright betting odds for the NFL, it’s the Kansas City Chiefs who are currently the market leaders, with most bookmakers offering them at odds of around 11/2 for the title. The Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers 31-20 in the final at the Hard Rock Stadium and appear to be the team to beat once again this season.
As the 49ers, they are surprise outsiders to go one better than last season at 16/1 with some betting firms, and will be quietly confident of making this a season to remember. Of the others towards the top of the betting, the Green Bay Packers are the current second favourites at 9/1, with Tampa Bay Buccaneers at 11/1.
