NEW ORLEANS — It has never been more blatantly clear to the Bears that everything they’re doing isn’t working than it was as they sulked out of the Superdome on Sunday.
The 2020 Bears are the counterargument to adding a seventh playoff spot in each conference. What was the point of this? They hung around a while, but ultimately the Saints did what everyone expected and finalized a conclusive 21-9 victory to knock them out of the playoffs.
The final score would’ve been more lopsided had the Saints not failed to score on fourth-and-goal from the 1, then allowed the Bears a meaningless 99-yard touchdown drive that ended with tight end Jimmy Graham scoring as time ran out.
At the site of the greatest moment in franchise history, the Bears were humbled yet again and sharply rebuked for thinking they were anywhere near being a contender. The actual miles and the metaphorical ones between Halas Hall and the Superdome are about the same.
The Saints could go to the Super Bowl. They’ve got a top-five offense and defense. They’ve had an answer at quarterback for 15 years. There’s no doubt they know what they’re doing when it comes to personnel and coaching.
So here’s what the Bears must ask themselves: Do we look anything like them?
No.
Making the playoffs is arbitrary. Being on the right track is what matters.
This loss was no more decisive than the multiple beatings administered by the Packers the last two seasons or various other humiliations, but topped a pile of them heavy enough to force the Bears into significant change.
A 42-56 record over seven seasons, including 0-2 in the playoffs, can’t possibly be good enough for general manager Ryan Pace to keep his job. This 8-8 debacle was the second-best record the Bears have had under him.
The staggering disarray and impotence on offense over the last two seasons, interrupted sporadically and briefly by blips of competence, leaves coach Matt Nagy on shaky ground at best.
Mitch Trubisky’s consistent ineptitude against any decent defense has more than answered the question of whether he should ever take another snap at quarterback for the Bears. His only glimmer of hope to return is the fact that Nick Foles is somehow even worse.
What this destruction by the Saints does is eliminate any shred of plausible deniability for chairman George McCaskey if he were to keep this team intact. He would be welcoming future failure to do so, and there’d be no excuse for remaining in the delusion that the Bears are on the right track.
No more clinging to the idea that Trubisky is simply developing at a different pace than Patrick Mahomes. No more holding up a three-game winning streak over the Texans, Vikings and Jaguars or a completely unconvincing 5-1 start as fraudulent proof that everything will be OK. No more ignoring that the once-great Bears defense is unmistakably in decline.
It’s time to blow it up.
Otherwise seasons like this — and games like Sunday — are the best the Bears can hope for in the near future. They’ll stay stuck in mediocrity, a seemingly comfortable climate for the Bears, with an occasional thumping that makes a playoff berth feel like little more than a participation ribbon.
