It’s safe to say that there aren’t many people that feel confident about the Chicago Bears heading into 2020. After an impressive 2018 season where they went 12-4, the Bears stumbled to an 8-8 finish amid a myriad of concerns, particularly on offense.
Still, despite having one of the worst offenses in the league and a top-10 defense minus three key starters, the Bears managed to finish the season .500, which should be encouraging in itself.
Yahoo Sports’ Frank Schwab believes that, now that the hype is gone, perhaps the Bears can turn things around in 2020. Although, he’s not banking on it, as evidenced by his prediction that Chicago will finish in the 8-8 range again.
I might end up being a little low on the Bears. Last year was not good for them and they still went 8-8. The constant negativity surrounding them, the weird approach to the offseason and the potential mess at quarterback is hard to shake. Let’s put the Bears in the 8-8 range again. That will likely be enough to buy Matt Nagy more time. We’ll see what Mitchell Trubisky’s future looks like after the season.
While the Bears didn’t make any significant moves this offseason, they did bolster their defense with the addition of outside linebacker Robert Quinn, who will be paired with Khalil Mack coming off the edge. They replaced cornerback Prince Amukamara and safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix with rookie Jaylon Johnson and Tashaun Gipson, who figure to be the favorites to win those starting jobs.
The offense traded for quarterback Nick Foles, who will battle Mitchell Trubisky for the starting job. They also overhauled the tight ends room with the additions of rookie Cole Kmet and veterans Jimmy Graham and Demetrius Harris.
Considering the Bears were able to post a 8-8 record with all of their struggles last season, there’s reason to be optimistic that Chicago can build off last season and potentially challenge for the NFC North title.
But until the Bears prove that they’re capable of that, it’ll be hard to find many people in their corner outside Halas Hall.
