Bears keeping staff after playoff disaster, bizarre press conference

The Chicago Bears limped into the playoffs, got blown out by the Saints – and appear set on doing it again next year.

Chicago head coach Matt Nagy and general manager Ryan Pace will return to the team in 2021, chairman George McCaskey announced in a tense, wide-ranging press conference Wednesday morning that featured all of Chicago’s key decision makers.

McCaskey, Nagy, Pace and team president Ted Phillips fielded questions for about 90 minutes from local reporters, ranging on everything from quarterback Mitchell Trubisky’s future to the mediocre success the team saw during their 8-8 season. Despite Chicago losing six games in a row at one point and waffling between Trubisky and an ineffective Nick Foles at quarterback, McCaskey maintained faith that Nagy and Pace are the right guys to lead the Bears into the future.

“I was impressed with both of them this past season, especially during the six-game losing streak,” he said. “The fact that our players never gave up is a tribute to the players. It is also indicative of the type of players that Ryan acquires and to the players’ regard for Matt as their head coach.”

Reporters asked tough questions, and both McCaskey and Phillips appeared to get increasingly frustrated as the presser went on.

It’s fair to say both Nagy and Pace have been, and now will continue to be, on shaky ground. Nagy made the call to bench Trubisky for Foles during Chicago’s Week 3 game against the Atlanta Falcons, despite Chicago getting off to a 2-0 start. Foles did come back to win that game, but went 2-5 after, managing an 80.8 passer rating and leading Chicago to a paltry 16.7 points per game in that span.

Nagy re-inserted Trubisky for the final six games, during which Chicago scored over 30 points per game and went on a three-game winning streak that allowed the Bears to sneak into the playoffs (albeit much of it against inferior competition).

Pace has been the subject of scrutiny since he drafted Trubisky over Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson in the 2017 NFL Draft. In his six years at the helm, Chicago has finished above .500 once (in 2018, when they went 12-4). His two major offseason moves for 2020 were trading a fourth-round pick for Foles and giving $70 million to Robert Quinn, who finished the season with two sacks in 15 games.

Phillips did say that neither Pace or Nagy received contract extensions, so one would expect 2021 to be their last chance to make a run. Both Pace and Nagy said they are committed to finding a quarterback in the offseason, and said “everything is on the table” to make that happen.

When asked if Chicago brass is confident that Pace, who drafted Trubisky, traded for Foles and signed Mike Glennon in 2017, can finally fix the QB position, McCaskey said, “Yes, we are.” Fans have every right to be skeptical.