THE BEARS FILE
Home field: Soldier Field
Coach: Matt Eberflus
Offensive star: WR Darnell Mooney
Defensive star: LB Roquan Smith
2021 Season: Failed to Make Playoffs
Super Bowls: 1985
Greatest Player: RB Walter Payton
Factoid: Known as Monsters of the Midway
Monsters of the Midway. Since when?
That must be the question that torments Chicago Bears fans. The Blackhawks, Bulls and even the Cubs have won titles more recently than the Bears.
Monsters of the Midway. Really?
The Bears haven’t won a playoff game since 2010 – more than a decade ago – and their only Super Bowl win came in 1985. That’s when Coca-Cola introduced New Coke and the cola-drinking world went apoplectic.
Think of this: The last time the Bears drafted a superstar in the first round was 2000 when they took linebacker Brian Urlacher. They’ve traded away Khalil Mack. They’re listening to trade offers for star NFL Roquan Smith. They have an athletic young quarterback in Justin Fields who might be the real deal but he’ll play behind a line the Bears found on “Steals and Deals.”
In deference to the polite and friendly folks in the heartland, we offer this bit of encouragement: New coach Matt Eberflus, who players have praised for his teaching and culture building, might be the right man to lead this franchise out of the darkness.
The Bears might secure the No.1 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft and they’re projected to have almost $100,000,000 in cap space next year, the most in the league. That basically means asking Bears fans to hibernate in 2022 and hope for a banner offseason.
If any franchise’s fans have this kind of patience and support, it’s Chicago. The Windy City puts up with brutal winters and constant comparisons to New York, which don’t end well. Maybe the Bears can be competitive enough to keep it close but lose, Fields somehow manages to avoid injury and improve, and Chicago can be the Bears kind of town in 2023.