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Chicago Fans Fail To Catch Break

Take aside the two Stanley Cup victories in the past four seasons and it becomes very difficult to find many positives city’s sports teams. The Bulls are still feeling the impact of the Derrick Rose’s torn ACL in the 2012 playoffs. The Cubs and White Sox combined for 195 losses this past season and the Cubs are looking for a new manager once again. It seemed like the Bears, with the hiring of offensive minded head coach Marc Trestman would reverse the team’s fortunes.

After starting the season 4-2, the Bears headed to the nation’s capitol and looked to improve to 5-2 before its bye week, where it would be able to rest and hopefully take care of some nagging injuries. Instead a 45-41 defeat occurred and the Bears lost much more than a game.

Quarterback Jay Cutler, who finally was given the offense line and receivers to help me reach an elite status in Chicago, went down with a groin injury which will keep him out at least four weeks. Defensive leader Lance Briggs suffered a shoulder injury that will keep him out at least six weeks.

By no means were the Bears an elite team in the NFL before these injuries occurred, but there was an optimism that they were headed in the right direction. All of that seems to be off the table now. The defense is allowing just over 29 points per game. The defense looked old and sluggish before the Briggs injury, it is only going to get worse now.

Josh McCown came in for the injured Cutler and played a respectable game and undoubtedly put the team in a position to win, but that was against a horrid Redskins defense. Against teams like Green Bay and Baltimore, he cannot be expected to do the same thing. He may have an understanding of the offense Trestman runs, but that does not replace the pure talent and skill that Cutler possesses.

Only eight weeks into the season and it is fair to say that the Bears’s season may be over. After two consecutive second half collapses, another season that seemed to have the playoffs in its future will ultimately end with the Bears on the outside looking in.

Cutler is in the final year of his contract and needed a great season to earn a new one. The defense will have to be complete demolished and rebuilt. There are so many question marks after this season, it is hard to know when the Bears can be expected to compete at that elite status they seemed so close to getting to.

Hopefully the two teams that play at the United Center can make some magic happen in the spring and summer because the Wrigley Field, U.S. Cellular, and Solider Field have produced nothing but frustration and disappointment.