Objective Look at How Bears Coaches Did
There are objective and subjective ways to measure what kind of a coaching job a staff has done.
Wins and losses are the way owners measure it. When a team is in the Bears' situation and dumped talent to correct the salary cap in a rebuild, the coaching staff is operating with a hand behind its back and mere wins and losses don't suffice.
Studying whether they've been able to compete despite an obvious talent deficit is another way.
The Bears' situation with the salary cap and roster was already well known when the season started and trading away two premiere defensive players only made it worse.
Yet, the Bears have been within a touchdown and conversion in six losses and did it with a young, developing quarterback in Justin Fields.
Being within a touchdown and conversion on their final conversion six times and losing all of them—including the muffed punt against the Giants—says they had the chance in games to overcome fairly steep odds.
Even in three games they lost that weren't decided by a TD and conversion or less, they were in the game well into the second half.
Sunday they led in the fourth quarter. Against Dallas, they fought back within five points after being down three touchdowns early. And the first game with Green Bay was a failed QB sneak by Justin Fields from being a one-touchdown game in the second half.
The schedule says even more about this.
When the NFL schedule came out, much was made about how easy this Bears schedule was. Opponents had a .471 winning percentage based on the 2021 records, tied with the Titans for eighth easiest.
Pure records aren't enough to satisfy some people and Sharp Football Analysis had calculated through their own system that the Bears really had the second-easiest schedule for this year.
However, all of that turned out to be pure garbage.
The Bears happened to catch a handful of teams who were in the middle of turnarounds after being down for years, like the Giants, Jets and Commanders.
Opponents on this year's Bears schedule currently own a .576 winning percentage, tossing out ties. They'll have three more difficult opponents to finish the season with the Eagles (11-1), Bills (9-3) and Vikings (10-2).
Heading into the season, the toughest schedule based on last year's record was owned by the Rams at .567.
All of this is history or the current situation.
What next year can bring is what's important because everything with this organization has been aimed at the 2023 offseason and season.
This coaching staff that overachieved by taking a poor roster late into games against one of the most difficult schedules in the NFL this year. They have a schedule next year with 11 games against tentative teams currently at .500 or better.
Next year they will have a stronger roster and a much easier schedule. At least it shapes up that way now. The schedule isn't final but except for three games the opponents are known. And possible opponents seem apparent for those games. This can all change with a late-season collapse by some teams or late-season surge by others, or an unlikely one by the Bears.
There would be only four games on their schedule for next year against teams currently with winning records—two with the Vikings, one with Kansas City and one with either the Giants (7-4-1) or Commanders (7-5).
What goes around comes around in the NFL.
So 2023 promises to provide a much better gauge of this coaching staff's ability than the unfair test they faced in 2022, in terms of schedule and talent shortage.
Bears 2023 Tentative Opponents
(Based on current standings)
Home Games
Packers (5-8), Lions (5-8), Vikings (10-2), Raiders (5-7), Falcons (5-8), Panthers (4-8), Broncos (3-9), Rams (3-9) OR Cardinals (4-8)*
Road Games
Packer (5-8), Lions (5-8), Vikings (10-2), Chargers (6-6), Chiefs (9-3), Saints (4-9), Buccaneers (6-6), Commanders (7-5) OR Giants (7-4-1)*, Steelers (5-7) OR Browns (5-7)*.
*Bears play team with worse final record between these two opponents.
**Games between Rams or Cardinals, Giants or Commanders and Steelers or Browns can still be different opponents and is based on finish in standings.
TICKETS TO SEE JUSTIN FIELDS AND THE BEARS THROUGH SI TICKETS
Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven
