Luke Getsy: Improvement Comes with a Price

Bears offensive coordinator takes issue with the idea they can break through by winning one time at the end of a game.

Apparently Luke Getsy doesn't mind being the guy who says the emperor has no clothes.

The Bears offensive coordinator has heard constant talk about breakthrough wins at the end of close games or breakthroughs of various kinds. The Bears have lost six straight times when they had chances at the end of games to tie or win, and there is this general belief they can turn it around simply by winning one close game at the end.

It's not happening says Getsy. He doesn't mean the team's offense will continue to underperform at games' ends. They'll get better, he said. They'll win some.  In fact he said, "I think the product's looking better."

It's just that it's not happening in the form of one single breakthrough play, game or finish, says Getsy.

"I truly don’t—and maybe I'm the outcast—I truly don't believe that one moment is going to change anything," Getsy said. "I think that where we are, where we said we were, when we got together and wanted to put together a particular play style on film, we want to make sure we're playing the game we want to play it, we want people to feel our film, we need to continue to grow in that area.

"Then when you continue to grow in your execution, that stuff will happen."

Looking for one particular moment as a turnaround is cheap and it's fantasy, Getsy maintained.

"That's when I think you get lost in what really matters," Getsy said. "That's playing together and that's getting a high level of execution. I think as our execution continues to get better, then those things will happen where we won't even need to have all those last-minute shenanigans that we keep running into."

The end of games is no more critical than executing all game and winning, says Getsy.

"I don't think there's a typical two-minute drive that we need, but winning is contagious," he said.

Along those lines, quarterback Justin Fields sees progress like Getsy says is necessary.

"Just continuous growth," Fields said. "I don't think there's going to be major differences, especially with all the injuries that we have.

"Just trying to get better each and every day, just try to grow each day, each game and just get better."

Fields said that type of improvement has been apparent since very early. In Week 3, the Bears were last in the league on offense. They are still last in passing but they are 22nd overall. And if they move up two more spots before season's end they will finish higher than any Bears offense Matt Nagy had. 

The last time they were higher than 21st was when they were 15th in 2016 under head coach John Fox and offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains.

"Just looking back at Week 2, we were not good at all," Fields said. "It's just crazy how much we have come (together) as a team. I think we have definitely gotten better.

"We're just striving to continue to get better each and every day. No matter what our record is, the guys come in the same way every day and they’re ready to work."

The record is going to be bad, but the Bears say the end result eventually will lead to wins in plenty of games in the future.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven

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