The first year under the new regime led by GM Ryan Pace and head coach John Fox ended with the team missing the playoffs in which they have been absent for 8 of the last 9 seasons. While many expected the team to finish around where they ultimately ended up at 6-10, the monsters of the midway had a few games go down to the wire only to lose most of them.
One of the stats that hurt the Bears was their home record, they won just one of their 8 games at Soldier Field and could have easily lost all 8 of those games.
One lingering question that hovers over the team is whether star running back Matt Forte will be back in 2016 as he is a free agent. If indeed Forte’s Chicago days are over, he intended to send a reminder of what his days in the windy city were like.
In his 8 years with the Bears, Forte has racked up over 8,600 rushing yards, over 4,000 receiving yards and has scored 64 touchdowns.
Another factor in this is that Michigan State running back Jeremy Langford and he made strides in 2015 and the arrow is pointing in the right direction for 2016.
Another interesting point of discussion during the season was that quarterback Jay Cutler had a respectable season in which he nearly cut the amount of interceptions thrown in half. He also finished the 2015 season with a career-best 92.3 quarterback rating and that was with offensive coordinator Adam Gase. However, Gase is being sought for vacant head coaching positions and if Gase is not with the Bears in 2016 and the chances of Gase being with the Bears next season are very low.
On the other side, tight end Martellus Bennett suffered an injury in week 11, returned two weeks later and shortly after that was placed on injured reserve. People who cover the team say that it is very unlikely that Bennett will return for next season. In 11 games, Bennett had 53 catches for 439 yards and scored 3 touchdowns. Before the injury, Bennett had made it clear that he was not pleased with his role in the team’s offense and like Forte is under contract for 2016.
In 2015, the team made an improvement in points allowed per game from 2014 albeit by a field goal but they improved from 31st to 20th. If this trend continues next season and they allow something like 21 points per game, that could earn them another win or two. On the offensive end, the Bears averaged nearly 21 points per game but that was 23rd best in the NFL. As with the offensive numbers, moving the rank from 23rd to the teens combined with improved defensive numbers could win them a couple more games.
Many expected the team to not compete for the playoffs but as I mentioned earlier, there were quite a few games that they lost that left a somber feeling for Bears fans. My goal back in September was for the team to make games interesting at the very least and that criteria I set was met for the most part. I also believed the team would win 7 games and I remember hearing people predict as low as 3 wins. The way how the Bears lost games vs. the likes of Minnesota, Detroit and Denver was very difficult for them to overcome and I think made it more difficult for them to actually win a close game the more it happened.
I remember there was some talk about whether the Bears could make the playoffs after winning a barn burner in Green Bay on Thanksgiving night but there was a let down in the weeks after.
There are times in which to win you first have to experience losing games in a difficult way like Bears fans saw many times in 2015. This offseason, the team has to focus on being able to finish games in which they have the lead. The team has to do much better against their own division because of the way the schedule is constructed. I have mentioned this before, but I remember the days in which teams feared coming to Soldier Field. Over the last few seasons that fear has not existed and the Bears will not do well next year if they win just one or two games at home, that number has to be at least at 4 and the higher the better.
One of my biggest issues over the last few years was that with the history of the Bears, they can suddenly win games giving up 4 touchdowns on a regular basis. I don’t think the Bears necessarily have to be in the top 5 in fewest points allowed, but being in the 20s or 30, 31, and 32 is not a winning recipe for a franchise that is known to score occasionally but is known more to be stubborn on the defensive side of the football.
ryanhackman1026 