Are Fox and Pace the right guys for this?

I am ok with the record so far- just want to get that out there... this happens in a rebuild.
However- Are Fox and Pace the right guys to engineer this rebuild? There is not a ton of really good moves or encouraging signs that I can see at this point.

Step one of the rebuild is done- blowing up the old team.

Now, what about replenishing the talent?
I know it takes a while for rookies to grow... but normally you see a glimmer out of the young guys showing a glimpse of what they can eventually be.
I have not seen a ton of that thus far.
So there is definitely some concern about Pace's ability to add talent. The best that can be said is we have to wait and see.

As far as Fox is concerned... Not good.
Ideally, he would establish an identity on offense and defense- but there is not one.

Offense- White has not really shown up yet. The run game is abysmal- we have not had a 75 yard day as a team. Everyone expected a committment to the run, and what we have seen is the polar opposite- The bears sit at 29th in rushing attempts in the league, and will be 32nd after the saints and falcons play tonight.
... How can a team with its starting QB gone and a group of young running backs be last in the league in rushing attempts? It is a joke.

Defensively- The bears get destroyed in the run game. Only Miami has allowed more rushing yards per game.
The reason that is so bothersome is that the bears have faced 3 consecutive Rookie level QBs. Osweiler had started 7 games, Wentz 1 game, and Prescott 2.
The blueprint for beating teams like that is take away the run and let the rookies make mistakes. But the bears could not do that.

As far as pass defense... Teams have not had to pass against them. It is hard to tell. After tonight, the bears will have faced the 4th least passing attempts in the league. With such a small sample size and given how badly the bears get beat on the ground, the pass defense is a mystery.
4 tds and 1 int doesnt give me a lot of hope though.
I guess we will see how the pass d fares the next 2 weeks- Stafford and Luck both throw a shit ton of passes every year.



Bottom line is, I am not seeing a ton of potential yet out of the new additions (yes, I know they need time to grow but you usually see a glimpse in plays here or there indicating pure talent).
As far as coaching, this team has zero identity- Unable to stop the run, unable to create havoc in the passing game, No committment to the run on offense and no dazzling passing game.

I am looking for progress, and I am not seeing much.
Is Pace going to be able to field a good team, and can Fox actually put together a functional game plan?
Am I asking for too much to expect glimpses of progress?
Am I missing the bright spots?

If someone can point to positives being made by Pace or Fox I would love to hear them (honestly- maybe I am missing it due to all the bad we are seeing).

All this talk about "rebuild" this team isn't rebuilding it's falling apart.

Rory Sparrow said:

No. Fox has made terrible personnel decisions. Pace's drafts have been bad.

In retrospect, the Bears needed another strong person in the organization, be it a GM, personnel guy, or VP, who could provide guidance for Fox. I don't really "blame" Fox, because he's just doing what is easiest for him, which is to bring in the players he personally likes and doesn't have to deal with any locker room 'problems'. That approach might work if you are coaching Div III college football, but its probably not the best way to do things in the NFL.

I got a kick out of Fox's postgame comment that 'my players won't give in' or something to that effect....yeah, we won't have a Trestman "give up" season because none of the players on this roster are worth a damn. Great.

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So how long till Loggains is sacrificed?

I am fully expecting something to happen if the team keeps coming out flat like this. The defense is on the field way too long, and I doubt they sacrifice Fangio.

I am still willing to give Pace more time.


Fox I am done with. This team looks like more of a clown show on the field than the Trestman years. I do not really care what happens in the locker room, if the on field product continues to be trash.

WindyCity said:

I am still willing to give Pace more time.


Fox I am done with. This team looks like more of a clown show on the field than the Trestman years. I do not really care what happens in the locker room, if the on field product continues to be trash.

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I can agree with both sentiments I suppose. But how long on Pace if the product continues on field like this without a change?

Would you be for or against firing an OC mid season?

Fox did something last night no bears coach has ever done. Successfully challenged two plays which resulted in the ultimate prize, the elusive bonus challenge. Baby steps my friends.

fox and pace will get another year while loggains gets sacrificed for the poor season.

Rory Sparrow said:

I think if the Bears were good at something, then Fox and Fangio could build their gameplan around that one aspect and figure out how to do 'damage control' in the other areas. It is somewhat amazing to me that the Bears are completely inept in every area of offense, defense & special teams. That's hard to do in the salary cap era.

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It is pretty damn dismal.

I dont mind 2-14 if there are some exciting players on the rise.
I do very much mind the flat efforts being given.

Firing loggains may not be a fix, but at least it is a change that cant possibly hurt and may actually result in a committment to one aspect of the game or another.
The fact that the Starting QB is injured and the bears after tonight will be dead last in the league in rushing attempts is a massive issue.
They launched Forte and brought in a stable of grinders at the position, and they have done exactly nothing with them.

Probably not. The last to first nonsense does not happen that often in the NFL. It is far more likely that either of the top two in the division win the division the following year.

There are six division in football; even if last to first happened once a year, and it doesn't, that would still only be 16.666% of the time. Considering it only happens once every few years, we are talking about probably sub 5%.

The reality is franchises don't turn around all that often. Once they fall apart, they tend to stay at the bottom for years. Any sense of hope right not is probably delusional.

czman said:

Probably not. The last to first nonsense does not happen that often in the NFL. It is far more likely that either of the top two in the division win the division the following year.

There are six division in football; even if last to first happened once a year, and it doesn't, that would still only be 16.666% of the time. Considering it only happens once every few years, we are talking about probably sub 5%.

The reality is franchises don't turn around all that often. Once they fall apart, they tend to stay at the bottom for years. Any sense of hope right not is probably delusional.

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Worst to first isnt even on My radar.
I am looking for bright spots while coming in last.

Chicago4Life said:

fox and pace will get another year while loggains gets sacrificed for the poor season.

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then peeps gets to extend jays 13 oc in 14 year rhetoric.. yesssss.win win

Can't argue at all with the OP or Rory


The most disappointing thing to me is just how horrendous the defense still seems to be despite all of the personnel moves made for the D in the offseason.

Pace seemed to be trying to put something competent together on defense for this season and looks to have failed miserably. Which begs the question of how you can trust this guy to "rebuild" at all

No. When we draft a QB in May, we have to shitcan Fox/Bowel Logins and get an offensive minded coach. I wouldn't mind tapping a college coach like David Shaw, Jim Mora Jr, or even perhaps Sumlin.

Les miles and Cam Cameron are available..

pepethebear said:

Pace seemed to be trying to put something competent together on defense for this season and looks to have failed miserably. Which begs the question of how you can trust this guy to "rebuild" at all

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As far as that goes- Getting run all over is all the bears have accomplished.

The pass d has been decent... but I get the feeling that the only reasons it looks functional is because the bears faced 3 inexperienced guys who were able to keep the ball on the ground and minimize mistakes.
For the most part, when the inexperienced QBs were in obvious passing downs, they were able to convert.

Stafford is playing very well this year, and he might put up 400+ yards on this team.

WindyCity said:

I am still willing to give Pace more time.


Fox I am done with. This team looks like more of a clown show on the field than the Trestman years. I do not really care what happens in the locker room, if the on field product continues to be trash.

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Completely agree.

The game eventually passes every coach by and we are watching it with Fox. His connections around the league are suppose to be a big plus for him and he marches Loggains out there, who is going to be a John Schoop like punchline pretty soon. They look completely unprepared on both sides of the ball. I get injuries but they are just getting gashed for big plays in both the running and passing game on defense and a good part of it is being out schemed, and out prepared against completely inexperienced QB's.

Pace is a little harder to read. The cupboard was so bare, it was going to be near impossible to build competent starters and depth in two years. I do think the drafts are starting to show promise, but I am also going to withhold judgement on White and Floyd until much later in the season, and of course part of that is on how the coaching staff develops them. Ultimately, Paces' fate will be tied to what he does at the QB position which is his biggest disappointment so far, along with the offensive tackles.

Miss me yet?

<sarcasm> Just imagine how bad our running game would be if we didn't bring in all those athletic olinemen and converted to the zone blocking scheme. That change has been our saving grace so far this year. </sarcasm>

I actually do miss Lovie

Anyone who does not have serious doubts, is a blind homer.

It would give me more faith in Pace if he dropped a pair and fired Fox before the end of the season and went big game hunting in weeks 15 and 16 for the new coach.