NEWSLETTER
Bears Chairman George McCaskey made it clear that he had championship aspirations for his club in 2020.
“The goal every year is to win the Super Bowl,” McCaskey said in early September. “Two years ago, we made a great run and fell short. Last year, we regressed. We need to find out which team it is. Is it the team that took the NFL by storm two years ago … or is it the team that fell back last year?”
Ten games into the 2020 season, I think we’re starting to see which team is. So if Mr. McCaskey is watching what we are, then I imagine he isn’t happy with what he is seeing. And if things get worse, changes could be on the horizon.
Oh, and no pressure guys, but the games against your biggest rivals could make or break your future.
In his latest at The Athletic, Adam Jahns notes that games against the Green Bay Packers have moved the needle for the Chicago Bears in recent years. And frankly, we might be traveling down that path again.
“If you think the Bears’ brass is frustrated now, just wait,” Jahns writes. “Historically speaking, it’s losses to the Packers that act as the salt in the McCaskey family’s open wounds. They become an impetus for change, not that they need more reasons after their team’s latest offensive fiasco.”
Jahns hinting at the McCaskey family’s frustrations makes him the latest to make note of rumored angst at Halas Hall. Earlier this week, we discussed a belief McCaskey was displeased with the on-field product entering Monday’s game against the Vikings. And I can’t envision a scenario where anyone who was grumpy going into that game feeling anything but disheartened after it.
It’s interesting how much stock is already going into games in Week 12 and 17. I mean, what would happen if the Bears lost both of those games, but won out elsewhere, and made the playoffs with a 9-7 record? Or if they missed the playoffs despite winning both games against the Packers? In other words, I hope the front office isn’t laying out future plans based solely on what happens in those games.
Nevertheless, it’s clear that how this team finishes is important. Because if McCaskey’s tolerance is wearing thin during a four-game losing streak that has put this season in a tailspin, things could get murkier should current trends continue against the Bears’ most hated enemy.
