NEWSLETTER
If you think John Fox is worried about his job, after the Chicago Bears lost a game they had no business losing, then you’d be mistaken.
After the Green Bay Packers pulled off an upset win (hey, they were underdogs all week!) at Soldier Field, Fox addressed the media regarding his future with the team:
#Bears coach John Fox: “I’ve been doing this too long. I’ve never worried about my job security, and I won’t start going forward.”
— Zach Zaidman (@ZachZaidman) November 13, 2017
The Bears are now 0-5 as a favorite under Fox, which tells you a lot about why he is on the hot seat (despite what he may think). And losing to your oldest rival when they are playing a back-up quarterback (on a short week, when you’re coming off a bye) isn’t going to help cool it off.
Fox is now 12-29 as Bears coach. His .293 winning percentage is lower than that of Marc Trestman (.406), Dave Wannstedt (.417), and Dick Jauron (.438), while rapidly approaching Abe Gibron’s .268 WP% established from 1972-74. Those three coaches combined to go 88-120 in 208 games over the span of 13 years, had just three winning seasons, and led their team to the playoffs twice.
To give it a different perspective, Lovie Smith went 81-63 and had five winning seasons (including three playoff appearances) in nine years.
Digging into the Bears’ history books, Gibron and Fox are the only coaches in franchise history with a sub-.300 winning percentage. So for Fox to avoid joining Gibron in that group when the season wraps up, he’ll need to win three of the Bears’ final seven games. Even if that happens, 15-33 after three seasons would give him a .313 winning percentage – which would still keep him as the second least-successful coach in team history.
Everything was lined up for the Bears to beat the arch-rival Packers at Soldier Field for the first time since 2010. Chicago was coming off the bye against a Green Bay team on a short week, riding a three-game losing streak, running an offense that struggled sustaining drives, a defense that allowed consecutive 300-yard passing games, and without Aaron Rodgers (and a handful of other important contributors).
If there was ever a time for the Bears to beat the Packers, it was Sunday … and they blew it. Hence, Fox’s seat becomes a bit warmer today than it was at this time last week.
