Both Sides of the Ball Will Miss Vic Fangio and Other Bullets

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Both Sides of the Ball Will Miss Vic Fangio and Other Bullets

Chicago Bears News

This wonderful site turn 2 today and we’re soooo growing up.

In fact, in the two years we’ve been around, we’e seen the Bears do some growing up, too. Going from John Fox to Matt Nagy has been a success from the start. The evolution of quarterbacking from Jay Cutler to Mike Glennon to Mitch Trubisky has been a ride. And the transition from stop-gap free agents to multi-year starters should be viewed as a sign of progress for GM Ryan Pace.

The changes are undeniable and they’ve happened so quickly in the two years we’ve been here. This team is unrecognizable from where it was when we got the ball rolling here.

If you have been with us since the beginning, a sincere and hearty thank you. If you recently hopped on board hoping to be along for the ride during a lengthy playoff run, I’m sorry it’s over, but you’re still welcome here for next year’s trek. No matter when you joined, I’m thankful you’re rocking with us. Here’s to bigger and better days ahead.

Now, who brought the cake?

  • Vic Fangio’s departure reminds me that sometimes the cost of winning is losing:

  • Chalk up another “L” for Bears fans this week, who, on top of watching Sunday’s painful playoff ouster, are losing the team’s beloved defensive coordinator for a head-coaching position. Ouch, babe. Even the Sun-Times had to make it a front-page deal:

  • The reactions to the move are what you expect. It’s a mix of congratulations …

  • … to expletives which have been withheld:

  • You know Fangio was an impactful coach when offensive players are feeling his loss:

  • Allen Robinson’s tweet reminded me of why I believe Fangio would be a successful head coach. Fangio’s ability to communicate wasn’t limited to defensive players. He connected with the media and clearly to players on the other side of the ball. That’s what Matt Nagy did as an offensive guy and I have no doubts Fangio will do the same when he’s viewed as the defensive-leaning head coach in Denver. In any case, he’ll certainly be missed.
  • This is trippy:

  • To be clear, this isn’t a gloom-and-doom situation. Sure, Fangio will probably try and bring some assistants with him to Denver and will leave the Bears searching for replacements. But remember, all but two starters (Bryce Callahan, Adrian Amos) are under contract for next year and a vast majority of them are young. The oldest of the returning bunch will be cornerback Prince Amukamara and defensive lineman Akiem Hicks, both will be playing 2019 in their age 30 seasons. The “old” guys are 30! A young 30, at that. Yeah, this group is in decent shape.
  • How is this for perspective?

  • Death, taxes, and the Ravens defense being stout as heck. Those are the three guarantees in life. Because while the personnel and scheme have changed over the years, Baltimore’s defense still pieces together units that are more of a strength than they are a weakness. That’s a testament to scouting, drafting, and development. Retiring GM Ozzie Newsome should get a whole bunch of credit for keeping the good times rolling in an era when it’s not easy to do so because of cap constraints and constant roster turnover.
  • You’re up, Ryan Pace.
  • I love alternate endings:

  • The amount of editing talent to successfully splice up enough tape to create a made Cody Parkey field goal is otherworldly. Kudos to the content creator behind that video.
  • Three teams with the 10 easiest schedules resided in the NFC North in 2018, but the Bears were the only ones to take advantage of it and make the playoffs:

  • Funny. I didn’t hear many (if any) talk about the Colts, Texans, or Cowboys making postseason runs because of the ease of their schedule. Odd how that works sometimes…
  • Admittedly, the Bears got off easy from a scheduling standpoint. But they’ve had light schedules int he past because of prior last-place finishes. Why didn’t they take advantage of those then? The simple answer is better coaching and a raised level of talent helped the Bears multi-fold in 2018. Now, sustaining that success is the challenge that faces this group next.
  • Considering they have bigger fish to fry, I understand the delay here:

  • An old friend gets a new job:

  • And he’ll probably get to take another one of his pals with him:

  • For the record, I sure as heck don’t miss Dowell Loggains:

  • If this was a Bears coach giving this speech, I’d be ready to play ball right now:

  • How long until Eric Bienemy is the next branch off the Andy Reid coaching tree?
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Luis Medina

Luis is the Lead Writer at Bleacher Nation Bears, and you can find him on Twitter at @lcm1986.

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