The Chicago Bears 2023 season is mercifully at an end. I tried to think of the most positive visage, to not focus on the negatives, so…
Congratulations to playoff-bound Chase Claypool and his Miami Dolphins!
I already made my post-season predictions for what happens next with the Bears, and I mostly stick by them. They finished 7-10, above my 4-13, but that three-game difference was the Montez Sweat trade factor. His arrival was the catalyst for the Bears defense keeping the team competitive in at least half of the last two months’ games. If the offense could have held onto their 4th-quarter leads in at least a couple of them, weirdly the Bears could have been playing on Wildcard Weekend.
To generalize what happens between now and April’s NFL Draft is a rebuild of their offensive approach. Both their Week 1 and Week 18 humiliating defeats by the Green Bay Packers were the bookends to the 2023 Bears inept play. Specifics? Who knows, but having the Draft’s #1 pick plus a second Round 1 pick has to factor in mightily to the rebuild plan, whatever approach they take. Or to be a little specific, the Bears cannot employ their 2023 #1 pick strategy by trading down again for a future boatload of hopeful potential and another D.J. Moore. Lightning will not strike twice.
Speaking of Moore, he is likely the only one that returns to the 2024 team in the above picture I have attached to articles since the Spring. We already know what happened to Claypool (congratulations, right?). Darnell Mooney has not stayed to his rookie potential. And Justin Fields? Obviously the biggest question, but it is hard to imagine a scenario where the Bears keep him. We will know soon enough!
Thank you for taking the time to read my article.
