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Chicago Bears Franchise Hits Rock Bottom After Loss to Patriots

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Jay Cutler Sacked

Greg M. Cooper- USA TODAY Sports

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any uglier, it got much uglier.

The Chicago Bears had one of their worst performances in the history of the team’s franchise with a 51-23 loss to the New England Patriots. The first half was a work of art by QB Tom Brady and New England. The Patriots moved the ball up and down the field with ease. At halftime, the Patriots had 22 first downs; the Bears had run 24 plays.

The Bears were laughably down 38-7 at halftime, which was the most first half points the Bears had ever allowed in the history of the team. TE Rob Gronkowski mauled the Bears for 103 yards and two touchdowns in the first half, to go along with a 46-yard touchdown reception in the second half for good measure.

Jay Cutler’s performance was wretched, but the defense’s performance was even worse. Defensive Coordinator Mel Tucker continues to give receivers free release, meaning he refuses to jam them at the line of scrimmage.

Bill Belichick saw this, and exploited it to perfection. Brady used an array of short passes giving his receivers plenty of room to run after the catch, and Gronkowski’s performance was nothing short of spectacular. He was a monstrous mismatch in the game, and Tucker made zero adjustments on his defense as he watched Gronk dominate.

In what was a perfect microcosm of this game and the season, the Bears lost Lamarr Houston late in the fourth quarter to an injury for celebrating a meaningless sack down 48-23.

We were curious if the in-house fighting was rock-bottom for a team that many thought would compete for a playoff spot. We were wrong. The Bears surrounded themselves with distractions this week, brought on by themselves, and it resulted in a team that was ill prepared to play a game that was critical to any hope of salvaging their season.

This season is clearly lost for Chicago. The bigger problem is looking forward with this team. You have to question if Cutler will ever be able to become a franchise quarterback, and you also have to question if Marc Trestman is a legitimate NFL head coach. Trestman’s career record now falls to 11-13, hardly impressive considering the Bears offensive talent level. But what can the Bears do the fix the situation?

Trestman is only in the second year of a four-year contract, and based on the Bears’ history under the McCaskeys, they would never eat two years remaining on a contract and fire him. That means Trestman has at least one more full year at the helm. Jay Cutler just signed a contract extension with tons of guaranteed money for three years, which means the Bears, for better or worse, have committed to Cutler for at least two more years. That leaves Mel Tucker.

Tucker looks to be the scapegoat on this year’s lost season. Tucker will almost certainly lose his job in the offseason and the Bears will go in a different direction defensively. Tucker is certainly a problem, and deserves to lose his job, but the Bears problems are far more reaching than poor defensive game planning.

Yes, the Bears had two 4-12 seasons under Dave Wannstedt, and of course that pathetic 1-13 record in 1969, but I can’t remember a season that started with so much promise that has ended up in the landfill more than this season. The Bears have a multitude of problems. One can only hope this embarrassment handed them by the Patriots is rock bottom.

Bill Zimmerman is a Chicago Bears writer for www.RantSports.Com. Follow him on Twitter, like him on Facebook, or add him to your network on Google.

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