When it comes to the Chicago Bears, the franchise once led by George “Papa Bear” Halas, the “Monsters of the Midway” got their nickname all those years ago for dominating opposing defenses with their excellent quarterback play and outstanding wide receivers.
HA. Yeah right.
Except for that blip on the radar when Sid Luckman led the famous T-formation at quarterback, the Bears have been notorious for showing off menacing defenses, fantastic running backs, and barely adequate signal-callers.
Insert the year 2020, and the same theme is happening in Chicago…..well, except for that fantastic tailback.
David Montgomery is no Matt Forte, and even if he had the same talent at creating his own hole like say recent former free agent Le’Veon Bell, this woeful offensive line would make it almost impossible for Bell to succeed at his craft.
The Chicago Bears somehow started the 2020 season at 5-1, and besides a miraculous fourth quarter comeback against the Atlanta Falcons, this offense has been absolutely putrid at both throwing and running the football.
It’s actually been hilarious to view on occasion. Think about this: The Bears could become the only team to make the playoffs in NFL history by scoring less than 3 touchdowns in their entire quarters of action. Yeah, you heard that right. Going into Week 9, the Bears have only scored 1 touchdown in the third quarter. Man oh man is that horrendous to endure as a Bears fan.
With all of the terrible offensive play in mind, the Bears still have one saving grace, and that is a young man by the name of Allen Robinson.
Robinson is no stranger to inept quarterback play. Remember, he had to deal with Blake Bortles in Jacksonville. And as much as I loved watching Nick Foles successfully pull off the Philly Special during that Super Bowl MVP performance against Tom Brady’s New England Patriots, Foles certainly isn’t an MVP caliber QB anymore.
Robinson is clearly the #1 receiving option on the Bears, and he’s more than just the Bears’ best wide receiver. You can make the argument that he’s the best wideout in the entire NFC North, and possibly a Top 5 wide receiver in the whole NFC.
And although his 10 receptions for 143 yards from the 2018 Wild Card playoff game are very impressive, he only has one Pro Bowl distinction on his resume. He’s not exactly a touchdown magnet: Just 36 receiving touchdowns since he entered the NFL during the 2014 regular season.
With all of those good-but-not-great distinctions, Robinson reportedly wants a new contract. If you remember, Robinson wanted a trade a couple of months ago. It’s very possible that Ryan Pace was able to keep the tensions at bay with his star catcher of the football, but wanting a trade doesn’t exactly install confidence in your offense and signal-caller. However, it is important to point out that Robinson asked for a trade when Mitch Trubisky was still the starting QB.
Have things gotten any better under Foles? Well, not exactly. Trubisky deserved to lose his starting QB job, especially when one considers the Bears only scored 10 points in his last 4+ quarters of action. But Foles kind of stinks, too. They only mustered 11 points of offense during that dreadful performance against the Indianapolis Colts, and let’s not forget them putting up only 3 points on the jumbotron during Monday Night Football versus the LA Rams.
So why is Foles still at QB, and why didn’t Robinson demand to be traded again prior to Tuesday’s Trade Deadline? There are many reasons for this, but I’ll name 3 just to save time:
First of all, Foles is a proven Super Bowl champion and Pro Bowler. His 27 touchdown passes and 2 interceptions is one of the greatest seasons ever for a QB, and although that was a long time ago, it still means enough to be given the benefit of the doubt when things aren’t going the Bears way.
Secondly, Trubisky didn’t really do anything productive during the first two Bears wins. Matt Patricia is just an idiot who switched over to man coverage when zone coverage was clearly confusing Trubisky during that Week 1 game. In Week 2 against the Giants, Trubisky’s offense scored zero points in the second half. It actually took a Golden Tate offensive interference call to save the Bears from certain defeat.
Third, the Bears weren’t going to get a first or second-rounder at the deadline for Robinson. While a very nice piece to have on your offense, Robinson has proven that he can sometimes struggle with 50-50 balls. Plus, the only team who desperately needed a WR was Green Bay, and the Packers certainly wouldn’t get fleeced from their oldest rival.
Okay, so you probably get it by now that the Bears offense is a total mess. So would re-signing Allen Robinson solve the mess? Actually, it might just make things worse. Unlike baseball, football has a strict salary cap. There isn’t as much leverage with the luxury tax in the NFL like there is in the NBA and MLB, so the Bears have to be careful with contract negotiations. They could reasonably cut Foles after the season, but that would be more a football personnel decision than helping out your cap situation.
A $20-30 million wide receiver doesn’t really help out your offensive line, either. Draft picks are nice, but you only get a certain number of them. And after the third round, you’re probably not finding a Pro Bowler. You might find a starting guard, sure, but you really need to hit on your first and second-rounders. And unless things change drastically for Foles, the Bears might not have a choice but draft a signal-caller in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft.
Also, don’t forget that Dak Prescott could be an unrestricted free agent during the spring of 2021. His recent season-ending injury, coupled with a drop in the salary cap, might make him a lot more reasonable of a free agent pickup than last offseason. But, if you re-sign Robinson, there’s no chance that you can afford Prescott unless you do something drastic like releasing Khalil Mack.
None of this is of course Robinson’s fault, but that’s the point of this video. The production of Robinson can’t outweigh the massive blunders by Ryan Pace, Matt Nagy, and the entire Bears offense. They can’t block for crap, the QB play has been below-average, and the play calling is subpar. When you put all of that together, Robinson’s contract extension would be a stopgap at helping out the offense, not a final solution.
If Robinson were on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, they would absolutely keep him. He would be the final puzzle piece of a Super Bowl caliber team. However, he’s on the Bears, a franchise that can barely scrape by the Carolina Panthers, New York Giants, and Detroit Lions this season (all of which have losing records, I should add).
If I were Pace, I’d give Robinson the franchise tag. And that’s it. A Robinson contract extension would pretty much put the Bears in salary cap hell. The Bears need a lot on offense, and a new QB and running back would help as well. I hate to say it, but Robinson is no DK Metcalf. Robinson is a nice player, and he definitely deserves a new contract, but the Bears offense is too much of a mess. Robinson deserves that money and long-term security, but the Bears might not be the team to give it to him.
Comments