The Bears’ bye falls exactly eight games into the season, the perfect time for the Sun-Times’ experts — Adam L. Jahns, Patrick Finley and Mark Potash — to examine the highs and lows of their 2-6 performance and predict what will happen in the next eight contests.
Here’s Patrick Finley’s look:
I’m impressed by: The development of four Bears draftees this year: outside linebacker Leonard Floyd, center Cody Whitehair, defensive end Jonathan Bullard and running back Jordan Howard. Each entered the season with flaws — Floyd’s weight being chief among them — but they’re all improving with each passing week. In a lost season, the future is all that matters. For that reason, the possible return of receiver Kevin White (leg), as soon as Week 13, would be the most relevant development of the season’s second half.
I’m concerned about: The Bears’ inability to stay healthy. Of the six players drafted last year, only one, safety Adrian Amos, has played more than half their games this season. John Fox knows it’s bad news — ”When you build in the draft and you lose a whole draft class, it’s not real conducive to success,” he said — but now it’s up to him and the Bears front office to figure out why it keeps happening. Is it an organizational flaw? It can’t be just buzzard’s luck, can it?
They can turn their season around if: The return of Goldman to nose tackle turns an already improving defense into a dominant force. A healthy Goldman, who suffered a high ankle sprain in Week 2, might be the Bears’ best defensive player. The schedule will help, too; the Bears don’t play a single top-10 scoring offense the rest of the year.
Jay Cutler will: Play well enough to take the Bears out of the running for a top-five pick. Which could be the worst-case scenario, long-term — the team eventually needs to draft, or trade a draft pick for, a quarterback. It’s hard to have too much sympathy for the organization, though; in a quarterback-driven league, the Bears have selected three this decade, all on the final day of the draft.
John Fox has: A lot more to prove. He’s won only one-third of his 24 games and is skippering a team that, midway through his second season, still lacks an identity. He must generate some sense of momentum heading into the offseason.
Second-half record: 4-4. Improved health means the Bears will be better, and there’s not a single intimidating contest left on their schedule. (At the Giants? At the Vikings?) Then again, we said the same about the first half of the schedule.
