It’s a grumble recovery for Bears fans

The Bears beat the Panthers 23-16 on Sunday to go to 5-1. Pretty nice record, huh?

But the real fun came Monday morning.

From the writings of my lovable but sporadically Scrooge-like compatriot Rick Morrissey to virtually every sports column, sports radio and TV show, Bears website, barber chair, basement and rooftop COVID-19 lockup area came a tidal wave of disgust and even flat-out anger.

The Bears are no good!

The offense sucks!

Trade anybody — everybody — for a decent O-lineman!

There are no All-Pros on this team!

There’s no depth on defense!

Nick Foles is a loser!

Matt Nagy needs to be relieved of duties!

On what planet is David Montgomery a running back?!

Don’t let Ryan Pace draft an offensive position ever again!

Fire Ryan Pace!

Hell, fire ’em all! (Except maybe Akiem Hicks.)

Mitch Trubisky? DO NOT mention his name!

Aaargh!

I honestly enjoyed the show, the outrage.

It proves Bears fans care. It shows that Monday morning quarterbacking is alive and well here in the Chi.

It also shows we’re partly insane.

If someone had told you before this season that the Bears would be 5-1 — by any means: pretty, ugly or stops in between — you would have taken that record in a heartbeat. Then you would have bet the under.

What we all know is that, but for the grace of George Halas’ cranky old ghost, these Bears could be 1-5.

Indeed, all five of their wins came down to the last series, the last stand, even the last play. It wasn’t that the Bears played well. It was that the other teams played worse.

This is true.

But then, so is this, at least according to a survey conducted by something called Mibets.com (a gambling site, duh): Chicago fans are in the top five of the NFL’s most complaining fan bases.

Don’t think you’re alone, folks. Foles and Nagy are also in the top five for quarterbacks and coaches who complain the most.

And this should soothe you: Cowboys fans are the most complaining group out there, with the victim mentality being their go-to beef.

And the cherry on top? Tom Brady is the biggest quarterback complainer.

All agreed.

But when this alleged nationwide poll of 5,103 people (53 percent male, 47 percent female, average age 36) broke things down further, Chicago fans came out No. 1 in complaining about referees.

OK, we like to complain.

Or maybe we are souls with lanterns in the dark, seeking perfection.

The Bears’ offense is very bad. No question.

The average NFL per-game scoring total is 25.7. That’s average, mind you. The Bears are at 21.3.

Their offensive line, a group that none of us has much of a clue about — except for the resultant rushing totals, sacks given up, times the quarterback is hurried, etc. — is bad. Averaging 2.5 yards per carry in a victory is bad.

For sure, the team misses running back Tarik Cohen. But then, every team is missing somebody, some big part.

Which is the point.

Remember last week when the Packers looked like one of the two or three elite teams in the NFC? They lose All-Pro left tackle David Bakhtiari and get crushed 38-10 by the Buccaneers, and superstar quarterback Aaron Rodgers looks so awful you feel sorry for him. (Almost.)

And ancient Brady looks great. And golly, didn’t the Bears just beat Brady and the Bucs?

The previously terrible Falcons (also beaten by the Bears) just wiped out the Bears’ division rival Vikings 40-23.

The lowly Lions even won Sunday.

You want bad coaching? Ron Rivera went for two points Sunday when he didn’t need to, and his Washington team lost 20-19 to the wretched Giants.

Yes, Foles looked mediocre and worse Sunday in his third start, completing only 23 of 39 passes for 198 yards and finishing with a 70.2 passer rating. But once-flying Panthers quarterback Teddy Bridgewater finished with a terrible 50.4 rating.

Rough seas lower all ships. And you wonder who, besides the Seahawks, the Steelers and maybe the Ravens or Chiefs, has a loaded deck.

The Bills are 4-2 and the Titans are 5-0. Think they’re great?

Not sure. Is the Titans’ Ryan Tannehill your QB of choice?

Consider that the Titans likely would have lost Sunday if Texans interim coach Romeo Crennel hadn’t gone for an ill-advised two-point conversion near the end. Shades of Rivera coaching.

Hope I made you feel a tad better, Bears fans. Possible season motto? It ain’t pretty, but it could be worse.