1st-and-10: George McCaskey must take ownership of latest Bears failure

If the McCaskeys aren’t going to sell the team, they need to put their family heirloom into more capable hands. The McCaskeys and Ted Phillips should have nothing to do with the hiring or firing of GMs and coaches.

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Bears president Ted Phillips (left) and team chairman George McCaskey seem to be using the franchise’s bid for the Arlington International Racecourse property to get a better deal at Soldier Field.

The Bears have won three playoff games in five postseason appearances in 21 seasons since Ted Phillips (left) was promoted to team president in 1999. They have made one playoff appearance since George McCaskey (right) was promoted to Chairman of the Board in 2011.

Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

The Bears’ problems begin at the top. The very top. 

If chairman of the board George McCaskey and team president Ted Phillips hold general manager Ryan Pace and coach Matt Nagy accountable for the franchise’s latest downturn, it’s time for them to hold themselves accountable. If you fire three general managers and four head coaches in nine years, you have to consider the possibility that you’re the problem. 

Though the Bears still have playoff hopes at 5-7, their collapse against the Lions in the final four minutes Sunday at Soldier Field signaled — yet again — a need for change. But even if the Bears start over again, how much confidence does anyone outside the McCaskey family have that George McCaskey and Phillips can find the right guy?

To his credit, George McCaskey has distanced himself from the football operation since replacing his brother, Michael, as chairman in 2011. Unlike Michael, who meddled in far too many personnel and coaching decisions that drove the team into the ground after the Mike Ditka era ended, George McCaskey has let football people make football decisions. 

But it’s not enough. If the McCaskeys aren’t going to sell the team, they need to get completely out of the way and put their family heirloom into more capable hands. The McCaskeys and Phillips should have nothing to do with the hiring or firing of general manager and coaches.

Let the record show that the Bears’ only NFL championship since 1963 came after George Halas himself gave up control of football operations by hiring Jim Finks as general manager in 1974. It was the first time anyone outside the Halas family had day-to-day control of the Bears. And Halas knew the game as well as anyone. The McCaskeys are on the other end of that spectrum.

That in itself presents a challenge. George and son George “Mugs” Halas knew football and the NFL. 

They picked the right guy — Finks had built the Vikings into a Super Bowl team. It remains to be seen if the McCaskeys have that kind of acumen to find the right guy “to run the show.” But we’ll take our chances.

From Virginia Halas McCaskey on down, the McCaskeys are a proud Chicago family that represents the city with dignity. But football management isn’t their game. It’s time they stepped aside completely and just own the team. As Jim Finks famously responded when Ed McCaskey asked him what owners do: “They go to the games.” 

2a. The mystifying collapse of the Bears’ defense seemed like a death knell for coach Matt Nagy and Pace. The Bears allowed 460 yards and 34 points to a Lions team that was held to 185 yards and zero points just two weeks earlier against the Panthers.

The Lions’ seven-play, 96-yard touchdown drive in the final 4:33 was notable for an unusual lack of resistance by the Bears’ defense. The drive took just 2:15 — the shortest time span for a touchdown drive of 90-plus yards on more than three plays against the Bears since 2006 (five plays, 95 yards in 1:12 by the Buccaneers in a 34-31 Bears overtime victory). 

And while the defense was in a tough spot at the 7-yard line after Mitch Trubisky’s fumble with 1:48 to go, Adrian Peterson’s five-yard touchdown run on second down was disappointing for a defense that usually bucks up in those situations. 

But they’re not that defense any more. In the six-game losing streak, the Bears have allowed eight touchdowns on 17 plays inside the 10-yard line. In the first six games they allowed five touchdowns in 31 plays inside the 10. 

2b. The defense in general has lost some of its resilience during the six-game losing streak. After six games, the Bears led the NFL in red-zone defense — allowing eight touchdowns in 22 possessions (36.4%). Only the Cardinals (41.7) were within 10 percentage points of them. 

Since then, though, the Bears have allowed 14 touchdowns in 20 red-zone possessions (70.0%) to raise their season percentage to 52.3% (22-of-42). 

3. After not allowing a quarterback rating of 100 or better in their first six games, the Bears have allowed six straight after Matthew Stafford’s 109.4 rating Sunday. That’s the longest streak in the NFL this season. In fact, only the Bills (five), Vikings and Texans (four) have allowed a 100-plus rating in more than three consecutive games. 

The Bears’ withering pass rush — just three sacks in the last three games and eight in the last six — is one culprit. In their first six games, the Bears allowed four touchdown passes with five interceptions (73.5 rating). 

In their last six games, they’ve allowed 15 touchdown passes with two interceptions (111.5 rating). 

4a. Has anybody seen Jimmy Graham lately? After a strong start (for a Bears tight end, anyway), Graham has all but disappeared. 

He has just three receptions for 32 yards in the Bears’ last three games — and all three came in garbage time after the Bears fell behind 41-10 against the Packers. 

Rookie Cole Kmet has played more snaps in the Bears’ last three games — 76.5% (143-of-187) to 46.5% (87-of-187) for Graham — but still only has seven receptions for 52 yards and a touchdown in that span. 

4b. The Lions’ T.J. Hockenson (seven receptions, 84 yards) is the latest tight end to outshine Graham and Kmet. In the last six games, opponents’ tight ends have caught 41 passes for 462 yards (11.3 avg.) and seven touchdowns. The Bears’ tight ends have 26 receptions for 230 yards (8.8 avg.) and three touchdowns. 

5. The List: ESPN analyst Mel Kiper’s 2017 NFL Draft quarterback ratings: 1. Mitch Trubisky, North Carolina; 2. Patrick Mahomes, Texas Tech; 3. Deshaun Watson, Clemson. 

6. The Bears had not lost six consecutive games since 2002, when they had the added difficulty of playing home games at Illinois’ Memorial Stadium in Champaign because of Soldier Field renovations. This is their first six-game losing streak with games at Soldier Field since 1998, when they finished 4-12 in Dave Wannstedt’s final season.

7. Bright Side Dept.: Between David Montgomery (13, 12 yards) and Cordarrelle Patterson (13, 13, 12), the Bears had five rushes for 10 or more yards against the Lions. They’ve had more carries of 10 or more yards in the last two games (eight) than in the previous seven games (four). 

Then again, when they needed just one yard to keep their hopes alive against the Lions, Montgomery was stopped for no gain — the story of the Bears’ 2020 season. 

8. Malik Willis Watch: The Liberty junior quarterback was idle after Liberty had to bow out of its showdown with unbeaten Coastal Carolina because of a coronavirus outbreak within the program. 

BYU replaced the Flames, which provided a showcase for highly touted quarterback Zach Wilson, who completed 19-of-30 passes for 240 yards, one touchdown and one interception (on a first-half Hail Mary) in a 22-17 loss. Wilson’s 17-yard pass to Dax Milne on the final play of the game came up one yard short of a winning touchdown. It’s almost like he’s destined to become a Bear. 

9. Josh McCown Ex-Bears Player of the Week: Washington linebacker Jon Bostic’s interception with 1:59 to play all but sealed the Steelers’ fate in a 26-20 Washington victory that handed the Steelers their first loss after an 11-0 start. Bostic, the Bears’ second-round draft pick by GM Phil Emery in 2013, led Washington with 10 tackles. 

10. Bear-ometer: 6-10 — vs. Texans (L); at Vikings (L); at Jaguars (W); vs. Packers (L). 

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