UA-59049186-1 2022 Chicago Bears Preview: Introduction - Good if it Goes

2022 Chicago Bears Preview: Introduction

[Photo: Soldier Field on Twitter]

In retrospect, 2021 was always going to suck. A head coach in way over his and a general manager with a deleterious penchant for throwing good money after bad both desperate to save their jobs was never going to end well. At least they didn’t do any permanent damage to Justin. Probably. I hope. In hindsight, they should’ve been fired a year prior, but admittedly, that’s a tough move to make after Matt Nagy had just made the playoffs for the second time in three years with a quarterback he didn’t pick and who clearly wasn’t the guy and did so while having to navigate a pandemic and all its accompanying protocols.

So the duo was retained. And Mitchell Trubisky was not. And Nagy and Pace got to draft a new QB. And they got a good one. Probably. I hope. And they signed Andy Dalton to give Justin a year to learn and develop, much like Patrick Mahomes had in Kansas City behind Alex Smith. And the fan base was upset about that because they wanted to see the new, exciting QB. And they’re still mad about it even though they really shouldn’t be considering last year’s offensive line featured a 39-year-old Jason Peters fresh off a fishing boat at left tackle and multiple worse ideas besides.

Nagy’s desire to let Fields develop behind Dalton was a fine idea, but was also part of a trend with Nagy: he knew what Andy Reid would do, but never how to do it or why. That perpetual search for the why became the theme of the 2021 season as the offense looked like garbage regardless of the QB or the play caller. Once the season ended, the house was cleaned.

In Ryan and Matt’s place comes a new Ryan and Matt. New Ryan and Matt are not like old Ryan and Matt. Old Ryan treated draft picks like Pacman Jones treated dollar bills at a strip club. New Ryan treats them like gold. Old Matt was an offensive guy with no clear plan on offense. New Matt is a defensive guy with an eye for detail. Old Ryan and Matt were unable to get this team to the promised land. New Ryan and Matt? We’ll see. Welcome to the 2022 season, Bears fans.

Twitter: @KevinSports312

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