How could I be wrong??

 As dawn fell on the 2022 football season, I listened to oh so many experts on the radio saying how bad the Bears are, how they didn't do anything to put weapons around Fields and that they are destined to have a top 5 pick while Vegas put their over/under win total at 6 games. Six games??? They were 6-11 last year with Foles and Dalton starting games and with a universally admonished offensive line and Matt Nagy as the coach and play caller doing just a terrible, terrible job. But they had Mack and Hicks and Goldman on defense and Allen Robinson on offense. Well, Mack was hurt half the season as was Hicks and Goldman hasn't been even below average since before Covid. Robinson was just cashing a paycheck and offered nothing to the offense. So how could the Bears not be AT LEAST as good as the year before with: two top 60 defensive draft picks, three new offensive linemen, surely some FA WR pickups by Ryan Poles and what should still be a top 15 defense?  

But the uneducated masses were talking about how the Bears would have a horrible season and be able to take a top flight WR in the first 5 picks and turn it around next year. Well I have news for ya: if the Bears were going to be picking in the top 5, that means Justin Fields was not the guy and they'd be taking a QB. There's no other way for that to playout. 

Enter Ryan Poles.

His FA pickups were less than stellar. Let's look at WR pickups: N'Keal Harry (hurt the first half of the season), Byron Pringle (also hurt most of the first half of the season and then couldn't figure out many plays), Dante Pettis and ESB have been below average, Smith-Marsette cost us the Vikings game. On the line, his big acquisition was Lucas Patrick to start at center, but he was hurt and only played parts of the first 7 games and Dakota Dozier who didn't play at all. He also acquired Reiff and Schofield, who have been below average subs. Alex Leatherwood hasn't contributed at all until this last week and that was minimal. So Poles spent little and got the same in return. 

Then, the trade deadline came. 

Off went Quinn, our only pass rush threat and Roquan Smith, probably our best defensive player. Now our defense had no talent at all in the front 7 when three of the back 4 got hurt (Jackson, Brisker, and Gordon), they had no chance of stopping anyone. Johnson was also hurt on and off during the season. So the Bears quickly started giving up 30+ a game. Tough to win that way. 

And they didn't. BUT, they were in games until the end, mostly due to Justin Fields (and play calling by Luke Getsy). Fields set all sorts of records for running: most yards in a game by a QB, most consecutive games with 50 yard rushing touchdown and I'm forgetting others. Going into last week, he was top 10 and I think top 7 in rushing in the league. 

Unfortunately, the lack of talent at WR and OL really, really hurts you if you're in the two minute drill and need to score. The defense doesn't care about stopping the run anymore and just pins their ears back and comes after the QB. So the Bears are 1-9 in games where they have a chance to win in the last 6 minutes. Just awful. 

And THAT's how the Bears took a 6 win team and made it a 3 win team despite better coaching and while still having their QB of the future.