Are 2015 Bears better than the 2014 team?

Are the Bears in a better place now than they were a year ago, when they stumbled to a 5-11 finish?

The fact that it's debatable is a bad sign for G.M. Ryan Pace and coach John Fox.

After the Thanksgiving upset of the Packers in Green Bay, the Bears were 5-6 and flying high. Well, as high as a sub-.500 team can fly. But with each of the three losses that followed, those great expectations have been dialed down.

Dialed down for everyone except Fox, who apparently didn't think much of the talent he inherited and still doesn't.

"I came there thinking there was a lot of work to be done," Fox said, "and that hasn't changed much."

And whose fault is that?

The Pace-Fox think tank gave journeyman cornerback Alan Ball $3 million this year, and he's been, at best, a sixth defensive back.

Wide receiver Eddie Royal got $10 million of a $15 million three-year contract guaranteed. He's missed six games with injuries and averaged 6.8 yards on his 32 receptions.

Safety Antrel Rolle, who just turned 33, got a three-year deal for $11.25 million with $5 million guaranteed. He played just seven games before a knee injury in practice shut him down for the remainder of the season.

In those seven games, he broke up 1 pass.

The Bears did not have a single player voted to the Pro Bowl for the first time since 1998.

It's not that anyone expected the Bears to be a playoff team this year. But it wasn't unreasonable to expect them to beat a bad 49ers team at home or a mediocre Washington team at home.

Both those home games were winnable with a bit of good fortune, and that had been the argument optimists made for the previous two months. Even though the Bears lost five of eight games, they were right there at the end - just one play away.

But that ended in Sunday's 38-17 loss to the Vikings, who are clearly a better team. But not 21 points better.

This Bears defense is better than last year's clunker, yet it still made second-year quarterback Teddy Bridgewater look better than he ever has. Bridgewater's 154.4 passer rating was the second highest in Vikings franchise history and easily a personal best. His 4 TD passes were twice as many as he ever had before in an NFL game.

The defense is still in much better hands with Vic Fangio calling the shots than it was under Mel Tucker in 2014, when the Bears were 30th in total yards allowed. They're 12th this year and had kept the Bears competitive until the Vikings game.

There have been no humiliations like last year's back-to-back 51-23 and 55-14 losses, just two of the seven double-digit defeats the Bears suffered.

But linebacker Pernell McPhee isn't sure everyone is on the same page.

"I just think other teams want it more than we want it, and that's the end of the story," McPhee said. "When you want something, you go take it. Right now, ain't nobody really trying to take it."

The offense is better, too, though not by that much. Jay Cutler has improved in Adam Gase's offense, especially when it comes to turnovers. But, statistically, the team rankings aren't that much better than last year.

The Bears have not scored more than 21 points in any of the last five games, and Cutler has cooled off with just 5 TD passes in the past five games.

The quarterback didn't seem too thrilled with the offense after the loss to the Vikings.

"It doesn't matter who we played today," Cutler said, "we weren't going to win with our offensive football."

It will be interesting to see if the Bears win again this season, or if they wind up with the same record that got coach Marc Trestman and G.M. Phil Emery canned.

Tale of two teams

Here's how the last two Bears teams rank among NFL stats:

Offense 2014 2015

Total yds 20 18

Rush yds 26 14

Pass yds 13 21

Points 21 23

Int % 27 7

Sack % 13 13

3rd down 22 9

Defense 2014 2015

Tot tds. 30 12

Rush yds 16 28

Pass yds. 31 3

Points 32 20

Int % 16 27

Sack % 18 15

3rd down 19 31