Rozner: Another day, another Chicago Bears narrative bites dust

Like a summer golf season in Chicago, Bears narratives come and go quickly.

And are forgotten just as fast.

It was going to be different this time, we were told, because Virginia McCaskey was angry.

Oh, goodness, she was so angry about the embarrassment of 2014 that everyone was fired and the search was on for the very best people in the game.

And this time, they're not kidding. This time George McCaskey and Ted Phillips really, really mean it. They totally, really, seriously mean it this time.

And they found Ryan Pace and John Fox.

Then, there was the Fox second-year turnaround record. That was conveniently forgotten when the Bears were 2-6 at the bye in 2016 and finished 3-13.

Oops.

Then there was the Pace is a genius narrative and the Bears could make the playoffs in 2017.

The Bears are 3-8, Pace is 12-31 in three years here and this is now his roster except for eight players, including Kyle Long, Charles Leno, Kyle Fuller, Christian Jones and Pat O'Donnell.

Only now are some starting to wonder why Fox is always the target when Pace is the one who put that team on the field in Philadelphia.

Is there a coach in the NFL, or anywhere on the planet, who could have won with that Bears team Sunday?

And then there was the Mitch Trubisky will be Joe Montana narrative.

Nothing like putting reasonable expectations on a guy who started 13 games in college. He does not yet look like Joe Montana.

Go figure.

Now, it's that Trubisky will be Carson Wentz in his second season.

Welcome to the latest and greatest Bears narrative.

Trubisky might turn out to be something special, just as there was a chance Rex Grossman and Jay Cutler might turn out to be something special.

Everything we were promised about those two has now been promised in Trubisky, including the great arm, the accurate throws and the spectacular football acumen.

Trubisky has been mediocre so far and if his name was Mike Glennon he would have been hammered for Sunday's awful performance, when he could have easily thrown four or five picks.

But the reality is Trubisky has no chance right now and it's a tough way to learn in the NFL, especially when he had so little college experience.

He's going through his progressions and by the time he makes a decision it's too late. That's due to a faster NFL game and a bad offensive line with few weapons around him.

The game plan is a frequent target for the angry, but the rookie QB is not fully versed in the offense and neither are the offensive projects on which he must rely.

Tight end Adam Shaheen, the 45th pick in the draft out of Ashland, could not get on the field until the Bears had no choice but to use him.

On Sunday, he missed a block on a third-and-2 running play up the middle when the defensive end faked going up the field. Shaheen's only assignment on that play was to keep the rushing lineman from getting inside him.

But Brandon Graham baited Shaheen, jumped inside and stopped Jordan Howard cold. It's an inside run. Who cares if the DE runs up the field?

That's pretty basic football.

Tarik Cohen, the fourth-rounder from North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University, came out of a timeout Sunday and didn't know where to line up until Trubisky got him situated.

Seriously, out of a timeout. And people wonder why he's not on the field in crucial situations. You're going to play him in the two-minute drill with no huddle, hot reads and blitz pickup?

What kind of a chance does Trubisky have when players don't know the playbook, the offense is dumbed down to suit the personnel, the linemen can't block and the receivers can't catch?

No wonder he looked bad Sunday against a very good Philadelphia defense.

It won't get easier when the Bears fire another coaching staff and Trubisky starts over with a new playbook before he's even finished learning the first one.

A new coordinator with more imagination will be cheered, but if the Bears don't hire better players to help him, Trubisky won't have a chance.

But it will change the story, move the goal posts again and sell hope for the future.

And that will produce yet another familiar Bears narrative.

brozner@dailyherald.com

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