If Bears playoff hopes are gone, it's not on Trubisky and Nagy
There are times with just about any NFL team where you have to take a step back, eliminate all the emotion and try and figure out exactly who that team is.
Yes, the Bears appear to be wildly underachieving at 3-4 through their first seven games of this season.
But at this point last year they were 4-3, only one game better than today.
And while it changes nothing one Eddy Pineiro shank vs. the Chargers, one Chase Daniel brain fart late against the Raiders and the failure to make just one or two big plays on offense or defense vs. the Packers is all that separates these Bears from the top of the NFC.
They are literally no more than half a dozen snaps of the ball or so from being 6-1.
So what is my point?
The Bears are clearly not a top 10 or top 15 team right now because of their play at quarterback and the head coach is in a bad three-game slump but, and here's where we take the emotion out of the equation, other than the QB and the head coach, how good or bad is this team right now?
The only position on the Bears depth chart where there is a clear talent deficiency is at tight end, and while that can't be fixed until the offseason, it can be improved if Trey Burton can begin to produce up to his ability.
The Bears are average at best at the two tackle spots but were good enough there last year to win 12 games. The problem right now is Charles Leno has been well below average all season and Bobby Massie, who had not played that badly, had his worst game last Sunday.
It is too early to say where they're at with Rashaad Coward at right guard, but Cody Whitehair and James Daniels have been improving steadily and both played very well against the Chargers.
If Leno can get his head on straight, the O-line can play well enough to win a bunch more games this year.
Wasn't it interesting how often the Bears other receivers - Taylor Gabriel (6), Anthony Miller (3), Trey Burton (4), Cordarrelle Patterson (2) and Tarik Cohen (3) - were targeted vs. the Chargers with Allen Robinson only thrown at seven times once the opposition was forced to defend the run?
With Robinson having a Pro Bowl level season and Miller's, Gabriel's and Cohen's as well as Javon Wims' and Riley Ridley's arrows all still pointing up the Bears are more than talented enough at receiver to win now.
David Montgomery may just be a big time NFL back, but in his own words Cohen isn't really a running back, Mike Davis isn't good enough and Kerrith Whyte at least isn't good enough yet.
The Bears do need a change of pace back and depth at running back, but if Montgomery stays healthy and they start using Patterson more in the change of pace role they can be dangerous.
On defense, the loss of Akiem Hicks is huge but it shouldn't be crippling.
Eddie Goldman, Bilal Nichols and Roy Robertson-Harris have each flashed big time skills and Nick Williams is quality.
Remembering we're talking talent and potential here and not production. To date, there isn't a team in the league with more pure talent and athleticism at linebacker. And other than the Vikings, I can't find a secondary that would be a clear choice over the Bears either.
What is the sum total of all that?
If indeed the Bears season is over, it really isn't just on Mitch Trubisky and Matt Nagy.
These Bears, as they're currently constituted, can still play meaningful games well into December if these players are willing to pay the price to make that happen and these coaches put them in positions to win.
And that's not something every other team in the league can say.
All that's really missing from last year is the mojo, and that's not something you draft or find in free agency, that has to come from within.
It's time to stop grasping at straws and for the Bears 53-man roster to spend a lot more time in front of the mirror.
• Hub Arkush, the executive editor of Pro Football Weekly, can be reached at harkush@profootballweekly.com or on Twitter @Hub_Arkush.