Not that it’s too surprising, but now it’s official. Nick Foles will be the Bears’ starting quarterback for their Week 4 matchup with the Colts, head coach Matt Nagy announced Monday. Nagy went on to say this wasn’t just a temporary move, and that Foles would be the starter “moving forward.”
Foles came on in relief of Mitchell Trubisky Sunday, and led an improbable comeback over the Falcons to improve Chicago to 3-0. Foles was traded from Jacksonville this offseason, and lost the abridged training camp battle to Trubisky. Everyone figured Trubisky would be on a short leash, but after the Bears started 2-0 he had appeared to have bought himself some time.
Despite Trubisky’s heroics in a Week 1 comeback of his own, internally he clearly never had too much support. Buzz about a fourth-year leap was premature, and the UNC product will now hit the bench. In his first start with his new team Foles will be going up against Frank Reich, who helped guide him to a Super Bowl victory as his offensive coordinator with the Eagles.
Given that Foles has a somewhat lengthy injury history and is always capable of being ineffective himself, it’s quite possible we see Trubisky back under center before too long. It’s also quite possible that Trubisky, who had his fifth-year option declined back in May and will be a free agent at the end of the year, has thrown his last pass in a Bears uniform.
Are the Bears the worst 3-0 team ever?
I don’t want to be a big dick about it, but now that Trubisky is out of the way, they are a lot more dangerous. You are correct that they haven’t really played that well this year, but they do still have a lot of talent on the roster.
To actually answer your question though, I would say the 2012 Arizona Cardinals are easily worse. They started 4-0 with Kevin Kolb and John Skelton as QB. They lost the next nine straight, capped by a 58-0 blowout in Seattle, the worst in franchise history. They finished 5-11, last in NFC West. They fired everyone and got a new GM, coach, and quarterback for 2013.
2012 Arizona Cardinals come to mind
The Cardinals started 4-0 that season so we have to disqualify them. Cleveland Rams lost 6 of 7 after a 3-0 start in 1944.
Why would 4-0 disqualify them? They were still 3-0 befoee that haha.
Yes they are.
Ever? You don’t even know how long this is.
Minor quibble…comebacks against the Falcons are now quite probable. Possibly even likely.
Were I you guys, I’d start typing up the “Falcon Fire Dan Quinn” post now to save time later. Just add something like “The final straw came when ______” and fill in the rest then.
the Falcons have been backsliding since their collapse against the Patriots. i cant believe they havent cleaned house yet.
What a mess. If they were going to take on that much of that contract, they should have been starting him from day one. Trading up to draft Trubisky with vastly better options on the board isn’t a great reflection of one’s judgment, but draft misses happen. Trading for that contract and sitting him behind Trubisky means you’ve *definitely* made at least one colossal error in judgment, whether that’s backing Trubisky irrationally or paying up for a guy who isn’t better.
Or perhaps due to a short training camp, the Bears went with the guy more familiar with the system to start the season, with the plan all along being to replace him with Foles if he faltered. That is exactly what happened, and I dont think anyone will be complaining about errors in judgement should the Bears make the postseason this year, which given the expanded playoff field and the 3-0 start, is a real possibility.
Familiar with the system? Wasn’t half the justification for trading for that bloated contract the built-in familiarity? Nagy was in Philly when they drafted him and was his OC in KC. Bill Lazor was his QB coach in Philly. John DeFilippo was his QB coach in Philly and his OC last year. If he needs to sit 3 games to familiarize himself with the system enough to be better than Trubisky, why would you trade a pick to pay him that much?
I’d also be careful about reading too much into a 3-0 start against those teams. Only beating the Giants and Lions by 4 points each isn’t exactly looking impressive, and the Falcons seem to be on a kamikaze mission this year.
Sure but a win is a win, and in the final standings no one cares how you get them. Trying to discredit a 3-0 start is silly. And as for Foles, the pressure to bring in a new QB was too great for them not to make SOME sort of move. Yes, Newton would have been ideal, but a guy with extensive starting experience isnt a bad alternative. And the contract was restructured to not be AS bad either
Sure, it’s not as bad, but trading a 4th round pick to the Jaguars (who were done a huge favor here) to pay Foles a guaranteed $21 million isn’t great shakes unless you think he can improve your team by taking over the job. And yeah, a win is a win, but after showing so poorly against the Giants’ defense, it had to be hard to see the 2-0 start as reflective of Trubisky being a viable QB to keep winning. You can enjoy and benefit from wins without taking them as a ban on switching out your QB.
I agree, but if I remember correctly, Mitch actually graded out quite well in that game (if youre someone who agrees with the use of pro football focus as an evaluation metric anyway) so it wouldnt have quite felt right if they benched him after that. I do think if the comeback week 1 doesnt happen, Foles starts week 2, but given the circumstances I can understand giving Mitch weeks 1 2 and 3. But at the first sign of old Mitch (absolutely AWFUL interception on a horrid read), make the move and give the team its best chance to win. Its hardly an ideal situation, but I would argue it has worked out about as well as anyone could have hoped
I do like PFF, but 2 picks and 4 sacks in a game with fewer than 30 passing attempts against the Giants defense feels pretty grim to me.
Don’t bother, Bryzzo. This guy argues just for the sake of arguing. And yes, you’re right. It has worked out as well as anyone could’ve hoped.
We were having a pretty reasonable back and forth after they replied to a comment of mine. You’re the one who jumped in to take a shot at me.
You’re right and I apologize for the insult. Ok, so maybe you don’t like the Bears. I don’t know. But I don’t get why you argue the validity of their 3-0 start. Yeah, Trubisky was a bad draft choice and Foles cost them a lot, but every team in the league would want that record, regardless of schedule.
All good. And for the record, I’m a lifelong Jets fan, so the only team I hate is the Jets–and they earned that.
3-0 is 3-0, but the validity or whatever is more about my question of what the plan was and what the plan is. One would think acquiring Foles at that price was a tacit admission that Trubisky was holding the team back, and the argument for Foles at that price over one of the other available options was that those coaches–who might not have another year there–are confident he knows how that system works. So for me, benching Trubisky midway through the third game, when the Giants could sack him four times and pick him twice the game before, brings up the same questions I have about reports that the Jets could fire Gase this week: What did they just find out that they didn’t already know after last season?
They obviously didn’t beat Atlanta because of Trubisky. I question the strength of their competition as a way of saying those other games didn’t signal much about Trubisky later. If the goal is to win now and Trubisky is bad enough that you traded for Foles, why not just go with Foles?
I don’t envy being a Jets fan. Wow… I think like a lot of teams, the Bears didn’t think Winston would’ve helped with all those ints and Newton’s health was an issue. But I still don’t know why Pace overpaid for Foles. (He also overpaid for Graham.)… I’m guessing that since Trubisky was a #2 pick, they had to give him a pretty long leash in hopes he’d turn a corner. I doubt Pace will ever live down that pick with who he missed out on. Unreal.
I think it’s possible they surprise some people. They really miss their run stuffer Eddie Goldman, but I think they’ll get better on defense and it was obvious how much better they looked with Foles in there. He’s not Brady, but he’s solid and maybe that’s enough. Who knows…
You’d have to think so, right? Especially since they’ve invested so much in the defense. They’ve invested in the line. They have a number one receiver. Trubisky has worked out about as badly as possible, but if it turns out they aren’t good QB play away from competing, that’s gotta be the ultimate indictment of Pace.
Yep. This is the make or break season for Pace. They’ll have to at the very least make the playoffs or I’m thinking he’s out.
I think that speaks to the underlying problem for me: Was all this a reasonable best strategy for moving the Bears forward or was it the best strategy for salvaging Pace’s job? Because if it’s the latter, you should be sacking the guy before he can saddle you with longer-term commitments in pursuit of short-term goals.
I think they knew in 2018 how much farther they might’ve gone in the playoffs if they’d had Watson or Mahomes, but they couldn’t publicly admit it. That’s when the job salvaging started. It’s going to be interesting to see how effective Foles will be. He’s not as mobile, but he’s way more poised than Trubisky. Either way, I hope Pace is gone after this season.
It’s gotta be time. Foles can at least give them some fight, and they’ll finally have a first round pick again in a draft that should have some interesting QBs. Maybe this time they’ll find the right one.
You are what your record says you are and the Bears are 3-0. That defense didn’t turn bad overnight either. They lost Goldman on a opt out and Trevethan has been worse then terrible. If they fix those problems and Foles stays healthy they will win 9 games
Are other teams what their records say they are, too? Because if so, the Bears’ schedule is almost entirely going to be harder than their first three games.
Bill Parcells (at the pearly gates): “I am what my record says I am so I demand you allow me to enter”.
St. Peter: “Well, it’s by invitation only here fella, so take your record to the place below”.
Parcells’ apostles have had more success.