Chris Pedota, NorthJersey.com / USA
If you want to know how much parity there is in the NFL and how good the competition is in the NFL, I’ll put it to you this way: the Chicago Bears, who finished the 2023 Season 7-10, were not eliminated from playoff contention until Week 17. That’s the same Bears team that started the season 0-4 and were 1-5, 2-7 and 3-8 at other points in the 2023 Season.
Speaking of the playoffs, the Chicago Bears only have three playoff appearances since playing in Super Bowl XLI. That’s just three playoff appearances in the last 17 seasons. For one of the NFL’s original franchises, with the second-most wins in NFL history, the last two decades have not produced a lot of success with just five playoff appearances since 2001. I’ve always been fascinated, given the Bears’ place in NFL history, that they have only played in two Super Bowls and only won one. 18 teams have played in more Super Bowls than the Chicago Bears and 15 teams have won more Super Bowls. This is the same Bears franchise with 40 Pro Football Hall of Famers, the most of any NFL franchise.
The Bears are currently on the upswing. I believe the Bears are coming, and they are going to be a really competitive team in 2024. It’s not just because they drafted Caleb Williams, but it’s also because general manager Ryan Poles has quietly built a talented roster. With D.J. Moore at wide receiver, who is coming off a season where he racked up 1,364 yards, and Moore will also be joined by Keenan Allen, Cole Kmet and first round draft pick Rome Odunze to form an
underrated receiving corps. The Bears also signed running back D’Andre Swift to a three-year deal in free agency this offseason, and Swift is coming off a 1,000-yard season with the Eagles in 2023.
Another big reason why the Bears won five of their last eight games in 2023 is their defense. After allowing over 30 points in three of their first four games, the Bears only allowed 30 points twice in their final 13 games and allowed fewer than 20 points eight times in those 13 games. With veteran pieces like Montez Sweat, Tremaine Edmunds, Jaylon Johnson and Kevin Byard III, the Bears defense is restoring itself into the upper half of the NFL.
FOR MORE NFL CONTENT, CHECK OUT THE FOLLOWING LINKS:
–Bill Belichick Will Be the New York Giants Head Coach in 2025
–Aaron Rodgers Will Be The Los Angeles Rams Quarterback in 2025
–Justin Fields Will Be the Detroit Lions Franchise Quarterback in 2025
With a resurgent defense and an ascending offense, the Bears need to insure they are giving Caleb Williams every chance to succeed. For as admirable of a job as Matt Eberfleus did in turning the Bears 2023 season around, I don’t think he is the long-term answer in Chicago. But another current head coach is: Brian Daboll.
Daboll has had a fascinating coaching career, quickly rising through assistant and position coaching positions to become an offensive coordinator and head coach. As an assistant coach, Daboll has five Super Bowl Championships. That’s right, five Super Bowl Championships on Bill Belichick’s coaching staff with the Patriots. But it’s what he did in his four seasons as the Bills offensive coordinator that would make him the long-term answer in Chicago.
The way Daboll helped develop Josh Allen and the way Allen flourished with Daboll as his offensive coordinator can happen again with Daboll paired with Caleb Williams. Daboll helped take the Bills offense from the bottom of the NFL offensive rankings into the top five in 2020 and 2021. The Bills gained 400+ yards of offense 18 times in those two seasons and scored 30+ points 20 times. Allen threw for almost 9,000 yards across those two seasons with 73 touchdown passes and just 25 interceptions while completing 66.3 percent of his passes. In addition, Allen also rushed for over 1,000 yards across those two seasons and combined for 14 rushing touchdowns.
While Allen is a top five quarterback in the NFL, I wonder if he’s reached his ceiling. I wonder if he will ever get over the hump and win a Super Bowl. The reason I say that: the Bills may only go as far as head coach Sean McDermott can take them, which has only been one AFC Championship Game and three straight losses in the Divisional Round of the Playoffs.
Ryan Poles and Kevin Warren have to realize that Matt Eberfleus isn’t the long-term answer to get the Bears back to Super Bowl contender status. They need an offensive-minded head coach to pair with offensive coordinator Shane Waldron and help develop Caleb Williams. Daboll can be that answer.
One of my 13 Bold Predictions for the 2024 NFL Season is the Bears finishing with a winning record. That would be another positive step in the right direction for the Bears, but not enough to convince the fan base that Matt Eberfleus is the long-term answer at head coach. The 2024 season will be Eberfleus’s third season as the head coach, and just a winning record won’t be enough. It won’t be enough considering what other current and past NFL head coaches accomplished in their third seasons. Zac Taylor and Kyle Shanahan each led the Bengals and 49ers, respectively, to the Super Bowl in their third seasons. Dan Campbell led the Lions to the NFC Championship, and Bruce Arians also had the Cardinals in the NFC Championship in 2015. Matt LaFleur had the Packers at 13-4 and the first seed in the NFC in 2021, and Chuck Pagano had the Colts in the AFC Championship in 2014. In Chicago, a winning record won’t be enough. And with a generational talent in Caleb Williams, the Bears must give him every opportunity to succeed. Keeping Eberfleus as head coach even if the Bears don’t make the Playoffs in 2024 would be the wrong decision by the Bears front office.
Daboll coached wide receivers and tight ends in each of the two halves of the Patriots dynasty. Receivers he coached in New England include Deion Branch, David Givens, David Patten and Troy Brown. And when he coached tight ends, he had one of the greatest tight ends in NFL history in Rob Gronkowski. In 2014 and 2015, seasons when Gronkowski stayed healthy, he had over 1,100 yards in both seasons and combined for 23 touchdowns.
For as good of a job as Daboll did in his first season as the Giants head coach in 2022, this is not the long-term spot for him as a head coach. Daniel Jones has reached his ceiling, and there aren’t enough playmakers on the Giants roster to get them back to the playoffs in 2024. Letting Saquon Barkley leave doesn’t help either, even though the Giants did sign Devin Singletary in free agency. But the Giants defense, which has been the hallmark of each of their four Super Bowl winning teams, has been a bottom quarter defense in each of Daboll’s two seasons. Combine the lack of talent on the Giants roster and with the desperation for a winner in New York- just two playoff appearances in the last 12 seasons and just one playoff win- this will be Daboll’s last season as the Giants head coach. But he won’t have to wait long for his next head coaching job.
In Chicago, Daboll will get to work with D.J. Moore, Keenan Allen, Rome Odunze and Cole Kmet on top of Caleb Williams. And after the work he did in getting Josh Allen to top five quarterback status and the Bills to one of the best offenses in the NFL, that’s reason enough to suggest he can do the same in Chicago with the talent the Bears have on their roster.
It may not end up working out for Brian Daboll in New York, but his track record of success in the NFL should not deter Ryan Poles and Kevin Warren from realizing he can be the long-term answer to take Caleb Williams and the Bears to where they want to go. It’s been a long time since the Bears have been perennial Super Bowl contenders, but Brian Daboll could be the long term answer at head coach to help the Bears get back to that status. We saw what Mike Ditka and Buddy Ryan did with the Bears defense in the 80s. Now, it’s Daboll’s and Shane Waldron’s turn with Caleb Williams and the Bears offense of the present.
