It seems the consensus around the NFL analyst community is that the Chicago Bears will be one of the worst teams in the 2022 season. Their reasonings range from the perceived poor state of the Bears’ roster to questions about the Bears’ starting quarterback Justin Fields. In fact one of the most heavily betted odds is that the Chicago Bears will finish with less than 6.5 wins. Caesar’s Sports Book reports that 95% of the money flowing into the season win total line for the Bears is for the under 6.5 wins. Regardless of what analysts or bettors think the success of this season will come down to one person.
Last season the Chicago Bears finished the year with 6 wins. This was with an offense under Matt Nagy and Bill Lazor that didn’t have an identity. The Bears finished the year at or near the bottom in most offensive categories. It was also an offense that ran through three different QBs. The Bears had the third hardest schedule in the NFL last season. This season the Bears’ schedule is far easier. That is why the success of this season rests with Bears Offensive Coordinator Luke Getsy.
Getsy is an unproven commodity at the Coordinator position. His only real experience calling plays was at Mississippi State. The excitement for him comes from being Aaron Rodgers QB coach during Rodgers’s career resurrection. Rodgers has a lot of respect for Getsy and his abilities. Another positive for Getsy is his coaching lineage. Getsy is part of the successful Kyle Shanahan/Matt LaFluer coaching tree. The Shanahan tree also spawned Super Bowl winning Head Coach Sean McVay. The offensive system Getsy intends the Bears to use has been a proven success. If Getsy is even slightly better than Nagy and Lazor the Chicago Bears will win more games than last season. This is true even with the roster turnover, and questions around if Justin Fields can make the next step.
The flip side to this is if Getsy doesn’t have the magic the Shanahan tree seems to produce. If he is worse than Nagy and Lazor then the apocalyptic season predictions will come true. Now it will be hard to be worse than the offensive brain trust the Chicago Bears had last year. It’s not impossible, however. The fact is slightly better isn’t going to be good enough in the long run. Getsy has to be able to bring out Fields’s and the entire offense’s true potential. Bears fans want championships. Getsy can make the 2022 season a success by just winning one more game than last season. Beyond this season he needs to be much more. He needs to be that elusive offensive mind that finally gets the Bears a Lombardi trophy that has for too long escaped them.