Chicago Bears: Getsy Speaks To Media As Team Tries To Regroup

Chicago Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy speaks with the media while the team tries to find a way to finally end their losing streak.

The Chicago Bears continue their downward spiral. They had a winless September. It comes after they had a winless November, December, and January that carried over from last season.

Their current losing streak stands at 13 games. Their last win came almost an entire calendar year. They blew out the New England Patriots 33-14. Their record was then 3-4 and there were hopes that maybe, just maybe, the Bears could outperform predictions of their season.

Little did they know that would be their last win for a long time.

Offensive coordinator Luke Getsy spoke to the media on Thursday ahead of the team’s critical game against another winless team, the Denver Broncos. Should the Bears lose this game whatever heat the Chicago Bears and the coaching staff felt would rise tenfold.

Getsy has been one of the targets of the fans’ ire. For some reason, he has called an extremely conservative game this season. Additionally, he is trying to turn Justin Fields into a primarily pocket quarterback. Oh, and let’s not forget that he took away the most explosive aspect of the offense and Fields — his running ability.

The end result is an offense that continues to struggle to move the ball and a quarterback who is uncomfortable, robotic, and frustrated.

Let’s look at what we learned from Getsy in his press conference.

Getsy preaches patience because he feels the offense is close to succeeding

Getsy had the same feeling about the offense that head coach Matt Eberflus proclaimed about the defense. He feels the offense is close to being what he had in mind.

For example, he talked about there being seven or eight missed opportunities against the Chiefs last week.

The reactions weren’t matching what the opportunities presented. Whether it’s sustaining a block, whether it’s a correct track by the back, a correct read by the back, whether it’s a right alignment by a tight end or a receiver, whether it’s a right decision by the quarterback… If you cut those opportunities down to just one or two a game, that means you’re successful on five or six. Now you’re doing exactly what you just talked about and we’re where we want to be.

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Getsy is preaching patience. He feels it is just a matter of time before the offense finally breaks through. The problem with that is that the fans lost all patience. They do not wish to wait any longer.

Getsy says Fields is leading well in the middle of all the crap

Despite all of the speculation about something being off between Getsy and Fields, Getsy praised the quarterback.

It’s about him getting better each and every week and making sure he’s mastering what we’re doing from our perspective and being the leader of that unit. And he’s doing a really nice job in the midst of a lot of sh*t going on. He’s manning up and he’s taking a leadership role for these guys.

Getsy is saying the right stuff about Fields. However, it doesn’t cover the fact that Getsy is trying to change Fields. If he thinks that Fields is doing a good job why is he trying to change him? He feels that Fields’ abilities are not what he is looking for in his quarterback.

Getsy has to find a way to merge Fields’ abilities into the system. Surely Getsy can have a dynamic, athletic quarterback lead his offense.

Getsy acknowledges that the running game is struggling without acknowledging that the lack of plays called downfield is partly responsible

The Chicago Bears led the NFL in rushing last season. A lot of that was primarily through Fields’ 1,143 rushing yards.

This season, however, things haven’t been the same. They rank 17th in rushing. A lot of that is primarily through Fields’ lack of rushing attempts.

Getsy acknowledges that the running game has to be better. If the Bears are rushing well, it creates opportunities for Fields.

However, the lack of throws downfield makes it more difficult for the running game to succeed. This is what Getsy doesn’t talk about. If the opposing defense doesn’t respect the downfield throw it will just load up the line of scrimmage. That closes up the running lanes.

Getsy has to find a way to make Fields more comfortable. When he is robotic he becomes indecisive. If Fields plays naturally and without overthinking he becomes a much better quarterback.

The fact that Getsy has been unable to do that so far is a red flag. What is also a red flag is that it took him seven weeks to figure things out last season.

The Chicago Bears do not have seven weeks to figure things out.