National Football League

Bears' loss to Jets shows they're still early in rebuilding process

Updated Nov. 27, 2022 5:19 p.m. ET

The Chicago Bears have been unexpectedly fun to watch over the past few weeks. Since a mini bye week after a Thursday night loss to the Washington Commanders, they tweaked a stagnant offense to play to the skill set of their dynamic quarterback, Justin Fields, and started scoring points. A lot of them.

They've averaged 29.6 points per game from Week 7 heading into their game against the New York Jets on Sunday. They hung 33 on the New England Patriots immediately after those adjustments were made, catching one of the league's best defenses completely off guard with Fields' designed runs and big-play ability.

But with this offensive uptick came a defensive downturn. There's no such thing as a free lunch, after all.

It was all but expected after the team traded away both defensive captains in Roquan Smith and Robert Quinn. Quinn is now part of a Philadelphia Eagles edge rotation, helping pressure quarterbacks for a contending team. Smith was dealt to the Ravens, who hope to do the same in the postseason. However, in a somewhat surprising move, Chicago then traded for wide receiver Chase Claypool, sending a very clear message: the offense, and trying to get the most out of their developing young quarterback, was the priority.

On Sunday though, they found out what it's like when their offensive juggernaut isn't under center. A system now designed for a dual-threat (and at this point, mostly running) quarterback would have to be operated by … not that. After some back and forth Sunday morning, Trevor Siemian ended up getting the start in New Jersey against the Jets. The results were as you'd expect.

The offense looked disjointed. There was no rhythm. Chicago had 14 first downs to New York's 22. The Bears also only averaged 5.2 yards per offensive play and converted just four of 13 third downs. It looked like Siemian was operating someone else's offense, mostly because he was.

Couple that with the fact the Bears were down multiple defensive starters and it wasn't pretty. In fact, Chicago made a case for the Jets to make Mike White, in for the benched Zach Wilson, the permanent starter after completing 22 of 28 pass attempts for 315 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions and a passer rating of 149.3.

Two of those missing starters were rookies Jaquan Brisker and Kyler Gordon, who have had a tremendous impact already this season. Safety Eddie Jackson, the veteran of the group, exited in the second half with a noncontact foot injury on the MetLife turf, further thinning out an already ailing secondary on an overall unit that was already trending downward.

The Bears were allowing the seventh-fewest points per game through Week 7. Quinn was traded heading into Week 8. Smith was traded heading into Week 9. The Bears have allowed the most points per game since. That's probably not a coincidence.

But as the Bears sit at 3-8 after the 31-10 loss to the Jets, now might be a good time to remind Chicago fans that these are still the beginning stages of a rebuild. Furthermore, with Fields out of the lineup and the Bears focusing so heavily on his development, there was no major pressure to win this game. Minnesota's win this last Thursday eliminated Chicago from winning the NFC North. Their playoff chances are in the low single digits. The future is what matters now, and while this coaching staff is definitely not going to purposely lose games, these injuries may be saving them from themselves.

Chicago is looking at a top-five draft pick to kick off their first of eight total selections in the 2023 NFL Draft. They have far and away the most cap space of any team in the league for next season, too. They can use all of these assets to turn the team around. Bears fans knew prior to this season they were going to have to be patient. Nothing has changed. And if this lays a foundation for sustained success, a year's turnaround time is really no time at all.

Carmen Vitali covers the NFC North for FOX Sports. Carmen had previous stops with The Draft Network and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. She spent six seasons with the Bucs, including 2020, which added the title of Super Bowl Champion (and boat-parade participant) to her résumé. You can follow Carmen on Twitter at @CarmieV.