Green Bay Packers: NFC North over/under projections for the 2017 regular season
Chicago Bears
2017 Over/Under Wins Forecast: 5.5
Fresh off a demoralizing 3-13 season, coach John Fox is under the gun to bring this once proud franchise back to respectability.
GM Ryan Pace isn’t one who is risk-averse, as he recently spearheaded a complete overhaul of the quarterback position by cutting ties with Jay Cutler and Brian Hoyer.
In their stead are free-agent veteran acquisition Mike Glennon and rookie Mitchell Trubisky, who Pace traded up for in exchange of the handsome fee of three 2017 draft picks and one in 2018.
Making these types of moves do very little for the morale of Glennon, who signed with the Bears thinking he was getting his first real shot of becoming a long-term starter in his fifth year in the NFL.
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And expecting Trubisky, a one-year college starter, to win games right off the bat is probably as realistic as Donald Trump winning a Humanitarian of the Year award some time in the very near future.
Chicago’s offense is woefully devoid of playmakers at the wide receiver position to make the former Tar Heels’ transition to the pros a smooth one.
On defense, the Bears have a formidable assortment of pass rushers, but questions remain in the secondary. What’s more, one could easily envision this unit being worn out from spending too much time on the field as a result of an anemic offense that struggles moving the ball.
The 2017 schedule includes a brutal first half in which the Bears could conceivably go winless.
They could squeeze out a few wins against a couple of their division foes within the friendly confines of Soldier Field and in their other home dates versus the 49ers and Browns, but anything beyond that seems highly unlikely.
Pace will be afforded a longer leash provided his homegrown 25-and-under players show positive signs of progress by the end of the year, but Fox is in a bad spot and will almost certainly pay the price for another losing season.
Projected Record: 4-12. In other words, take the under.