Bear Digest

Mike McCarthy Rumor Isn't the Worst Coaching Option for Bears

Around the NFC North: If Mike McCarthy returned to the division with the Bears after his Packers teams won six division titles it might not be the end of the world for Chicago.

Gene Chamberlain

Mike McCarthy chats with officials during the 2018 opener at Lambeau Field, won by the Packers 24-23 over the Bears.
Mike McCarthy chats with officials during the 2018 opener at Lambeau Field, won by the Packers 24-23 over the Bears. / Jim Matthews/USA TODAY NETWORK-W
In this story:

The rumor about Mike McCarthy being a potential Bears candidate should Dallas not sign him has so many hurdles to clear before even becoming an actual interview that it's laughable.

However, from the Bears standpoint it might actually be the one thing they haven't tried in an effort to end the dominance the Packers have.

If you can't beat them...or in this case if you can't beat him....

McCarthy won games with Green Bay over the Bears when they had Lovie Smith, Marc Trestman, John Fox and Matt Nagy, then beat Matt Eberflus once in Dallas.

There are a lot worse coaches you could turn over the fate of Caleb Williams to, like maybe defensive coordinators who like to yell at their quarterbacks.

The guy is from the Pittsburgh area, like a certain coach was with a certain team that won a certain Super Bowl (XX).

He's had 174 wins and 111 losses. He once had passing attacks in the top 10 nine straight years with the Packers and with Dallas he's been top eight three times and 14th or better every year there.

If they're looking for an offensive coach who has always known how to get the offense going, and hasn't ignored the running game, McCarthy qualifies. 

While he's 61, he's not Pete Carroll and he won a playoff game as recently as 2022. Carroll hasn't won one since 2016.

What better way to infuriate Packers fans than to hire their former coach? At least it would get their attention and that's not easy nowadays with an 11-game losing streak against Green Bay.

It's not much of a rivalry now.

Here's how it looks around the division as the NFC North closes out with the Bears trying to end a divisional losing streak of six games.

NFC North On SI Rankings

  1. Lions, 1. Vikings, 3. Packers, 4. BEARS

Detroit Lions

John Maakaron, Detroit Lions On SI

Sunday's game: Vikings at Lions (7:20 p.m., Ford Field)

Regular-season outlook: By many measures, the 2024 regular season will be looked at as a historic one for the Lions. They set the franchise record for wins along with numerous others for offensive production, won 11 games in a row at one point, and finished undefeated on the road. They did all this with a defense ravaged by injuries. However, thanks to the success of the Minnesota Vikings, they still haven’t locked up a division championship or a first-round bye. A win Sunday would cement this year’s team as the best in franchise history, but a loss would leave them without a division title and send them on the road for the first round of the postseason. It would by no means make it a failure, but you’d have to imagine the taste wouldn’t be as sweet without the division title and a first-round bye.

Team MVP: Quarterback Jared Goff has been stellar throughout the year, and as a result warrants the MVP award on an offense that is full of deserving candidates. He has already set a new career-high in touchdown passes and enjoyed a stretch in the middle of the season where no quarterback was more efficient. He has done an excellent job distributing the ball and has also shown the ability to push the ball downfield. Goff has been everything the Lions have needed and more, and he’s been the perfect fit for the offensive style that they deploy.

Green Bay Packers

Bill Huber, Green Bay Packers On SI

Sunday's game: Bears at Packers (noon, Lambeau Field)

Regular-season outlook: An 11-5 season would be really good for most teams. Coaches would be getting contract extensions, and the fans would be filled with anticipation for the playoffs. Not so much in Green Bay, where the Packers are always good but haven’t been good enough since 2010. The Packers have played five games against the best teams in the NFC and lost them all: 0-2 against Detroit, 0-2 against Minnesota, including on Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium, and 0-1 against Philadelphia, with the potential rematch in the wild-card round. Jordan Love has been good but not $220 million great, and the continued absence of former All-Pro cornerback Jaire Alexander has left them vulnerable against the quarterbacks who fill the NFC playoff bracket.

Team MVP: The Packers were a pass-first team with Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers. The addition of Pro Bowl running back Josh Jacobs has changed everything. The Packers run the ball more than half the time, and for good reason. Jacobs is fifth in the NFL in rushing, second in rushing touchdowns and third in broken tackles. He’s among the physical runners in the NFL, and the rest of the team has followed suit. The Packers might be 0-5 in those aforementioned big games, but it’s not because of a lack of physicality. Every free-agent running back from now until the end of time should give 1 percent of their contract to Jacobs, Derrick Henry and Saquon Barkley.

Minnesota Vikings

Joe Nelson, Minnesota Vikings On SI

Regular season outlook: There have been improbable seasons in Vikings history, but nothing quite like this. Nobody thought the 1998 team would be good but rookie Randy Moss quickly changed those opinions. The 2017 Vikings weren't supposed to be good with Case Keenum, but they came within a game of playing the Patriots in the Super Bowl at their home stadium. Even the 13-win first season under head coach Kevin O'Connell blew away expectations, but again, not like this. The Vikings are a bonafide juggernaut, dangerous on both sides of the ball thanks to high-end talent and elite coaching. Nobody thought a 15-win season was possible, but here we are and the Vikings have a real chance to show the world on Sunday night that they are the scariest team in the NFL. 

BEARS COACHING TRACKER: RUMOR MILL TURNS UP MIKE MCCARTHY

REPORT: BEARS HAVE INTEREST IN INTERVIEWING KLIFF KINGSBURY

BEARS LAY OUT ROAD AHEAD FOR CALEB WILLIAMS' IMPROVEMENT

WHY BEARS JOB MAY NOT BE AS COVETED AS THEY THINK IT IS

Team MVP: Sam Darnold is the unquestioned MVP of the Vikings. He's put together one of the greatest QB seasons in franchise history, perhaps surpassing the incredible performances by Randall Cunningham in 1998 and Brett Favre in 2009. Doing so while shedding the "bust" narrative from poor seasons with the Jets and Panthers has been a remarkable thing to witness. Even more impressive is that he keeps getting better, coming up with big-time throws when games are on the line. Sunday night in Detroit will be the newest, ultimate test for the 27-year-old before the stakes are raised further in the playoffs.

Chicago Bears

Gene Chamberlain, Chicago Bears On SI

Sunday's game: Bears at Packers (noon, Lambeau Field)

Regular season outlook: By all measures this was a complete and utter disaster. When they seemed at the brink of competing for bigger things at 4-2 and with nine wins in 14 games, they lost 10 straight and Matt Eberflus was launched. Players complained about the way they were coached since early in the season and now reports have surfaced about lack of attention to detail in training camp. It was the dysfunction they could least afford with Caleb Williams starting at QB as a rookie, and now he'll have to do what Justin Fields and Mitchell Trubisky did—go through a second season with a new coach and new system. It's really a concern whether this coaching staff and offensive line have combined to ruin Williams, even if he doesn't want to blame his line for all of his 67 sacks. The future here looks darker than bleak.  

Team MVP: The MVP should be punter Tory Taylor for 32 punts downed inside the 20 and a 48.1-yard average, which currently would be a franchise record. However, they wasted field position he provided. The numbers aren't impressive to most teams but Caleb Williams has to be team MVP because only four times in franchise history has someone thrown for more yards than his 3,393, and he has done it with only six interceptions and a team rookie record of 19 TD throws, two more than Justin Fields' career best. Sadly, more was expected in terms of leading the team.

X: BearsOnSI

Published
Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.