More at Stake for Bears Than Winning Games

Although Herman Edwards said teams play to win the game at the end of the year, frequently it's not enough incentive but the Bears do have other reasons to play hard.

The problem with being 4-9 is the Bears have not yet been mathematically eliminated from the wild-card chase.

In reality, elimination happened a few weeks ago when they lost to Baltimore but calculators can be adjusted to account for fantasy.

As long as a team remains in it, the coaches can cling to this hope and they can dangle this carrot out for players. A few of them might even bite at it, too.

"They're fighting, you know, our guys are playing hard," coach Matt Nagy said after the loss to Green Bay. "I think they showed it tonight."

On Monday he followed with: "There's not any quit."

This might be the case, but this season is over for the Bears and what makes it even worse is the coaching staff's plight and the high probability for regime change.

The likely lame-duck status renders totally meaningless the final four games of this season. Four games is an eternity in the NFL. For fans, watching four weeks of meaningless games is a nightmare. Although, in the case of the Bears people seem willing to watch anyway. Sunday night's game drew the best SNF ratings since Tom Brady returned to New England Oct. 3.

Players need some kind of extra incentive when they are trying to focus on playing football through the holiday season without the possibility of the playoffs.

When it's possible they're not even playing for their own starting or roster positions for next season because the coaching staff might be removed, then it has the possibility of becoming downright ugly.

Think about Houston when the Texans and Deshaun Watson came to Soldier Field last year. Think about the Detroit Lions, New York Jets and Jacksonville Jaguars in December almost every season.

That's the Bears now.

They're playing under a lame-duck regime and for nothing. It's bleak to say the least.

Herman Edwards' famous rant "Hello, you play to win the game," notwithstanding, there are some things the Bears have to play for the rest of this year and here they are ranked in order.

1. Justin Fields

It's the same thing they've been playing for since George McCaskey decided their rookie should be starting quarterback, or whoever actually made that decision. Fields' development is what this season was about and no one should have thought otherwise. As long as they were actually going to play Fields, then they had to assume it was going to be a rocky ride. When their 30ish-something defense started taking on injuries, they had to know it would be difficult. Trying to protect Fields, trying to catch passes from him and work toward being as good as they can with him playing must be a goal for every player going forward, as it already should have been regardless of the team's record. In short, he's the man and if you can't help the man, you'll be elsewhere.

2. Young Player Development

Tight end Cole Kmet, cornerback Jaylon Johnson, wide receiver Darnell Mooney and edge rusher Trevis Gipson have all been contributors from last year's draft class, while tackle Larry Borom has from this class. All can continue to improve. Kmet has 43 receptions but needs to be more impactful. Johnson needs interceptions. He has only one. Mooney needs to establish more consistency as a game-breaker. Gipson's play has won the attention of even Pro Football Focus this year but he also needs more big plays. Young guns need to be firing for a team that has its eye on the future. There's a fine line to walk here, though. Giving Teven Jenkins the chance to protect Justin Fields' blind side if Jason Peters is healthy makes little sense. It's more important to have Fields develop and maintain his health than it is to see Jenkins whiffing as he tries to pass block. It might be different for him next year if he has an offseason, training camp and early season to support his play but right now he seems overmatched trying to battle NFL caliber defensive players. 

3. Individual Performance

Robert Quinn comes to immediate mind. With 14 sacks, he needs only one per game to break Richard Dent's team sacks record of 17 1/2. This seemed unthinkable after last year's sudden decline. Quinn needs to get real consideration for comeback player of the year. Season-ending ACL tears are not the only things players overcome to win this award. When the award was first started after it had been discontinued for a few decades, Doug Flutie won it and his comeback was from the CFL, which is kind of a slap at the CFL if you think about it. So Quinn needs consideration.

Pro Bowl berths could be out there for Quinn and maybe even Roquan Smith but his hamstring injury could make that one difficult.

Mooney can reach 1,000 receiving yards with 260 yards more, but if he has another  game like he had Sunday night with one catch for 19 yards then it's unlikely he'll reach it.

4. Pride

It sounds trite to some but it's true.

Allen Robinson surely doesn't want to go out in Chicago like on Sunday, making two catches a game as he heads toward free agency. Besides the fact it might actually hurt him in free agency to have only 40 catches, he simply would rather leave trending up.

Likewise for Akiem Hicks, who already became emotional last week about the thought of finishing his Bears career after this year. If he ever can get over this ankle injury, then he'll want to finish strong.

The same could be true for other veterans with expiring deals like Jimmy Graham,  Marquise Goodwin and Damiere Byrd. 

5. Contracts

Smith is getting his no matter what, and it should be big. Most likely it will come before next season since he was a first-round draft pick.

Bilal Nichols has had a spotty season and a strong finish could secure interest from Ryan Pace or whoever the next GM would be.

James Daniels has had a solid season after switching to the right side, and ranks 23rd of 80 guards Pro Football Focus has graded. A solid finish helps lock up a deal.

We're getting Kirk against the Bears this week on Monday night, which means there is a half-decent chance that we see a whimsical NFC North clown fiesta of incredible proportions.

I truly can't wait.

— Brett Kollmann (@BrettKollmann) December 14, 2021

David Montgomery would play hard if it was a pickup game in someone's back yard but it's possible they could get him an extension after this season as next year would be the final year of his contract.

Joel Iyiegbuniwe is a reserve and special teams player who was a fourth-round draft pick. If he continues playing hard on special teams, perhaps the team offers him a veteran's minimum deal to stay in Chicago. He hasn't proven he can play on defense.

6. Impressing for the Future

Younger players who haven't been used much but who could get pressed into action might leave something for the future coaching staff to think about. Consider Josh Bellamy as an example. He was with the Bears, his third team in three years, and was a practice squad type who got in four games but played hard and left a big enough impression to get the new coaching staff and new GM in 2015 to give him a shot. He wound up catching 19 passes the next two seasons and 24 in 2017. Mostly here it's practice squad players who might get flexed up to the roster or simply elevated to the 53-man who might have the chance to impress for a future spot. Someone like practice squad cornerback Thomas Graham Jr. or wide receiver Dazz Newsome come to mind.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven