Watch the Chicago Bears @ Detroit Lions, live on Sky Sports Action from 5pm on Thanksgiving Thursday
Wednesday 21 November 2018 19:54, UK
From 2014-17, the Chicago Bears lost 45 of their 64 games, had no more than six wins in each season, and fired two head coaches in Marc Trestman and John Fox.
So far in 2018, under new coach Matt Nagy, they already have seven wins, a lead in the NFC North, the No 6 scoring offense and No 4 defense.
How did we get here?
Since their 2006 season Super Bowl loss to the Peyton Manning-led Indianapolis Colts, the Bears have only won one playoff game. That one win came in 2010, and after that? No playoff appearances at all.
Things had to change, and in 2015, after previous general manager Phil Emery was fired (one of his most memorable moves: handing Jay Cutler a seven-year, $126.7m contract with $54m guaranteed), Ryan Pace was hired to build this team back up.
Aged 37 at the time, Pace was the youngest GM in the league, and infusing youth into his team has been at the forefront of his plans since his appointment. The last two years - in particular - have shaped the Bears into a 'dark horse' this season.
The first big move came during the 2017 Draft. In need of a quarterback - and heavily expected to take one - Chicago gave up their No 3 selection, a third-round pick and fourth-round pick, as well as a third in 2018, to move up just one spot.
They took North Carolina quarterback Mitch Trubisky, the first of three QBs taken in the first round of a class also consisting of Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes. Watson came out of the gate flying with the Texans, Mahomes has had one of the best starts to a career by any quarterback ever, but Trubisky, by all accounts, had a rocky first season.
At the end of that season, when the team finished 5-11, Fox was dismissed and Pace went on the search for the next man to lead the franchise back to its glory days.
For potential head coaches, the job was a good one. As Pace put it at the beginning of the coaching search: "We have a lot of attractive things about our job, and it starts with a 23-year-old quarterback that we all feel good about."
Therein was the plan. It started with Trubisky, and the Bears wanted to marry the face of the franchise with a 'QB guru', coach, someone who could mould their young thrower into the player to carry them back to success.
Perhaps inspired by the success of the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles - who had a quarterback room of Doug Pederson, Frank Reich and Jon DeFilippo - and the stunning turnaround by the Los Angeles Rams, who went from 32nd to first in offense under young, creative mind Sean McVay, Pace opted for one of these types in Nagy.
Nagy had replaced Pederson as the offensive coordinator in Kansas City, having previously served as QBs coach, both disciples from the ever-growing coaching tree of Andy Reid.
And Reid, who has previously had Pederson, Ron Rivera, John Harbaugh, Sean McDermott and Todd Bowles under his wing, called Nagy "the best head coaching prospect he has ever had" in 2017. The Bears seemed to have found the right man at the right time.
What was the first thing on Nagy's mind? Surround his young QB with weapons. In came tight end Trey Burton from the Eagles, as well as Pro Bowl wideout Allen Robinson from the Jacksonville Jaguars and speedster Taylor Gabriel from the Atlanta Falcons.
In the 2018 Draft, the Bears traded a 2019 pick to take Memphis receiver Anthony Miller in the second round, having added Iowa offensive lineman James Daniels earlier in the round to improve the protection in front of their signal-caller.
Perhaps most impressively, the Bears went from 'rebuild' to 'win-now' in just a few months and to cap it all off, they traded for - and handed a record-breaking $141m extension to - All-Pro linebacker Khalil Mack.
We expected them to be one of the NFL's most improved teams this offseason, but how quick has the turnaround been in Chicago? Instantaneous.
Trubisky did not throw more than one touchdown in a game in the whole of 2017, and in just his fourth game this season, he threw six! Also, after only 300-yard game as a rookie, he has four over the last seven weeks, though a shoulder injury has him questionable to play on Thanksgiving against the Detroit Lions - a worry for Bears fans.
The Bears may only be 16th in offensive yards per game, but last year they ranked 30th. And, amazingly, they have scored the sixth-most points per game this season after finishing in the bottom four last year. With 269 points, they have already eclipsed last year's total (264).
In 2017, Chicago's defense was good - top 10 in yards and points per game allowed - but, this season, they are special. Third-best in yards and fourth in points, fifth in sacks - Mack averaging one a game - and they lead the NFL in interceptions, with 18.
Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, who joined the team the same year as Pace, has provided stability and consistency, and it is showing now he has the talent - and help from the offense.
Times are changing in Chicago, and this Thursday, on Thanksgiving, Nagy's team have a chance to take an even greater grip of the NFC North division. In front of a national television audience, the Bears will look to make it six wins out of seven when they face division rivals the Lions in Detroit.
Can the Bears prove they are ready to win now? Or are they just giving their fans a glimpse to a promising future?
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