After the Bears lost to the New England Patriots in a fashion they should copyright, George McCaskey spoke to the media. This McCaskey, we’ve all been told, is different from the last McCaskey. His comments from an article on Pro Football Talk:

“They have every right to be [upset],” McCaskey said. “We’re 3-5. That’s a losing record. We’re winless at home and that doesn’t fit the formula for making it to the postseason. You’ve got to dominate at home. You’ve got to control your division and you’ve got to do pretty well for yourself on the road. We’re outside that formula right now and we need to correct that.”

McCaskey said he’s “very disappointed” in the 3-5 start for a team that “everybody in the building was expecting this team to contend for a Super Bowl,” adding that he is interested now in seeing how the team reacts to adversity. McCaskey said he has “every confidence” that General Manager Phil Emery, coach Marc Trestman and the players will have a successful response.

Since this statement was made the Bears have been blown out three times on national television and eked out two victories over league bottom feeders (after falling down double-digits in both contests). The postseason dreams are dead. The home form is awful. The road form is shameful. And perhaps worst of all, the Bears have become an unwatchable bore. They have drained the joy from football season by producing a product that fails to entertain, let alone excite.

With this disgraceful performance has come an opportunity for George McCaskey to grab the reigns of the franchise and faith of its fans. There is a well-founded belief that the world’s greatest art is created at times of social crisis; that great generals emerge when the battle seems lost. This is McCaskey’s time to emerge and act in accordance with what has transpired on the field.

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There is no reason to dissect the most recent Chicago Bears humiliation – this time at the hands of the Dallas Cowboys. The individual drives, plays, moments do not matter. Because despite having beaten five teams over the course of their 2014 journey this Bears team has cemented their place as one of the worst in the proud lineage of the organization.

Now the only questions to be answered are ones of survival. Can Marc Trestman survive being the head coach of a team so noncompetitive week after week after week? Can Phil Emery survive having put Trestman in charge? Can Mel Tucker survive the weekend? Can the McCaskey family and Ted Phillips survive the public relations nightmare of making no changes?

This is all that’s left. Not talent evaluation. Not playing with pride. Nothing. The only relevant moment remaining in 2014 will be the announcement of who is not returning in 2015.

Three Final Thoughts

(1) I was once, as a younger man, in New Orleans for Halloween with the great Lou Casillas and a reverend who used to spend some time around here. New Orleans for any night is the greatest party of your life but on Halloween its a special party. In my infinite wisdom I booked a flight back to New York early the next morning – the worst morning of my life. That was a Saturday. I returned to my friend Lou’s apartment and fell fast asleep, at 3 pm, in the same clothes I’d flown in. Sunday morning I awoke to the knowledge of the Bears playing the Detroit Lions, realized I’d need to be in a bar to watch it and thought, “Ugh.” That was the last time BEFORE THIS MORNING I felt that way the morning of a Bears game.

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Thursday Night Will Test Bears Rush Defense

This space has mentioned often of late the Bears climb in the defensive rankings from 32nd in 2013 to 12th in 2014 against the run. It is the most significant improvement of this year’s team, owed to a much improved defensive line. Per the great Rick Gosselin of the Dallas Morning News:

…this December has a chance to be different because the Cowboys are equipped to play a game they haven’t known since the Super Bowl era.

When the weather turns in December — the cold blows in, the wind kicks up and moisture thickens the air — you need to run the football.

The Jimmy Johnson Cowboys ran the ball in December in carving a place in history as the NFL’s team of the 1990s. From 1992-95, when the Cowboys appeared in four NFC title games and won three Super Bowls, they ran the ball almost 52 percent of the time in the month of December.

The Jason Garrett Cowboys have run the ball only 41 percent of the time in the final month of the season in his four seasons.

Sure, the Cowboys had both the best running back and best offensive line in the NFL during their Super Bowl era. Emmitt Smith won three NFL rushing titles from 1992-95, and the Cowboys sent six different blockers to Pro Bowls.

And that’s why there is hope for December 2014. The Cowboys again have arguably the best running back and offensive line in the NFL.

Even though the Bears secondary has been a disgrace in 2014 I expect the Cowboys to put this game on Demarco Murray’s shoulders to avoid putting it on Tony Romo’s back. Can the Bears defense hold up? (I’m actually borderline interested in this result.)

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This is normally the part of the Game Preview where I state the reasons why not to like the Chicago Bears in the coming week. Then I ask…

Why do I like the Chicago Bears this week? (And then I answer…)

I always like the Chicago Bears.

SO WHAT’S THE WEATHER?

It is supposed to be in the low 30s Thursday in Chicago, getting colder as the night progresses. (I believe this is how it works almost every day.) The way I see it, this is the Bears only advantage over the Dallas Cowboys.

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One guy is called the offensive coordinator. Another guys holds the play sheet. The latter, head coach Marc Trestman, faced a firing squad after practice Monday afternoon. From the Twitter feed of the Tribune’s Rich Campbell:

Kromer on why Bears didn’t run down only 10 pts coming out of halftime: That’s a good point. I think that will happen in the future.

Cutler on running game: “Giving the illusion that you’re going to run the ball, it definitely helps.”

Forte on running the ball: “Just because you’re (defense is) ranked in the top doesn’t mean you don’t try it.”

What does it mean? A great deal.

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The way I see it, Phil Emery has two options in the month of December:

Option #1

Emery crucifies Mel Tucker for the sins of the 2013-4 Chicago Bears and throws his full support behind head coach Marc Trestman. This decision would most likely make 2015 a Deliver or Here’s a Cardboard Box, Put Your Things In It year for both the GM and coach.

Option #2

Emery plays politics, walks into a meeting with Ted Phillips and George McCaskey and admits that after an almost gloatingly exhaustive head coaching search he chose the wrong man. This decision would enable Emery to hire a second head coach and possibly buy him 2-3 more years on the job.

Stubbornness or self-preservation? Will Emery continue to display the same defensive tactics he utilizes to rationalize the drafting of Shea McClellin or will he recognize what is evident to every single objective observer: the Bears have the wrong man in charge.

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Note to the McCaskey family, Ted Phillips and perhaps Phil Emery…

The rest of the 2014 Chicago Bears season should come with the same on-screen disclaimer as televised mediums: for entertainment purposes only. Nothing taking place over these coming four games – three to be played at Soldier Field – should be used to validate the efforts of the current coaching staff or inspire confidence in a crop of under-performing players. These games have no meaning. None. Zero.

Even if the Bears were to miraculously run the table, beating three well-quarterbacked teams competing for the postseason, this organization can’t insult their fan base by delivering vapid banalities like “the team rallied together” or “they fought to the very end” or “Coach Trestman never lost the confidence of his locker room.” After several mid-season embarrassments, Trestman and his coaching staff had an opportunity in Detroit to prove the team had rallied. The Bears had a chance to show their coaching staff confidence and competitive fight by performing against the Lions and providing meaningful football in the month of December. They failed.

Fans can excuse losing in the name of development. They can even excuse losing tight, hard-fought contests. They can not and should not excuse the noncompetitive nature of Marc Trestman’s Chicago Bears.

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Note: This column is being written at the tail end of a Thanksgiving evening that featured plenty of beer and too plenty pumpkin pie.

Someone wrote this, when discussing the road map for Marc Trestman to keep his position as head coach of the Chicago Bears:

Step #2. Trestman’s Bears deliver a spirited effort on Thanksgiving. This will be the next time the Bears receive any national attention. It would be imperative from a public relations perspective for the Bears to (a) not embarrass themselves and (b) show the fight and passion missing from their efforts against New England and Green Bay. In many ways beating the Lions on Thanksgiving and moving to .500 would not only be a saving face performance but it might also create optimism around the coach’s potential to lead this organization into the future.

None of that happened. Road map lost. Marc Trestman’s career, as head coach of the Chicago Bears, should be over.

That’s right. I’ve never called for the firing of the head coach in my time running this site. I’ve never said a man should be removed from his job, his family displaced, his life altered in a startlingly negative way. But that is now over. The Bears have the wrong man leading their organization and they must replace him before a single decision is made in the 2015 off-season.

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