NFL Chicago Bears

Chicago Bears Need To Clean House After Latest Embarrassment

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Jay Cutler Chicago Bears Bench Loss New Orleans Saints

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After the  Chicago Bears‘ latest national television humiliation, a 31-15 loss to the New Orleans Saints where the Bears’ offense didn’t even score until the fourth quarter against the NFL’s 31st-ranked defense, it’s clear that minor changes won’t be enough.

Team turmoil is clearly spilling out onto the field. The Aaron Kromer controversy from earlier in the week was visibly not behind the team as the offense had its worst performance of the season. Defensive players were yelling at each other after missed tackles, Jay Cutler yelled profanities at his offense while calling signals, and Martellus Bennett said after the game that several players lack passion, although he refused to name names.

The Bears-like thing to do is to fire defensive coordinator Mel Tucker, keep everyone else, make a few minor personnel changes and make another go of it in 2015. This is the most cost effective way of doing business and it’s the way the Bears have always operated in the past.

But business as usual isn’t going to cut it. The city of Chicago deserves better. This decision for change has to go all the way to the top, with Virginia McCaskey and her entire family. Ownership cannot be pleased with what they have seen, and they have to understand that taking a financial hit is the only way to fix what’s clearly broken beyond repair.

Cutler needs to go. He isn’t a franchise quarterback and even if it means eating millions of dollars of that contract, he cannot return. His confidence is shot, and his skills seem to be diminishing. It is not an impossibility that Cutler, who will be 32 entering 2015, may be entering the downside of his career thanks to the countless shots he has absorbed behind porous offensive lines.

The entire coaching staff needs to go. Tucker needed to be fired yesterday. Kromer has clearly lost the offense after his incident last week, and he hasn’t exactly had the offense firing on all cylinders anyway. The Bears never fire coaches with two years remaining on a contract, but that needs to change with Marc Trestman. His offense is sputtering, and his coaching staff is inept. His team is in complete disarray, and he has proven that he does not have what it takes to be an NFL head coach.

Then there’s GM Phil Emery. This is his team, and it was his decision to hire a coach from the CFL with no previous NFL head coaching experience. Yes, he has had some successes with the drafting of Alshon Jeffery and bringing in Willie Young, but his misses far outweigh his hits. He should not be in charge of an NFL team and the McCaskeys need to show Emery the door.

There is no reason to stop there. CEO and President Ted Phillips runs the Bears’ operations. He’s had this position since 1999, and although there was some success under his belt early with Jerry Angelo and Lovie Smith, including a Super Bowl appearance, it was his decision alone to bring in Emery and he has missed wildly. When there is entire organizational failure like there is right now in Chicago, accountability has to start all the way at the top.

The McCaskeys have never made drastic changes like this, but there has never been a season that has reeked of failure or chaos like this one. They need to bring in a fresh outlook at the top of the organization, and a good place to start would be Gary Fencik.

Fencik was a leader on the 1985 Super Bowl-winning Bears and a fan favorite. He went on to make millions not on the field, but off it in the financial world. He is Yale-educated, from the Chicago suburbs, and has kept his roots in the area his entire life. The McCaskeys have never been loyal to former players, and they can change the entire culture of the organization with the Fencik hire.

Fencik has the rare combination of a great football mind and a great financial mind. He would have the ability to recognize good football talent and a good GM, while still making sound financial decisions for the franchise. He is the perfect man to replace Phillips, and the McCaskeys should take a long look at him if they want to fix this failing organization.

Bill Zimmerman is a Chicago Bears writer for www.RantSports.Com. Follow him on Twitter, like him on Facebook, or add him to your network on Google.

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