Pat McAfee didn’t want to do it, but he had to. On Monday, the former NFL punter and current NFL pundit laid into the Bears.
“I don’t want to say it because I love the city of Chicago, blue collar city… but the Chicago Bears, they stink,” McAfee said on “The Pat McAfee Show.” “I mean they’re so bad at football.”
The problem for McAfee is that the Bears seem to be regressing as a team, rather than improving upon last season’s NFL-worst 3-14 record.
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“The only good part of the Chicago Bears last year was when Justin Fields would run for his life and he’d be running all over the field… Now they won’t run him. The guy never runs, stinks at throwing, the defense had Baker Mayfield chop them up. I mean it’s hard times up there in Chicago for yet another year.
“I don’t know if you’re going to hold yourselves to one win this year. The Bears might have actually gotten worse.”
It’s easy to understand why McAfee is so down on the Bears after just two games. Their offense is completely out of rhythm from a scheme and execution standpoint. The defense can’t stop anyone, whether that be in the run game or on third down. And as he mentioned, the team’s one strength has turned to a weak point.
Last season the Bears could hang their hat on their dominant run game. They easily led the league with 3,014 rushing yards. This year their 189 rushing yards rank 20th in the league, and four teams still haven’t played their second game. A big part of their success on the ground was due to Fields’ playmaking ability, but as McAfee alluded to, that playmaking ability hasn’t shown up this year. He’s got 62 yards on 13 carries, good for a 4.7 YPC average. That’s a far cry from 2022 when he racked up 1,143 rushing yards on 160 carries for a 7.1 YPC rate.
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McAfee interviewed head coach Matt Eberflus before the season began and had previously said he thought the Bears were headed in the right direction under his guidance. After Week 2, McAfee is having second thoughts.
“Bears fans, we hurt with you… you guys don’t seem to be getting any better.”