Why the Bears Are Not Super Bowl Contenders, YET

Heartbreaking. The one word to describe the ending of the Chicago Bears 2018 season. Down 16-15 inside a minute of the 4th quarter, Mitchell Trubisky and Allen Robinson trotted onto the field. They showed up to put the Bears in FG range. Cody Parkey came on to kick a game-winning, 43-yard field goal. Two doinks of the upright later, the Bears season ended in the most disappointing, yet most expected, way possible. Parkey missed 11 kicks (extra points included) in the regular season, so Bears fans sorta, kinda saw this coming. Parkey did not help his case as he made an unapproved visit on ‘The Today Show.’ He was subsequently released on March 13th.

The search for a kicker has been at the forefront of the Bears off-season. Outside of that, however, the Bears have had a solid off-season. Yes, they did lose Adrian Amos, Jordan Howard, Kevin White, and Bryce Callahan, but they were replaced by Ha-Ha Clinton Dix, Buster Skrine, Mike Davis, and Corrdarrelle Patterson. Along with that, general manager Ryan Pace put together a stellar draft without having a first or second round pick. David Montgomery and Riley Ridley were arguably top 5 prospects in the running back and wide receiver class, yet Pace got them in the second and third round respectively. According to reports, Bears fans will love these two.

Also, I cannot forget the sleeper picks Duke Shelley and Kerrith Whyte Jr. Both players can have a significant impact on the Bears; maybe even for week 1 against the Green Bay Packers.

So, the Bears have added some good players in response to their departures, had a solid draft, and still have their core from last season. Despite all of that, the Bears are not a Super Bowl contender yet. Why? It is not because of their tough schedule, it is because they still do not have a kicker. The kickers currently on the roster are Chris Blewitt, Elliot Fry, and Eddy Pinero. All three names have something in common; they have yet to kick in an NFL game yet. With Fry and Pinero having more success in college than Blewitt, Pinero is the best of the bunch. The Florida product hit 88.4% of his field goals throughout his career, while Fry hit 75% and Blewitt hit 69.6%. From the looks of it, Pinero may have the best shot to win the job, considering the Bears gave up a 2021 7th round pick for him.

While one of the three could possibly end up being really good, it is simply the great unknown at this point. All three guys are unproven commodities, and the most we can go off of is college and AAF stats (in the case of Fry). Not just Bears fans, but football fans in general found out just how important having a strong kicker is. They played a big part in almost every playoff game, especially in the Super Bowl. In the case of the Bears, what will not be remembered much was the fact that Mitch Trubisky showed up in the fourth quarter with all the chips on the line. What will be remembered, unfortunately, is the “double-doink”. I will not say the Bears whole season hinges on field goal kicking, but it sure as heck will play a big part in it.