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John Fox: Bears are closer than people think

John Fox

John Fox finished his tenure with the Chicago Bears at 14-34, but the former head coach believes the team is positioned well to succeed.

According to John Mullin of NBC Sports Chicago, Fox said while he would’ve liked to have another year leading a roster he helped rebuild, the Bears are “on the brink” of competing.

“I do think it’s closer than people think. We inherited a mess… but I felt we were on the brink at the end. I think that building [Halas Hall] is definitely different; they feel it. I do think that it was a positive.”

Perhaps it comes as a surprise, but we’re inclined to agree with Fox. The Bears had a strong defense in 2017, and they managed to retain coordinator Vic Fangio despite the coaching change.

And that switch from Fox to Matt Nagy is what could lift Chicago from NFC North cellar-dwellar to a wild-card hopeful.

Nagy’s offensive mind is expected to benefit Mitch Trubisky, who assembled a truly encouraging rookie season. The problem is the Bears lacked any real threat at receiver. Injuries sidelined the best talents, and the position was already thin.

Once that depth problem is addressed, though, Chicago already has a decent core on the offensive line and a decent runner in Jordan Howard. That improvement is critical, because the Bears finished 5-11 yet had six one-possession losses.

They really are close to competing. But it’s now Nagy’s responsibility to help Chicago reach that next tier of success.

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