CHICAGO — The Chicago Bears squandered a lead and Justin Fields bucked his fourth quarter woes to lead them to a comeback victory over the Minnesota Vikings Monday, but Luke Getsy's play-calling continued to be the bane of the Bears' offensive existence, and change needs to happen fast if he wants to keep his job.
Before I go on this tangent, I am not going to sit here and advocate for Getsy to be ousted outright.
At the end of the day, this is a man who's built his life around working as a coach for one of America's most recognizable football teams — and if he get's the boot — I don't want to be counted toward the crowd who metaphorically danced on his grave as his life was thrown into chaos.
I am sure Bears fans, Getsy and I would all prefer things to be sunshine and daffodils when it comes to the football team who plays their home games at Soldier Field.
Unfortunately, that is not our reality.
I am just here to say the numbers don't paint a pretty picture when looking at the product that has been Chicago's offense, and Getsy's play-calling ability, going back to last season.
Now, lets turn back the clock a little more than 24 hours.
If you were like me and tuned into the Bears game Monday night, a certain type of play stood out.
The screen pass.
According to ESPN's Next Gen Stats, Fields completed 14 of 16 passes behind the line of scrimmage Monday, both of which were carries highs — completions and attempts. As one might imagine, that stat was also accompanied by a career low in average air-yards per attempt (2.7).
This happened and continued to happen all night long, despite the fact Fields had no trouble completing a pass anywhere over the middle — or to the right side of the field — where he finished his night a perfect 18-for-18.
Maybe Getsy should have decided to have some fun, and throw the ball in either direction a little bit more. But nope, this is what Fields' passing chart looked like at one point Monday night:
Matt Canada, the now former Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator, was let go after Pittsburgh went a remarkable 59 straight games without registering over 400 total yards of offense. As some already know, it took the Steelers one game to get over the 400-yard mark after his departure.
In a sample size that's less than half of Canada's 400 yard-less streak in Pittsburgh, Getsy appears to have been a slightly better play-caller, purely by comparison through the lens of who actually crossed the 400 total yards mark on offense.
Since being hired on Jan. 30, 2022, Getsy has called 29 games on offense for Chicago. In those 29 games, the Bears have accumulated 9,112 total yards on offense — 4,446 passing yards and 4,666 rushing yards. Those numbers average out to 314.2 total yards per game, with 153.3 coming through the air, and 160.9 on the ground during his time as offensive coordinator.
According to Statistica, during the 2021 and 2022 NFL regular seasons, the average total offensive yards made by all NFL teams was 341 total yards, which averaged out to 223 passing yards and 118 rushing yards per game.
Of those 29 games, Chicago gained more than 400 yards on offense four times — 451 yards at the Washington Commanders on Oct. 5, 2023, 471 yards against the Denver Broncos on Oct. 1, 2023, 409 yards against the Green Bay Packers on Dec. 4, 2022, and 408 yards against the Detroit Lions on Nov. 13, 2022.
Only during 13.8% of Getsy's games as play-caller have the Bears gained more than 400 total yards on offense. More so, they have a record of only 1-3 in those games as well.
It's not like Chicago has done much better in situations where they've been in position to turn things around late in the fourth quarter.
Before Fields found DJ Moore for 36 yards to set up Cairo Santos's game-winning field goal Monday, the Bears' offense had 12 opportunities over the last two years to tie or win the game with less than three minutes to go in the fourth quarter.
All 12 times they failed.
According to the Athletic's Kevin Fishbain, all 12 opportunities ended in turnovers — five interceptions, four lost fumbles and three turnovers on downs. Six times, all Chicago had to do was get in field goal position, and only on one occasion did their last snap even happen in the opponent's red zone.
Sure, football is a two-way street where play-calling and play execution have to be happily married in holy matrimony in order for a team to be successful.
It is also fair to say the players — Justin Fields included — have to own part of the offense's failure to perform well on an even moderately-consistent basis.
But when the totality of the product is this abysmal, even after the Bears pulled off their fourth win of the season — thanks much in part to the offense during the last 90 seconds of the game — I can't help but wonder how much longer Luke Getsy will be the offensive coordinator of the Chicago Bears.
This piece is a part of a weekly column that will be published on Tuesdays following each Bears game for the rest of the NFL season. For more on the Bears and other Chicago sports from WGN News, you can follow Eli Ong on X.