Durkin: Fitting End To Forgettable Season
By Dan Durkin-
(CBS) If Sunday's game against the Vikings was in fact the last time Marc Trestman carries the title of head coach of the Chicago Bears, it's quite fitting that the Bears offense -- Trestman's supposed specialty -- was shut out of the end zone in their 13-9 loss to Minnesota.
Just like the Bears were shut out of the playoffs for the second straight year. Just like Trestman may soon be shut out of Halas Hall.
The offense didn't break the goal line for the first time since Week 10 of the 2012 season, when they lost 13-6 to the Houston Texans. Yet, in Trestman's world, things are status quo. His focus is to trudge on with his process that leads to the bottom of the NFC North.
"The process is that I'm getting ready for tomorrow at 11:00 and putting a plan in place," Trestman said. "That's my focus and has been. To fix the things we need to fix the things we need to fix, that's how I'm approaching it."
The issue with that approach is the plan shouldn't involve you anymore, coach. Your answers are wrong. Your plan is flawed. Your time should be up. If you had a fix, it would've been applied earlier.
Trestman didn't stop there. Rather, he offered more tone deaf messaging.
"Nobody understands the situation better than I do," Trestman said. "I've lived it every day for the last two years and certainly the last six months, so I think I have some expertise in that area. I'm putting my thoughts down and I don't think there's anybody in a better position to assess it other than myself and (general manager) Phil (Emery)."
The situation is dire and self-induced, and the only thing Trestman's resume suggests he has expertise in is losing football games. With Sunday's loss against Minnesota, Chicago is now 3-9 in the NFC North, 8-16 against the NFC and 13-19 overall in Trestman's tenure.
Trestman was brought to Chicago to stimulate progress on the offensive side of the football and bring the team into the 21st century. However, two seasons into the failed experiment, the Bears have regressed to a point lower than they were the year before Trestman arrived, when Mike Tice was their offensive coordinator.
This season falls right in line with the previous trendlines of Tresman's career. In his previous two stints as an offensive coordinator, his teams experienced a substantial regression in his second season on the job.
Give teams time, and Trestman's scheme is rendered useless by defensive coordinators. Everything -- his plays, formations, route combinations and tendencies -- has been decoded. The offense has been reduced to a horizontal attack that seemingly mistakes the sideline for the goal line.
When a reporter, yours truly, is able to call out offensive plays before they happen, you've been had.
Tomorrow is infamously known around NFL circles as "Black Monday." If the Bears organization is truly committed to winning championships as they're fond of talking about, it should be especially dark in Lake Forest.
Dan Durkin covers the Bears for CBSChicago.com and is a frequent contributor to 670 The Score. Follow him on Twitter at @djdurkin.