The Bears' best offensive weapon offered a brutally honest assessment of the team following Sunday's loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
"We've got to score (expletive) touchdowns. That's it. Period. Touchdowns win games," wide receiver Alshon Jeffery said after the game, via the Chicago Tribune (warning, some pretty serious language is un-bleeped here). "You see what 3 points get us."
This is a completely understandable reaction for a wide receiver biding his time in Chicago on the franchise tag. Jeffery had a paltry 31 targets coming into this week's matchup and, despite an additional 13 on Sunday, is no closer to being the focal point of this offense.
That is because this is an offense with no focal point.
Head coach John Fox, also via the Tribune, put it this way after the game: "We just don't play well enough right now."
Chicago is currently knee deep in the muck. The Bears are a rebuilding franchise with no quarterback, which also lost its offensive identity in January when Adam Gase left town to coach the Dolphins. While they possess a good general manager, coach and a smart pro scouting staff, their path to success will not be easy. Given the talent in their division, it could be downright maddening.
The Bears went into Sunday averaging just over five plays per drive (25th in the NFL) and 30th in points -- the crux of Jeffery's complaint. But outside of developing some of their younger stars -- rookie Cody Whitehair is playing tremendously well, and Leonard Floyd should be back soon -- what was reasonably expected out of this team in 2016?
