Hear me out:

2013 (Trestman): 29.9 points given up - ranked 30th
2014 (Trestman): 27.6 points given up - ranked 31st
2015 (Fox): 24.8 points given up - ranked 20th
2016 (Fox): 22.3 points given up - ranked 15th

Yay mediocrity? Yes. It takes a lot to come back from being known as a laughingstock nationally for bad defense, and Fox managed to get things heading in the right direction really only one season into his tenure. If you average where Fox is at after nearly two years and where Trestman was at after the same time you're looking at Fox's defense giving up about five points less than what Trestman gave up, so almost a touchdown w/o the EP.

Obviously the offense is a different story and we know Fox does defense, so this may not even be surprising. That being said, and I'm not sure what's going on between the coaching staff and the front office, but Fox knows what he's doing in general. The rebuilding of the defense proves that point. Sounds like we got another Lovie situation here when we start to suggest solutions: give Fox a killer OC, acquire a QB who isn't colorblind, and sprinkle in some quality players on both sides of the ball and things should work out. You can win by giving up 18-21 points a game, which is where the Bears are heading based on the past two years, but not when you're only scoring 17 a game, which is where they're at right now.

3-10 or whatever they are is embarrassing, but let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater - moving from 30th in D under Trestman to 15 in just under two years is a good achievement. There's something to this if the relationship issues between Pace's team and Fox's team can be figured out.

_________________
Successful calls:

Kyrie Irving will never win anything as a team's alpha: check
T.rubisky is a bust: check
Ben Simmons is a liability: check
The Fields Cult is dumb: double check

2013 CSFMB ROY

I'm not sure Fox should get more credit for this than Fangio. If Mel Tucker was still coordinating the defense it would not be improved

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

This.

That's what makes Mully's story even more alarming. I'd keep Fangio over Fox.

Fair point but generally Fox does defense well, if I recall correctly. He's got a track record of success - we knew that coming in. The record isn't where it needs to be but things are coming together on one side of the ball. Just two years ago we were almost giving up eight more points than we are now. It's no longer a given that an opposing offense is going to have its way with the Bears' D.

_________________
Successful calls:

Kyrie Irving will never win anything as a team's alpha: check
T.rubisky is a bust: check
Ben Simmons is a liability: check
The Fields Cult is dumb: double check

2013 CSFMB ROY

Fuck you, vegan.

_________________

_________________
Successful calls:

Kyrie Irving will never win anything as a team's alpha: check
T.rubisky is a bust: check
Ben Simmons is a liability: check
The Fields Cult is dumb: double check

2013 CSFMB ROY

This.

I do not believe the team has quit on Fox like it did on Tresty, but Fangio has worked wonders with this D. Especially considering their secondary sucks.

_________________

The quitting thing is what separates the competent coaches from the incompetent. Trestman is probably far more erudite than a lot of other coaches on offense philosophies, but he couldn't get guys to stand in line. Fox can. Lovie can. Etc. We don't know if Fangio can.

_________________
Successful calls:

Kyrie Irving will never win anything as a team's alpha: check
T.rubisky is a bust: check
Ben Simmons is a liability: check
The Fields Cult is dumb: double check

2013 CSFMB ROY

Yeah but maybe Fangio is smart enough to realize that when you have a 3rd string QB starting and your rookie RB absolutely shreds every defense he plays no matter how good it is that you should give him the ball more than 13 times a game.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Aside from Bullard the Bears have hit on every draft pick or free agent on the defensive side of the ball. This is assuming Bush and Houston-Carson were drafted to be special teams guys first. I'm sure the coaching staff had something to do with it but the personnel turnaround has been outstanding.

If LTG were here he'd say it's all personnel. In football and basketball it's always personnel and coaching though. This is why I bet FF that the Bears can finish with a better record this year than some of the playoff teams of last year - coaching matters that much. Still technically alive in that bet but probably going to lose. In any case there are numerous examples of teams going nowhere one year then the next year they're hot shit under a new coach. Harbaugh is a recent example in SF.

_________________
Successful calls:

Kyrie Irving will never win anything as a team's alpha: check
T.rubisky is a bust: check
Ben Simmons is a liability: check
The Fields Cult is dumb: double check

2013 CSFMB ROY

Game flow. Didn't see the game but I assume this is what happened.

_________________
Successful calls:

Kyrie Irving will never win anything as a team's alpha: check
T.rubisky is a bust: check
Ben Simmons is a liability: check
The Fields Cult is dumb: double check

2013 CSFMB ROY

You would assume wrong. It was never more than a one possession game this past week. It's also been a running theme for weeks now. There's simply no excuse for Howard's lack of touches

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul