For Chicago sports fans, there always seems to be at least one positive in the city. Right now, the team with the most recent success is the Cubs, with their three-straight trips to the NLCS and 2016 World Series title. However, baseball is in the offseason, with all the other sports teams currently in play.
Even when baseball teams are not playing, the winter months hold the NFL, NBA and NHL seasons and there is usually at least one good team to watch in Chicago during that time. This year may be different and not in a good way. The Bears, Bulls, and Blackhawks have had either mediocre or downright bad seasons in 2017.
Heading into the new year, the trends of these teams do not seem optimistic, for the most part, so Chicago Sports fans may be in for a very long winter before baseball returns.
Bears struggles
The Bears have had it rough since 2010, with no playoff appearances and plenty of under .500 seasons. Under third-year head coach John Fox, the Bears sit at 3-9 after falling to the 2-10 San Francisco 49ers at home on Sunday. Fox is 12-32 since joining the team in 2015 and he is likely on his way out soon. While the team has a number of good young players in Mitchell Trubisky, Jordan Howard, Adam Shaheen, Tarik Cohen, Akiem Hicks, Leonard Floyd and Eddie Jackson, the Bears are still dealing with tough losses and injuries.
Trubisky has shown signs of being good with a strong arm, but he has little to throw to and has had trouble with picking up pressure in the pocket despite his mobility. Overall the offense has scored just 191 points (third lowest in the NFL) with the second least yards gained (3,309).
The search for a new coach in the offseason will be interesting as well as what they do in the upcoming draft, but who knows when the team will actually be competing.
Luckily the suffering of this season will end the first week of January but the offseason will, overall, be much more important for the Bear's future. 2018 will be Ryan Pace's fourth year as Bears GM and he has to get this team competing for a playoff spot very soon. This offseason could make or break his future in Chicago.
Rebuilding Bulls
The Bulls are in year one of a rebuild. They traded away Jimmy Butler in the previous draft and are now looking to build a new young core. So far this season the team is 3-18, which is worst in the NBA. They also have the second-lowest points-per-game average in the league at 95.9. They have a few young promising players in Lauri Markkanen and possibly, Zach Lavine, when he comes back from injury, but they are light years away from a title.
The upcoming NBA draft is stacked, and it is in the Bulls best interest to get the best chance at a top pick. At this rate, they will be in the lottery and have a great chance to be at least in the top three. Lavine may help this team win a few games when he comes back, but they will most likely not win any more than 20 games.
While it is hard to root for a team to lose, this is a scenario where losing today helps winning tomorrow. If the young players continue to grow and play well, while losing games for a draft pick, then that would be quality tanking.
Fall of the mighty Blackhawks?
Still, the best team of the three, the Blackhawks, has been very inconsistent this year and have, for the most part, looked mediocre. From 2009-2015, they were far and away the most successful team in the city. Three Stanley Cups and five conference final appearances. Last year they won the division but were swept by the Nashville Predators in the first round of the playoffs, showing signs of decline in many areas. They are currently in sixth place and outside of the playoff bracket at 12-10-5.
Not to mention 2-5-2 against their own division.
What is wrong with the team? They are not scoring consistently, the defense looks old and slow, and now goalie Corey Crawford is injured. Top defenseman Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook, who were once the among the best at their position, are slowing down as they have a ton of miles on them and are in their 30s. Other defensemen like Jan Rutta, Connor Murphy, and Cody Franson have had good moments and bad moments this season as the unit, as a whole has struggled. Crawford has bailed out the defense so many times with his .930 save percentage but now it is on 24-year old Anton Forsberg with the injury.
Captain Jonathan Toews has 18 points and has had some tough puck luck when it comes to scoring.
Brandon Saad has been solid in his return with 10 goals and four assists but the top line is still lacking consistency when it comes to production. Patrick Kane is still leading the team in scoring with 27 points and Artem Anisimov leads the team in goals with 12. Rookie sensation Alex DeBrincat has 11 goals and eight assists, which is really impressive for the small 20-year old, but overall there has been no consistency for the offense.
This team still has talented players, but some are aging and some are still getting accustomed to the NHL. They still have a chance to make a run, but teams around them have adopted a faster-paced game which is now the Blackhawks weakness. The next few months will tell for sure if the championship window is indeed closed.
