Here’s what separates the two teams, and how the Bears can try to close the gap this offseason:
ATLANTA — First, the good news: the Bears can squint their eyes on Sunday and imagine themselves in next year’s Super Bowl. No team in the NFL has followed a more similar path to the NFC champion Rams than the Bears, though they’re a year behind.
The Bears drafted Mitch Trubisky No. 2 overall a year after the Rams took Jared Goff first. In the months that followed, each team named a dynamic young offensive coordinator their head coach. The Bears hired Matt Nagy a year after the Rams tapped Sean McVay. Both coaches bucked tradition, sitting players in the preseason in the name of health. They brought defensive gurus with them, and let them run the show. Their general managers were aggressive in trades.
Teams tried to find the next McVay this offseason, too. On Thursday, Bears tight end Trey Burton pointed to 35-year-old Rams quarterbacks coach Zac Taylor, who will become the Bengals’ head coach after Sunday’s Super Bowl. The Packers hired 39-year-old play-caller Matt LaFleur to be their head coach, too, The Cardinals hired 39-year-old former Texas Tech head coach Kliff Kingsbury, while the Browns named former interim offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens, 44, their new head coach.
“I think McVay, I think (Eagles coach) Doug Pederson, I think Nagy, they’re the new breed of coaches,” Burton said Thursday. “You’re getting guys who know how to work with young adults, guys who are just getting into the league, and, for the most part, grooming young quarterbacks.
