Bears Hiring Former Bengals OC Bill Lazor Feels Like a Big Mistake
The Chicago Bears finished the NFL season with a pedestrian 8-8 record and missed the playoffs. This offseason, the Bears were looking to improve their offense, firing offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich just two days after the season ended.
The Bears decided to hire former Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Bill Lazor in a move that has surprised many across the football world.
Sources: The #Bears are hiring former #Bengals offensive coordinator Bill Lazor as their new OC. An important hire for Matt Nagy after moving on from Mark Helfrich.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 13, 2020
While this head-scratching move may have left many confused, there is a reason why the Bears thought highly enough of him to take a chance, as Lazor has had success with other teams in previous years.
Bill Lazor was in Philly for Nick Foles' 27 TD-2 INT year. He was in Miami in 2014 for Ryan Tannehill's best season (before this year.) And he was in Cincinnati from 2016-2018 (when the Bengals' offense moved the ball a tad.) https://t.co/MqsY5WrUQm
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) January 13, 2020
While he may have had success in the past, the 2-14 Bengals fired Lazor before the season started, though much of that can be attributed to the new head coaching hire.
There are also plenty of options for offensive coordinators at this juncture, so picking Lazor has left fans surprised and upset with their team.
Bill Lazor offenses (DVOA):
— george (@thegeorgeyou) January 13, 2020
2014 Dolphins: 8th overall, 11th in passing, 2nd in rushing
2015 Dolphins: 22nd overall, 24th in passing, 13th rushing
2017 Bengals: 22nd overall 21st passing, 20th rushing
2018 Bengals: 19th overall, 18th in passing, 14th rushing
Those numbers don't exactly jump off the screen, and Bears fans have every right to demand excellence given their offensive ineptitude at times last season.
While Lazor has had some success in his NFL coaching career, the Bears should have picked a coach who is more equipped in order to bring Chicago back to the top.