Photo Credit: Chicago Bears

First down and 10. Ball on the Jaguars 33 yard line. There are just over 13 minutes to go in the 2018 AFC Championship, and this upstart Jaguars team, led by their opportunistic and stingy defense, has the ball and the lead, 20-10, against the dynasty of the New England Patriots- in Foxboro, no less. To this point, the Jags defense has forced the Patriots into 7 punts and a fumble. Despite the shortcomings of quarterback Blake Bortles, the offense- led by running back Leonard Fournette- has put up 20 points and has an opportunity, with the ball, to put this game away and improbably book a spot in the Super Bowl. The average age of this Jaguars team is around 25 years old, making them the 7th youngest team in the NFL. As far as “windows” would go, when referring to a team’s “window of opportunity” to contend for titles, you would think that at this moment, the Jaguars window is wide open- and they will be a team contending for titles for years to come.

Of course, we all know how this game ended: The Jaguars conservative offensive approach in that final quarter, combined with clutch offensive play by Tom Brady and the Patriots, led to the Jags blowing that 10 point 4th quarter lead, to lose 24-20 in that AFC Championship.

Fast forward, and here we sit, under a year later- and the Jaguars are sitting in the basement of the AFC South, with a record of 3-8. They just elected to bench their starting QB, Bortles, in favor of Cody Kessler, a less than inspiring backup, and there were even rumors over the past couple weeks that their best player, Jalen Ramsey, is looking for a trade this offseason. All of a sudden, it seems like this same Jaguars team may have already missed that window of opportunity and may have to undergo roster changes before they are ready to compete again. This is how small the window of opportunity is in the National Football League. A team can be minutes away from a Super Bowl berth, and a season later be headed towards a top-10 pick in the draft. That is why it is so important to take full, complete advantage of your title window while it is open.

That Jaguars team, that season, averaged 25.9 points per game, good for 6th in the league. While that sounds good, it does not tell the whole story. That team’s defense was historically good- averaging 2 takeaways a game- and often set up the offense with a short field situation to make scoring easier. When it really mattered, the Jaguars did not trust Blake Bortles to get the job done in a big situation. His 523 passing attempts that year was the lowest number for him since his rookie season, and in that AFC Championship game, he was just 5/13 on passing attempts in the 4th quarter, when they needed him most.

So going into the 2018 offseason, the Jags had two choices to make the most of their title window. Either replace Bortles with a QB they could trust in those moments, or add much more talent around for him to throw to. But, their offseason did not reflect this urgency that they needed to have. Besides drafting receiver DJ Chark in the second round, they did not add any major talent to the offensive side of the ball. In fact, they let Marcedes Lewis, Allen Hurns, and Allen Robinson- three of Bortles’ most talented pass catchers- walk in the offseason. And the Jags also chose to stand pat in their QB situation- passed on the chance to draft Lamar Jackson and decided not to sign any of the 2018 free agent QB class- one that included the likes of Kirk Cousins and Case Keenum. And these decisions have backfired on them this season- they are scoring just 17.9 ppg, 5th worst in the NFL. And Bortles, without any new help, has thrown for just 13 touchdowns against 10 interceptions, leading to him being benched heading into week 13 of the season. It is safe to call this a lost season for the Jaguars, and with new AFC powers like the Chiefs coming up, who knows if they will get another opportunity like they had in January 2018? This is why it is so important to do all you can to load up your team with talent while the time is right.

What’s an example of a team doing that correctly? Look no further than the 2018 Chicago Bears. In the 2017 season, they started rookie QB Mitchell Trubisky who went through a relatively rough season, and the Bears finished 5-11. However, with the young talent that flashed that year- like Trubisky occasionally, running backs Tarik Cohen and Jordan Howard, and defenders like Eddie Jackson and Kyle Fuller, the Bears management seemed to think that they were not far away from being able to compete in the NFC. So, unlike the Jaguars, they went all-in to strengthen their defense and surround Trubisky with weapons.

Before the offseason even started, the Bears started their turnaround process by firing head coach John Fox and replacing him with Matt Nagy. Nagy had been known around the league as an offensive guru, which is exactly what Chicago needed after a 2017 season that saw them finish 29th in the league at 16.5 points per game.

Over the 2018 offseason, the Bears started in free agency by strengthening their offense. Within two days in March, they signed two dynamic WRs, Allen Robinson and Taylor Gabriel, and a tight end with big-play potential, Trey Burton. Then, in the draft, they used the 8th overall pick to strengthen an already dangerous defense with LB Roquan Smith, and also took WR Anthony Miller to continue to surround Trubisky with talent. Less than a week before the season could even start, though, they made their biggest splash:

With this move, acquiring arguably one of the 5 best defensive players in the league in Khalil Mack, and then also signing him to a contract extension, the Bears showed that they were not happy to sit back and wait, their goal was to win ASAP. And this win-now approach has paid off in a big way for Chicago. They currently sit at a record of 8-3, top of the NFC North and in a solid position looking ahead to the playoffs. Their moves this past offseason have benefited both the offense and defense- the Bears are scoring 28.8 points per game, 5th in the league. Trubisky is having a great sophomore season with his new targets- 20 touchdowns to 9 interceptions. And their defense leads the league with 2.6 takeaways per game to go along with 6 defensive TD’s. With young players like Mack, Cohen, Jackson, and Fuller all in the mix for Pro Bowl voting this year, it is clear that the Bears aggressive approach is paying off. It is important that they continue to have this approach as long as that talent keeps playing well, and don’t make mistakes like the Jaguars did, because it is still the NFL- and that window of opportunity could close at any minute.