Extra Points: Emery is the real issue in Chicago

(SportsNetwork.com) - In his more reflective moments you can bet Phil Emery looks in the mirror and realizes that he made a mistake by plucking Marc Trestman out of the CFL to be the head coach of the Chicago Bears.

By admitting that, though, the Bears' general manager would be highlighting his own failings and placing a rather sizeable bull's-eye on his own back when it comes to any future employment prospects in the Windy City.

For that reason and that reason alone, Trestman will likely get a third opportunity to try to resuscitate the Bears in an NFC North that is seemingly now the Green Bay Packers' birthright.

"I don't think it ever has changed here. By all the key parties that you're thinking about," Trestman said after his team's latest loss, a 41-28 drubbing at the hands of the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday night. "It has been tremendously supportive, during the good weeks and bad weeks. And it has been extremely consistent by everybody here."

"The only thing that people ask me here is what can they do to help," Trestman continued. "And that comes from all areas of this building. What can we do to help you along? And that support has been very heartfelt."

Things aren't so heartfelt for defensive coordinator Mel Tucker, however.

In the it's-so-obvious-why-do-you-need-to-report-it department, NFL Media leaked the upcoming Bears narrative Sunday when they reported Tucker will likely be the one paying for the sins of those higher up on the food chain.

The NFL Network's Ian Rapoport was the one claiming that the Bears will be terminating Tucker's deal at season's end which is comparable to breaking the news that the sun will rise Monday.

There are a number of issues with the Bears, who will be missing the postseason for the seventh time and eight years, but they start at the top where it's always been about signing high-profile names in free agency and cost-cutting where you don't have a salary cap and can really make inroads, the coaching staff.

That flawed philosophy is only magnified because the Packers, Chicago's most- heated rival, do things the opposite way, largely eschewing free agency in favor of the draft, while possessing one of the league's most highly-regarded coaching staffs.

It's not like you should feel sorry for Tucker or that he has done a good job in Chicago, however. The Bears are 26th in total defense, allowing 377.8 yards per game and the team has given up more than 50 points on two different occasions. They've also been blown out five different times, the latest of which was Thursday in Soldier Field when the Cowboys blew into town.

What's unfair is the illogical belief in the Second City that the Bears are a talented but underachieving team because of all the high-profile names that dot the roster.

Offensively you can at least make that argument because players like Brandon Marshall (before his injury on Thursday) and Jay Cutler can still perform at a high level, at least on occasion.

Even that's nonsense of course because Cutler is orchestrating things and he is this generation's Jeff George, a signal caller with elite arm talent but no leaderships skill to speak of and the body language of a pre-teen who hasn't gotten his way. Yet, Emery still signed him to a seven-year, $126.7 million extension this past offseason, with $54 million of that guaranteed.

In Tucker's domain, observers who don't understand look at names like Jared Allen, Lance Briggs and Charles Tillman and assume they will always be the players they once were.

In truth they were all descending talents coming into the 2014 season, far closer to the end of spectacular careers than the beginning. And when Tillman and then Briggs were lost to injury for yet another campaign, the floor fell out because depth is a major issue, something that again points toward Emery far more than Tucker or even Trestman.

Moving forward by jettisoning Tucker is like putting a Band-Aid on a broken leg. It's simply not addressing the real problem for Chicago.

And when Emery looks in that mirror, he knows it.