Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

John Fox has said a lot of stupid things since becoming coach of the Bears — and inexplicably remaining coach of the Bears — but here’s the dumbest, and I don’t know if anything is even second:

When asked Sunday why he didn’t let the 49ers score to make it 19-14 with more than 90 seconds remaining in order to get the ball back with time to march down the field and score the deciding TD, Fox said “We felt good about the block we had for a potential field goal.’’

Let’s review: The Bears had blocked precisely one field goal all season, Robbie Gould had kicked four field goals already Sunday, the Bears hadn’t blocked any attempt, and the field-goal try the Bears insane head coach felt so good about blocking would be the shortest of the day for the kicker who used to work for Fox and the Bears and was familiar with the vagaries of Soldier Field to the point that he’s the franchise’s leading scorer.

So, for those of you scoring at home, Fox is willing to give a faceless special team more opportunity with a miniscule attempt to accomplish the task than a potential franchise quarterback who is the only thing that matters this season and especially this month.

You could argue that Trubisky has been a bad bet to convert potential game-winning drives. That doesn’t matter.

You could scream that offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains gets a front-row seat in the team picture of worst playcallers in the NFL. That’s doesn’t matter, either.

No, what matters is that whatever the obstacles, both on his side of the field and the other, Trubisky gets as many hero chances as possible because those are what define franchise quarterbacks, and besides, he would’ve had a game-winning drive two weeks earlier if Fox’s choice to replace Gould was an actual NFL kicker.

But wait. There’s more.

I know this will be shocking to many Bears fans, but Fox made another bad game-day decision, punting on fourth-and-6 from the 49ers’ 42 on the first drive of the third quarter. Seriously, dude?

With the Bears leading 14-9 and coming in with that awful 3-8 record, why wouldn’t Fox have given his young quarterback a chance to pick up the first down? It’s not like the Bears would’ve been going for it at their 40. The Bears were in plus territory. A quality opportunity awaited a rookie who needs to be exposed to every such opportunity available.

But no. Didn’t happen. Clearly, the temporary coach doesn’t understand the point of this month, which is why he’s just temporary this month.

Fox said Trubisky played one of his better games Sunday. Trubisky threw 15 passes, one for a TD. He threw for just 102 yards. This is one of his better games?

So there you go: The guy overseeing the care and feeding of a potential franchise quarterback has a rating system based on setting up a near-impossible field-goal block.

This is NFL’s version of an air-raid siren: The head coach is hurting the progress of the starting quarterback. Halas Hall apparently is sound-proof.

Earlier in the game, Trubisky produced the Bears’ only offensive TD with some big-boy play. In going 4-for-4 for 37 yards on the drive, Trubisky completed two third-down passes, both to Dontrelle Inman, one for 11 yards, the other for the TD.

On third-and-5 at the 49ers’ 8, Trubisky hit Inman cutting across the back of the end zone, surveying the field, moving through his progressions, and firing a dart the way a playmaker would’ve.

Trubisky was accurate and poised — the stuff we’ve been waiting on. He also turned a takeaway into a TD. We should expect that. But we haven’t seen enough of it. He needs more chances to deliver, such as in the last 90 seconds Sunday.

More Top Picks Best Amazon Prime Day Miele Vacuum Deals 2026

Alas, his inexplicably employed coach is denying him those chances.

There cannot be any more urgent reason to dump Fox than hurting the progress of the most important player.

But even firing him now doesn’t seem like it would be enough. It’s to the point that Fox also should be required to pay back some salary for every silly decision and statement. Can we get a price check on the challenge against the Packers that became a touchback?

http://embed.sendtonews.com/player2/embedcode.php?fk=l8BOWNx1&cid=4591