Chicago Bears: Is John Fox Good or Just Lucky?
By Erik Lambert
Evidence of luck
The #2 picks
His most successful stops to date were in Carolina and Denver where Fox had almost instant success. What many don’t remember is the fact he took over teams that held the #2 overall picks in the draft. This enabled him to draft Julius Peppers in 2002 and Von Miller in 2011. These are superstar players who likely end up in the Hall of Fame someday. These are the types of talents that turn franchises around. So Fox certainly had a good sense of timing.
Peyton Manning
Or how about the fact he ended up taking over the Broncos the year right before Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning decides to leave Indianapolis for a new team. Not only that but his team has the money to get him and the team president in John Elway (a Hall of Fame quarterback) to help convince him. Don’t forget Manning carried a lot of those Colts teams by himself for years. This was a golden ticket for a head coach to be ensured successful seasons at least for two or three years.
Easy roads to Super Bowl
Last comes the subject of his Super Bowl trips. He’s one of just a handful of coaches in history who have reached at least two championship games. The fact he lost both is a red flag in itself, but also examine the roads he took to them. Let’s review:
2003
- Beat a Dallas Cowboys team quarterbacked by Quincy Carter
- Needed double OT to beat a Rams team with Marc Bulger at quarterback
- Beat a Philadelphia Eagles team that had already lost two previous NFC championships
2013
- Beat a 9-7 San Diego Chargers team
- Beat a Patriots team that didn’t have Rob Gronkowski, Sebastian Vollmer or Vince Wilfork
Those are certainly some fortunate bounces Fox was able to take full advantage of to “pad” his overall record.