Chicago Bears: 5 Ways Caleb Hanie Can Help This Team Win a Game

It's clear now that the Caleb Hanie experiment has failed.

The Chicago Bears have now lost four straight games since losing their starting quarterback Jay Cutler and have gone from being a Super Bowl contender to one of the worst teams in the league.

The Bears defense has played their hearts out and in no way can we blame them for this mishap.

The offense is where the problem lies and where things are going wrong.

Caleb Hanie is the main reason for the Chicago Bears' struggles and his play needs to improve drastically if the Bears are going to even win another game this season, let alone make the playoffs.

There are a few things Hanie can do to help this football team win games and this list will cover them.

Bench Himself

While this may sound like a joke, it has to at least be looked into.

The Chicago Bears may not have better option than Caleb Hanie, but Josh McCown should at least get more reps in practice and have a chance to win the starting job.

The team has gone this far with supporting Hanie as its quarterback and it's probably too late to go back on that call, but it has to at least be considered.

McCown is capable of doing exactly what Hanie has done for the team: lose and lose badly.

I'm all for sticking with Hanie the rest of the year, but it may not actually be the team's best option.

Stop Turning the Ball over

If Caleb Hanie does keep his starting job, the first thing he needs to work on is easy: stop turning the ball over.

While this concept may be a lot easier said than done, it needs to happen.

The Chicago Bears defense has a tough enough job trying to hold its opponents under 12 points to give the team any chance at winning, having to stop an opposing offense on a short field makes that nearly impossible.

Hanie has thrown nine interceptions—two were returned for touchdowns and a third was brought back inside the Bears' 5-yard line.

As good as this defense is, they can't stop teams from scoring touchdowns when they have to start drives defending the red zone.

Hanie needs to learn to take sacks, throw the ball away and, most of all, not force passes into windows that are closed.

Work with His Coaches

Mike Martz is a tough coach to play for.

He demands almost too much out of his quarterbacks and his play-calling can be very tough.

His philosophy is throw the ball as much as possible and have his wide receivers run long, complex routes to open up the defense.

It's a system that requires a great offensive line, which the Chicago Bears do not have, and a quarterback who can make quick reads and solid throws.

Caleb Hanie can't do that and is clearly not equipped to be part of the Mike Martz offense.

After losing four straight games and putting up horrendous offensive numbers, it's time to look into changing something.

If Hanie can't run a scaled-back "Martzian" offense, then scale it back further.

The coaches need to do a better job of working with Hanie and setting him up to succeed.

They need to find the few strengths in his game—his mobility and decent arm—and take advantage of them.

If Hanie and his coaches can develop a game plan he is comfortable with running, he could get some confidence back and maybe win a game.

Relax

While this may be a tough thing to do as an NFL quarterback struggling to keep his job, Caleb Hanie needs to take a step back and relax.

Hanie needs the pressure of leading this team to the playoffs taken off his back, allowing him to simply play football. 

The best thing Hanie can do right now is focus on winning one football game at a time and do everything in his power to keep his team in the game.

Let the Game Come to Him

Finally, the No. 1 thing that Caleb Hanie needs to do to get a win is allow for the game to come to him.

It sounds cliche, but take what the defense gives you. Don't force passes, don't panic at signs of the pocket collapsing or a pass-rusher coming in for a sack.

Stop throwing interceptions at the worst possible times and stop losing games before the Bears even have a chance to win them.

Hanie was put in a tough spot—we shouldn't be surprised that a backup quarterback with no starting experience failed at taking over a Super Bowl contending team and getting them to the playoffs.

These changes should help the Bears win at least one more game this season, but it will almost definitely be too little too late.