Andy Dalton, Mike Glennon square off in battle of misguided Ryan Pace signings

There was something funny – or quite painful for Bears fans – about watching Andy Dalton and Mike Glennon square off Sunday at Soldier Field.

At this point in the season, with the Bears out of the playoff hunt, all there is to do is laugh. Glennon was awful and Dalton was merely average in a Bears victory, 29-3, on Sunday against the New York Giants.

Each quarterback at one point was brought to Chicago to guide and mentor young rookie QBs. And to start ahead of them.

Glennon somehow made it deeper into the season before being benched for Mitchell Trubisky midway through the fourth game of the 2017 season. Dalton lasted only two starts before hurting his knee this season, clearing the way for Justin Fields to earn the starting job, albeit under some weird circumstances.

Unfortunately, Fields was unavailable Sunday for his second straight game due to an ankle injury. Giants starter Daniel Jones is out for the year with a neck injury. Football fans in Chicago and New York were left with Dalton vs. Glennon – two men the Bears have shelled out some $28 million for.

Dalton is making $10 million on his one-year contract this season. Glennon reportedly made $18 million for his four starts in 2017.

As evidenced by what happened on the field Sunday, neither quarterback is taking an NFL team to the promised land anytime soon. Glennon finished the day with 24 passing yards. His four sacks left the Giants with negative 10 passing yards for the game.

“It‘s embarrassing,” Glennon said. “You know, not something that – we work hard all week. We’ve got to have a better product.”

Dalton was a little bit better, going 18 for 35 for 173 yards with a touchdown and an interception. His defense gave him a big boost with four takeaways.

The Glennon signing in 2017 and the Dalton signing in 2020 will go down as two of the weirder periods in recent Bears history. As long as NFL free agency remains before the draft on the offseason timeline, moves like that are bound to happen.

The Bears just seem to do it better than anyone else.

Whether general manager Ryan Pace returns in 2022 or not, his tenure will be judged not by the quarterbacks he signed in free agency, but by the ones he drafted. Bears fans can hold out hope that Fields might finally be the one.

And they can do their best to forget the quarterback play they witnessed Sunday at Soldier Field.