Matt Eberflus is gone. Almost everybody who covers or watches the Chicago Bears knows this. Barring a miraculous turnaround against the toughest remaining schedule in the NFL, the head coach is likely to lose his job after the 2024 season. Too many things have gone against him. He’s only won 14 games in two and a half seasons, regularly posted dismal offenses, choked away several winnable games, and has fired or lost eight assistants since taking over. Aside from a solid defense, he has nothing to hang his hat on. The bigger conundrum is Ryan Poles.
As GM, he has delivered a mixed performance. His trade with the Carolina Panthers could go down as one of the best in Bears history. It sped up their rebuild in numerous ways with the arrivals of D.J. Moore, Caleb Williams, Darnell Wright, and Tyrique Stevenson. However, he can’t escape ugly misses like Chase Claypool and Nate Davis, along with the poor state of the offensive line. Last but not least, he hired Eberflus. Yet some wonder if the Bears will still choose to keep him as they did Ryan Pace in 2018.
Based on a new update from insider Josina Anderson, that may not be guaranteed.
Ryan Poles is on thinner ice than many think.
If Anderson is correct, upwards of five general managers could be fired in the next eight weeks. Determining who they are isn’t overly complicated. The biggest lock is Joe Douglas of the New York Jets. He’s been there since 2019, and the organization remains stuck in a quagmire. Trent Baalke of the Jacksonville Jaguars is probably the other since his team is 2-8 after missing the playoffs last year. Two other names likely on the list are Joe Schoen of the New York Giants and Chris Ballard of the Indianapolis Colts. Schoen is under the cloud of keeping Daniel Jones and letting Saquon Barkley walk along with being 2-8. Ballard is coming to terms with Anthony Richardson looking like a bust at QB and not making the playoffs for the fifth straight year.
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That is four.
Nobody else stands out. Andrew Berry in Cleveland is the closest due to the team’s rough season and the Deshaun Watson trade, but they made the playoffs last year. Ryan Poles is the only other name that meets the criteria. Likely no winning seasons or playoff appearances in three years. A misfire at head coach. A failure to put his young quarterback in a healthy environment to grow. The bad is starting to outweigh the good. When that happens, guys get fired.
Well Okay then fire everyone. Who cares? I expect all the next people will be even worst than the last peeps. It’s just the Chicago way.
Thanks for keeping everything in the gutter Mr. Lambert.
I read something today that I found interesting. Just a simple quote about Caleb Williams. But it went something like, “It’s not just on the player to trust. It’s on the franchise to become trustworthy.”
By not fixing this OL, by keeping Eberflus and Chris Morgan, by being part of hiring Shane Waldron, Poles hasn’t made this franchise trustworthy. And, by extension, neither has George.