Ryan Poles managed to hide behind Matt Eberflus throughout the Chicago Bears‘ downhill slide all season. Undoubtedly the GM hopes a fresh voice at head coach after Eberflus was fired might finally push the team into the win column. That hasn’t happened. In fact, it has made the Bears worse, especially on defense. There is no escaping responsibility for Poles. This mess is his making, from top to bottom. There was no meddling from ownership or team president Kevin Warren. He had free reign to build this thing his way and it’s been a disaster.
Sunday’s 34-17 loss to the Detroit Lions might have seemed inconsequential in the big picture, but not from Poles’ perspective. It was a disaster for several reasons. Let’s start with the most obvious. That defeat was the Bears’ ninth in a row, the second-longest streak in franchise history. The longest is 14 games, which took place between 2022 and 2023. Poles was the GM during both.
It only gets worse from there. Kiran Amegadjie, Poles’ prized 3rd round pick this year, was declared a healthy scratch for the game. Larry Borom and Jake Curhan were considered better options than him. Curhan made some crippling mistakes when he got into the game. Then, just for good measure, Braxton Jones broke his leg.
“This is the deepest room I’ve ever been a part of.’ So we have more versatility, more depth. Shoot, we have 10 guys, so I feel comfortable. Obviously, you want your starting five to be healthy and ready to go, but I feel more confident in the depth of our offensive line than I ever have before.”
Ryan Poles also can’t escape another poor free agency swing.
Everybody talks about Nate Davis and the disaster he was. It might be time to point out that D’Andre Swift, while not nearly as big of a fiasco, has also been a disappointment. He signed a $24 million contract with the Bears this spring. With the final whistle on Sunday, it was the tenth game this season where he averaged less than four yards per carry. It was the fifth game where he averaged under three yards per carry. Williams has almost half of his rushing total despite a third of the carries.
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Ryan Poles didn’t have a bad plan. He wanted to build through the draft, be measured in free agency, protect the team finances, and always maintain a good supply of resources. The problem is for any plan to work, you still must find good players and coaches. The GM failed spectacularly in the former and too much in the latter. His excuses have run dry. If he survives the end of this season, it won’t be because he earned it. Only the good graces of George McCaskey will preserve him.
@TGena
You missed that I fired Poles and replaced him with TGena. Get in there.
Don’t get pissed if I yank you for non-performance, but you have your chance.
There are several problems we should have with this article, even though it is essentially right. 1) “failed spectacularly with the former (talent acquisition), and too much in the latter (coaching).” 2) “He wanted to build through the draft, and be measured in free agency.” Addressing the first, first. He failed spectacularly with coaching, and the resulting talent acquisition was that NONE of the talent acquired, performed above “average” or “mediocrity.” NONE. I include Montez Sweat, DJ Moore and Braxton Jones. Sweat, Moore and Jones all showed that they could be major dynamic players in anchoring a team. Jones was… Read more »
OK Rcheezy. No reason not to attempt this, as you wish
Bears might find out precisely what they have in each RB!
Lambert is a joke. SM is a joke. With better coaching this team is at least 4 or 5 wins better. Anyone who thought they were going to be better than that is BSing themselves in this division. Every other division has easy wins, not the NFC North. I don’t understand how you supposed Bears fans don’t get that Poles was told he had to hire Flus. This is the way this organization has worked since forever. If Poles, convinced the family to fire him mid season that shows something. I am so sick of hearing about the Claypool trade.… Read more »
Start Roshan Johnson at running back and have Swift back him up. Roshan is a powerful high energy back who fights for yards. I love his play style. Sure he doesn’t have the same speed or finesse as Swift, but he plays hard nose football and that’s exactly what we need.