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.
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.
OK so I must explain what I see during these games. The Bears are only capable of running an offense during a 2 minute drill. What does that tell you? Only if the opposing Defense is tired, can the O-Line actually do their job. So Caleb, may or may not be a legit QB. Seems like he could be. But he hasn’t completed many deep passes all year. That leaves the question open. In the past you would once in a blue moon get that spark from a rookie Qb but we never got that from Caleb in a tough… Read more »
You should fire yourself Lambert. You are the poster boy for shade! I think you’re a Packer fan marauding as a Bear. You leak and spew information to a fault, are constantly negative and will write shit stories about anyone in the organization except Caleb Williams. Can’t you see that the negative energy you put out keeps folk constantly looking for bad. Newsflash genius we have more than enough. It doesn’t matter who comes in here next year, GM/Coach you will report out everything they are doing so every team in the league knows. Your the information leak and the… Read more »
No need to pretend Swift wasn’t a BAD signing. It’s wasn’t “ok”.. it was a shit signing. On top of that u trade Herbert… the actual best RB on the team. Swift is so fk’n soft it’s ridiculous. He never fights for a single yard.. he just crumbles immediately. He is not what anyone would ever think of as a “Chicago Bears type if back”.
@Dr. Steven Sallie – brutal and hilarious!