On January 25, 2022 Ryan Poles was hired and on January 31, 2022 he declared "we will take the north and never give it back!"
But that wasn't the only line of bullshit he'd feed us before he tore down the roster in an attempt to build a perennial contender. While the judgement is still out on the moves he's made, I believe we will no doubt be seeing a final verdict on the Ryan Poles/Matt Eberflus regime before the seasons over.
In his initial press conference, Ryan Poles went on to say the following about Matt Eberflus...
"The moment I knew I wanted to be a general manager, I began looking for specific traits that define a successful head coach, and the results were leadership, poise, emotional intelligence, a development of mindset, discipline, detail, toughness and energy.
Those traits are results of many conversations with Hall of Famers, Super Bowl champions, CEOs, players and leaders of life. I was also looking for a brother to create an elite partnership with. When Matt walked in the door and interviewed, even without knowing, he just started checking off all the boxes. He described a detailed plan that had depth. He talked about building relationships with players and setting a new standard and, most importantly, he wanted to do all of that with the Chicago Bears."
Yikes! If that's his assessment of a guy walking into the door then I can't imagine the preconceived notions he had about the McCaskey's.
If you've got some time, and want to relive the nonsense, watch the full press conference.
So why is this team so bad? A variety of things that we're about to address
What makes it appear as if there is no end in sight to the losses? Also a variety of things, just hang in there, I promise.
Now let's be very clear on something before we get started bashing one thing or the next and pretending that if we fix that one thing everything will be just dandy and we'll win out.
NEWSFLASH: Ain't gonna happen, doesn't work like that!
Just because we place some blame on a particular person or coaching unit doesn't necessarily mean replacing them will fix everything. Let's give an example, some folks are calling to bench Justin Fields because he's making too many costly mistakes.
We can all agree on the fact that Justin Fields has made some very costly mistakes, can't we?
A couple of pick 6's to end games followed by a sack fumble to end the game against the Bronco's. Do we really need to argue that those are costly mistakes? You can blame Luke Getsy for the play call, or blame Justin for not recognizing the play and making the blocking adjustment, or blame Darnell Wright for not getting off his chip quickly enough, the fact is that the fumble is on Justin Fields, no doubt.
But the question is, will replacing Justin Fields change the direction of the team, will Tyson Bagent win games with a porous defense that's giving up 27+ points a game?
And the obvious answer is, no.
Will Bagent get the team more wins? Maybe, we really have no idea and can only speculate, but it would no doubt end Justin Fields career with the Chicago Bears. It wouldn't fix the offensive line, it wouldn't bring Jaylon Johnson, Kyler Gordon and Eddie Jackson back from injury, and it wouldn't help this team continue to develop and learn together, it would only fracture the team and no one wants that.
Is it the coaching staff? You better believe it's the coaching staff.
Look no further than the latest decision by Head Coach Matt Eberflus...
On 4th and 1, on the Broncos 18 yard line with the score tied at 28, Eberflus chooses to hand the ball off to Khalil Herbert from a shotgun formation.
He didn't take the points to put his winless team up by 3 points.
He didn't put the ball in his playmakers hands.
He didn't get behind his most reliable and powerful offensive lineman because there isn't one at center or guard.
He chose to lose the game by putting the game in the hands of his defense which has given up 27 points a game and is decimated in the defensive backfield. This is just one of the many disastrous decisions by Matt Eberflus and his staff, but there are many examples to choose from in his less than two years here in Chicago. Matt Eberflus has the most losses of any recent head coach in this time frame.
Can he turn it around? Or will Eberflus be fired soon?
Is it the roster? Of course it is.
The roster is comprised of a lot of young talent as well as new free agents to the team over the course of two off-seasons, and it can only get better. Young draft picks from the 2022 draft like Braxton Jones at LT, Kyler Gordon at CB and Jaquan Brisker at SS have already stepped in to provide some stability at their positions. Dominique Robinson, Ja'Tyre Carter and Elijah Hicks have seen quality playing time this season, and although they have yet to necessarily impress anyone, they have shown enough to be able to step in and fill the role with hopes to see them continue to develop as quality depth, if nothing else. Biggest disappointment of the 2022 draft, without a doubt, is Velus Jones Jr. The biggest missed opportunity of the draft in my opinion is NOT drafting a young center, absolutely the biggest need on the offensive line right now.
Say what you want about the 2023 draft, but these guys are too young to make a judgement on, if you ask me, but let's pretend anyway. Darnell Wright is our right tackle, nothing more to say, he's played incredibly well as a rookie right tackle, what some would consider a plug and play. My favorites are Gervon Dexter Sr. and Zacch Pickens, mostly because I'm hopeful that they'll develop into THOSE MONSTERS that we need on the defensive line, but time will tell. While Tyrique Stevenson has been questionable, he's a rookie learning on the job, same with Terrell Smith, Tyler Scott, Roschon Johnson and any others that have seen playtime this season.
Free agent signings have been a disappointment at this point in the season as well. We all expected to see something from the top free agent signing, Tremaine Edmunds, but all we've seen is a lot of "company man speak" at press conferences and 39 combined tackles and 3 tackles for a loss...in four games. He's been targeted 12 times and allowed 57 yards on 11 completions for 5.2 yards per completion and a 91.7% completion rate. Why wouldn't a quarterback want to throw the underneath routes knowing they'll get 5 yards nearly every time.
TJ Edwards, another big free agent tackler allowing 100% completion rate with 16/16 targets for completions for 8.8 yards per target.
Nate Davis has been missing in action for personal reasons, reportedly tending to his father before his death and heavily grieving after. Will his presence on the offensive line make a difference?
Robert Tonyan has some blown blocks and hasn't been the difference maker at tight end as he was expected to be. Where are the twin tight end sets with Kmet and Tonyan both out in space? Non-existant.
D'onta Foreman riding the bench, who had nearly a thousand yards last season, most of which came after the blockbuster trade of Christian McCaffrey to San Francisco. He was supposed to be part of the 2023 Chicago Bears four headed rushing monster, but he sits inactive on game day.
DeMarcus Walker has 173 snaps on defense and just 5 combined tackles, 3 tackles for loss and 3 QB hits.
Rasheem Green has 108 snaps on defense and just 3 tackles.
Travis Homer is strictly special teams and has played well. Dante Pettis, PJ Walker and other non-notables have been released, or are inconsequential at best.
And without question the worst move that Ryan Poles has made in his short career with the Chicago Bears is trading what would eventually become the 32nd overall pick for Chase Claypool. Now, I wasn't the only delusional fan who had high hopes, but I do admit to writing a post comparing the body type and ability of Chase Claypool to Calvin Johnson. Yep. I did that. Of course, it was entirely misunderstood, albeit incredibly hopeful, that Chase Claypool has nearly the identical body type, height, weight, reach, etc. of Megatron, and I can understand fans wanting to see it as a direct comparison to Johnson's career, but it wasn't. It was no different than the comparisons you see prior to the draft where some "expert" points out a comparison between a potential draft pick and a Hall of Famer, but it is what it is. Its emBEARassing, but I'm already a Bears fan so at this point nothing can be as emBEARassing as that.
At some point, the team captains have to rise up and show some leadership by playing to their potential, and/or these young players have to develop so they can step into leadership roles and make plays.
Is it injuries? Of course it is.
The offensive line and defensive backfield are both decimated by injuries. Some fans pay absolutely no attention to injuries, expecting the team to win no matter what, but the fact is this is a very young, inexperienced roster with even younger, inexperienced depth, and this is what the team looks like with a slew of injuries. The team has been fighting injuries while trying to learn who each other are, learning to be a team when new players are constantly missing from meetings, practice and games is a huge challenge.
Is it Justin Fields? Of course it is.
He's made mistakes. Don't blame me for being honest. He's made mistakes. If you can't see those mistakes and admit when he's made them then you're kidding yourself. Justin Fields is just as much to blame for this teams losses as anyone else on the team who's made mistakes. His mistakes just appear to be more critical because the focus is ALWAYS on the quarterback.
For example, he fumbled on the sack in the Broncos game and the fumble return cost the team the lead, tying the game at 28, and some would say it cost them the game, but that's not entirely correct.
The defense gave up 24 points in the second half, and the Bears offense was only able to muster one lonely touchdown, doesn't that add to the blame as well?
Elijah Hicks being out of position on the Broncos final drive, doesn't that add to the blame?
Going for it on 4th and 1 in the shotgun, doesn't that play into the loss as well?
Kmet and Fields on different pages during the INT, missed blocks on the offensive line, lack of pressure from the front four, terrible pass coverage at linebacker, cornerback and safety. It all plays into a loss, but the fumble scoop and score was what seals it for some folks.
Football is the ultimate team sport. When the team wins, its a team win. When the team loses, its a team loss. You can choose to believe it or not, but that's how it works.
Now is the perfect time for this team to make mistakes, especially costly mistakes. Unfortunate, but true, this is the second season of a complete roster tear down. To expect wins is insanity, but we can expect them to at least play with some passion, fire, a competitive nature, which we finally saw a snapshot of in the first three quarters of the game against the Broncos.
NOW IS THE TIME TO MAKE MISTAKES, AND LEARN FROM THEM!
Is this all on the players, or the coaching?
Last season Poles tore it down and was able to fill a few holes on the roster and add young players with potential. He added free agent signings that, to many of us, looked to improve this roster, but for some reason these players haven't played up to their potential...as a team. The first three quarters against the Broncos had this roster actually looking like a competitive team on offense, however the defense has yet to figure it out.
What do you think?
Leave a comment below and tell me what you think. Is it the players, the coaching, or the roster itself?
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