The Chicago Bears’ latest embarrassment came Monday night in the form of a 30-12 blowout loss to the Minnesota Vikings. The game itself was not the story as the Bears looked horrific on both sides of the ball. No, the story is about how badly the Bears screwed this season up.
As far as the game went, the Bears once again had trouble getting the offense in gear. For the 5th time this season, the Bears were shut out in the 1st half. They were 1 of 12 on 3rd down conversions. Twice, they had a 4th & 1 and they could not move the ball 1 yard in both cases. The offensive line once again had trouble protecting Caleb Williams. Though Williams was only sacked twice, he was under duress most of the night. The Bears also committed 9 penalties for 93 yards. When you commit stupid penalties, get bullied on both sides of the ball and commit stupid mistakes like not checking in as an eligible receiver you get a 4-10 team with no hope.
The media wasted no time lighting into the Bears following Monday Night Football:
The Bears did everything in their power to make this season different than the last 3…and it’s the SAME EXACT THING.
— Chase Daniel (@ChaseDaniel) December 17, 2024
Frustrated, disappointed, fed up are just a few words to describe what Bears fans should be feeling. pic.twitter.com/5qvPC250h4
The Chicago Bears are not a serious franchise and have not been for nearly all of my adult life. The problems this organization has is deeply rooted in a number of ways:
- Offense: What this season has shown is there is a true depth deficit with this team. On the offensive line the lack of talent and depth is very apparent. Nate Davis literally stole money to the tune of $30 million because he just didn’t want to play. The offseason moves to get Coleman Shelton, Matt Pryor & Ryan Bates didn’t pan out. Braxton Jones regressed. Teven Jenkins can’t stay healthy. The problems with the OL for pass protection has severely hampered Caleb Williams’ development. To be fair, Caleb Williams does hold the ball too long and his accuracy has been questionable. Caleb’s chemistry with his receivers is also shaky. He seems to have more chemistry with Keenan Allen & Rome Odunze. Both DJ Moore & Cole Kmet were ardent Justin Fields supporters and one has to wonder if that played a role in the chemistry between them & Caleb. The Bears got RB D’Andre Swift but they still lack a true power, game changing RB.
- Defense: The injuries to DT Andrew Billings & Gervon Dexter Sr. deeply exposed the lack of depth on the defensive line. It also exposed DE Montez Sweat who is nowhere close to having the impact he did last season. Jaquan Brisker’s injury was also significant as it showed some of the depth issues in the secondary as well. CB Tyrique Stevenson has struggled this season with poor play & decision making. LB TJ Edwards has played hard all season but the LB corp has been exposed in pass coverage. LB Jack Sanborn has been getting torched in pass coverage. Tremaine Edmunds has regressed from last season as well.
- Coaching: Coaching has been a problem since Ryan Poles became the GM. Matt Eberflus, Luke Getsy and Shane Waldron proved they were not capable of leading this team. They didn’t use the talent to the best of their abilities. Their game planning, clock management and in-game decision making was terrible. Several players throughout this season expressed frustration at the lack of preparation from the coaching staff. Veteran TE Marcedes Lewis went on the record about wanting to be ‘coached harder‘. Keenan Allen commented on Shane Waldron being ‘too nice‘. Players were allowed to leak what was going on in the locker room to the media. That is a clear sign of a coaching staff that had no control of the team and locker room.
- Management: While GM Ryan Poles has made some good picks and free agent pickups to improve the roster, he is not free from blame either. There was the trade for Chase Claypool for a 2nd round pick(that pick became Steelers’ star CB Joey Porter, Jr.). Poles made the decision not to pay All Pro LB Roquan Smith and while the LB corp is decent it wouldn’t hurt having an All Pro LB. There’s the spending of a 3rd round draft pick for Velus Jones. Remember when the Bears decided to let RB David Montgomery go because they thought Khalil Herbert was the future? Khalil Herbert was traded earlier this year. And of course when the Bears decided not to draft DE Jalen Carter in 2023 and chose Darnell Wright instead. Don’t get me wrong – Wright is good but Jalen Carter would have solved the problem at DE opposite Montez Sweat. Poles’ talent evaluation and his decisions regarding the coaching staff falls at his doorstep.
- Ownership: The McCaskeys run the Bears like it was corner mom & pop store rather than the multi-billion dollar business it is. The ownership team has botched coaching hire after coaching hire preferring to have a coach who models the beliefs and lifestyle of the owners rather than a knowledgeable personality who can command a locker room. The same goes with the hiring of general managers. The mere fact the Bears have to hire outside consultants like Bill Polian to look for GMs and coaches speaks to the ineptitude of the ownership team. The Bears have played in only 4 playoff games since 2006. They only have 2 Super Bowl appearances since the advent of the Super Bowl. By contrast, the Carolina Panthers have 4 Conference Championship & 2 Super Bowl appearances since 2003. The Carolina Panthers. Even the pursuit of a new stadium has been bungled… and Kevin Warren was brought in specifically for this. Until the ownership either sells or gets out of the way and let a football-minded GM run the team, the Bears will continue to be the joke of the NFL.
The Chicago Bears are at an important crossroads in their history. They have the most important head coaching hire to make. They have to get this right because the development of possibly the only franchise QB they have ever had is at risk. This is Ryan Poles’ last shot because if he doesn’t get the coaching hire right and drastically improve the offensive and defensive lines he will be next to go… and the hamster wheel of ineptitude will keep spinning.
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