The Bears changed their head coach, but they're still a really bad team. On Sunday, the 49ers used Chicago as a springboard to get back on track after three straight losses, dominating all three phases of the game until a 38-13 beatdown, holding the Bears to just 162 yards of total offense, but Caleb said Williams He was fired seven times.
For all the hand-wringing and embarrassment, the one man most responsible for the Bears' problems has so far been relatively immune to criticism. General manager Ryan Pauls appears to have been given a vote of confidence to lead the offseason search for a new head coach, but he's actually the architect of Chicago's dismal record. . From poor coaching hires, misallocation of free agent funds, and questionable drafts, the only thing Polish really deserves credit for is his deft ability to make trades, which helped the Bears go 14-33. He was able to play well while making his mark. .
this is do not have caleb williams problem
First let's get this out of the way. The Bears have a myriad of problems, but Caleb Williams is not one of them. It's definitely something the Bears' rookie quarterback needs to work on. He has a tendency to pass deeper than he should and he's still getting a feel for how much time he has in the pocket, how much pressure he can actually escape from, but now he has time to throw. At times, he seemed fine.
The question that remains is whether Chicago can move quickly enough to support Williams before the pressure gets too great. That includes both the weight of expectations placed on a No. 1 pick to turn a team around and the physical pressure of playing on a team that has allowed 56 sacks this season and counting.
Chicago's offensive line is so bad that Williams has a chance to become the single-season record holder for most sacked quarterbacks with 74 sacks. If he is sacked 77 times, he will break David Carr's record, which is set by the expansion Texans. In 2002.
The offensive line is where Ryan Pauls gets the most criticism.
Pole's strangest quirk during his time in Chicago was his astonishing inability to find quality offensive linemen. Being a former NFL offensive lineman, this seemed to be his forte, but he has not shown any ability to scout talent through the draft or free agency.
The Bears' primary offensive line in 2024 is:
LT Braxton Jones: 24 pressures allowed, 3 sacks allowed.
LG Teven Jenkins: Allowed 16 pressures and six sacks.
C Coleman Shelton: 14 pressures, allowed one sack.
RG Matt Pryor: Allowed 16 pressures, 5 sacks.
RT Darnell Wright: 21 pressures allowed, 5 sacks allowed.
Jones, Jenkins, and Wright were all drafted by the Poles. Shelton, like Matt Pryor, was signed in free agency by the Polish. Pryor is the best player on their offensive line. Sure, that's like saying there's a “better” kind of food poisoning when you get thrown into a truck stop toilet, but the point remains.
What hurts most about this is how bad Darnell Wright whiffed. Wright, who was selected in the 2023 draft in a trade with the Carolina Panthers, is rounded out as a road-grading right tackle but is only average in the run game. Unfortunately, his struggle as a pass protector is that he lacks the athleticism needed to win at the position, especially when paired with a mobile quarterback like Caleb Williams.
This got even worse in the 2024 NFL Draft. The Poles seemed to think their offensive line was “okay” while taking WR Roma Odunze with the ninth pick. Odunze is a great talent and the trust with Caleb is clearly there, but adding DJ Moore to the roster was a luxury move given the dire need at the office.
In fact, the offensive line has been their weakest element since Polish became the Bears' GM, but he still nailed it. All told, he's been a first-, third-, fifth-, sixth-, and seventh-round pick on the OL in three years, and each one has ranged from terrible to terrible.
RB misjudges the situation
This is a little difficult to really parse out, since a running back's effectiveness is often directly related to how good the offensive line is. Still, the Poles have decided to let David Montgomery leave in 2022 and replace him with D'Andre Swift.
Montgomery played a key role in the Lions' offense and was a 1,000-yard running back in committee. Swift, on the other hand, cost the Bears more money and scored seven fewer touchdowns than Monty.
The lack of offensive line and the low evaluation of running backs are major problems for the offense. These factors should take pressure off Williams, but instead they add to it.
Coaching decisions
The big highlight of Ryan Pauls' coaching career was hiring Matt Eberflus, and he was terrible. There's no need to spend more time. We all know how bad the flu was. The Bears should have fired Williams earlier this year to give him a fresh start with a new system, but instead Chicago once again kept a bad coach for an extra year.
But what's really egregious is that they're backfilling the rest of their coaching staff from a bizarre coaching tree that started with the Carolina Panthers. Interim head coach Thomas Brown, who previously served as interim offensive coordinator, was part of Frank Reich's terrible staff in Carolina, which was largely responsible for Bryce Young's struggles.
They paired this with Eric Washington, who also came from the Panthers to the Bills. Washington, a former defensive line coach, also hails from Carolina, but he never would have shined without great defensive talent as a coach.
This is a strange tree to build.
Ryan Pauls shouldn't be immune to criticism
There are many responsibilities in Chicago, but Poles are the architects of it all. While his trade with Carolina was praised and brought in Caleb Williams and DJ Moore, he also traded away Khalil Mack and Roquan Smith, but they didn't get much value in return.
Additionally, they gave up their first pick in the second round in 2023 to take WR Chase Claypool, who is clearly terrible.
Under the Poles, talent evaluation at almost every level was abysmal. Caleb Williams is very good, as is Roma Odunze, but to anyone who watches soccer these two are solid players. Late-round talent that real scouts make a living from, that's what's wrong with the Bears, and their lack of depth shows it.
Waving Ryan Pauls would be a step in the right direction for the Bears. Now I'm waiting to see if they notice it.
