Bears mailbag: Biggest disappointments, Ryan Poles choosing head coach, Week 18 picks

If only the Chicago Bears could win games based on having perspective, they’d be in good shape ahead of the season finale.

Take the way that interim head coach Thomas Brown opened the week.

“I know we live in an instant-gratification generation and also world, from a sports standpoint you expect and we want stuff to be fixed right now, and I get that,” he said. “But that’s not how stuff actually gets fixed or problems get solved. And so I do appreciate the opportunity to sharpen myself through difficult moments. But it’s helped make me the person I am and continue to become.”

Or maybe take how Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson is approaching Sunday’s game in Green Bay.

“F— ’em. That’s how I’m feeling,” he said. “I’m going to try to go out with a bang. It’s the last opponent on the schedule, so I’m looking forward to it.”

Then there’s rookie quarterback Caleb Williams, who was asked about what he can do to prepare for Year 2.

“This offseason’s gonna be a big offseason for me and I’m excited about it,” he said. “I have things, maturity-wise, of playing the position that I’m excited about learning. Things are gonna take time and I’m well aware of that and OK with that, but I’m definitely going to try and push myself to exhaustion mentally and physically this offseason to be able to withstand a long season.”

The Bears have said all the right things this week, as maybe the most disappointing season in team history comes to an end. We’ll see if it allows them to end a long losing streak against their rivals to avoid the franchise’s longest-ever losing streak.

Now, on to your questions

Hi, Kevin. Are the Bears really going to continue this ridiculous pattern by letting Ryan Poles pick a new head coach only to hire a new GM next year? — Bryan H.

What would anger Bears fans more, a contract extension for Poles, which would align him with the next head coach, or no extension, thus setting up the cycle Bryan described in which the team could need a new GM in 2026?

It shouldn’t be a surprise if the Bears decide to extend Poles’ contract. It’s what they did with Ryan Pace in 2017 after they fired John Fox, who had just finished his third year alongside Pace.

“I think it’s important,” then-president Ted Phillips said on Jan. 1, 2018. “I think any head coach, you got to have that relationship with the general manager to even want to come into the organization, and to know the organization is behind the general manager is critical.”

Now, Phillips also said he felt Pace deserved the extension. Will we hear a similar refrain next week from president/CEO Kevin Warren? By making Poles the “point man” for the head-coaching search after Thanksgiving, Warren sure signaled that Poles is the GM for this search, next season and maybe beyond.

One reason I’d like to see Poles not only be the “point man” but make the ultimate final call is if the head coach doesn’t work out, it’s the GM who usually takes the fall, not a team president. Hopefully, if the Bears are set with Poles as GM, he gets to make that call. But you can also understand why, entering a massive offseason, if Warren is in, “whatever it takes” mode in finding a head coach — even if that means one who wants a different GM.

Stability is critical and the Bears don’t want to find themselves in the familiar cycle. Is stability so vital that they’re willing to keep Poles and extend him even though the record and state of the team is what it is right now? That’s for Warren and chairman George McCaskey to decide, but I’m not sure it’d be great business to have Poles start this coaching search only to remove him from his post next week, or after a new coach is hired, or even at the end of the 2025 season. The ultimate NFL caveat is, however, anything can happen.

Who are some OL/DL free agents the Bears have a real shot at landing? — Raymond S.

“Building through the draft” is all well and good, but the Bears have limited draft picks and plenty of salary-cap space. This could be an offseason of double-dipping in the trenches.

With the disclaimer that we don’t know who the coach will be, so we don’t know the scheme and best fits — not to mention we don’t know who will get the franchise tag — here are a few names we’ll probably talk a lot about over the next few months. The offensive line conversation will begin with Chiefs guard Trey Smith. Vikings tackle Cam Robinson, Falcons center Drew Dalman and Ravens tackle Ronnie Stanley could also see big paydays. If the Bears wanted a short-term, veteran stopgap on the interior, they could look at Colts center Ryan Kelly or Lions guard Kevin Zeitler. Interestingly, former Bears draft pick James Daniels is among the top available veteran interior linemen.

On defense, several veteran edge rushers will be looking to cash in, including Haason Reddick, DeMarcus Lawrence, Chase Young and former Bear Khalil Mack. Cowboys defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa has 22 QB hits this season and could hit the open market.

Wouldn’t winning football games be the best way to build “culture”? — Chris M.

This is a great point, Chris, and something that I’ve thought about often this season. Bears fans should frankly be sick and tired of hearing anyone in the front office or coaching staff laud the “culture” unless the team is winning. The Bears supposedly had a great “culture” this past summer, yet have not shown that on the field during this losing streak, which has included five one-score losses.

I often think back to the 2018 Bears — outstanding “culture.” Well, they won, they danced, they were beloved. The next year, the team wasn’t that different, yet no one was praising the “culture,” and suddenly it wasn’t as strong as we thought.

Teams should still obviously value player intangibles and leadership qualities when building a roster, but we can probably all stand to be a little more skeptical of a “culture” before the games begin.

Of all the levels of misery we have endured since London, how do you rank the biggest disappointments when you break it down, Kevin? What is in your top 3? — Graeme E.

In his list, Graeme went with facets of the team that were disappointing, as opposed to specific moments within games, so I’ll follow that lead.

1. The slow starts on offense — Even with all the excitement from the win over the Jaguars, the Bears were still shut out in the first quarter of that game. Heading into the bye week, that had to be a focal point, yet at the Commanders, the offensive ineptitude to open the game continued. It’s been a problem all year long, and what makes it so disappointing is that it’s been a problem since training camp, and no one fixed it. The Bears are on pace to score their fewest first-quarter points this millennium.

2. The defensive drop-off — The defense bounced back against the Seahawks, holding them to six points and looking like the Bears defense of old last Thursday night. But in Weeks 9-16, by most measures, it was the worst defense in football. That fall-off was both staggering and surprising. You thought that amid the issues on offense, the defense would travel and keep the Bears in games. It became a liability.

Said defensive coordinator Eric Washington on Thursday, “In this business, you have to be consistent. … Looking back, the one thing I would say is we lived in the world of the extremes way too often. There were times when it was extremely good and then there were times where it worked on the other end. You have to stay out of that business when you’re trying to compete and you’re trying to give yourself the best chance to help your football team win week in and week out.”

3. The late-game failures — Coming into the season, we didn’t have a whole lot of examples of how Matt Eberflus, or the rest of the staff, would handle close games in the final minutes. The blown leads of 2023 were not the results necessarily of poor clock management or timeout usage, but failures to keep the other team off the scoreboard. To see it play out so poorly in so many different ways was quite a disappointment.

Do you foresee the team doing what the Lions did with Chris Spielman — i.e. hire a former player to be a special consultant? I don’t like the idea of Ron Rivera as head coach but love the idea of him in this role. — John R.

Colleague Adam Jahns explored this idea earlier in the week. It’s not a bad idea to copy just about everything the Lions have done over the past few years. As Adam outlined, the Bears aren’t short on qualified alumni for the role, but it might take ownership swallowing some pride to make that happen.

Assuming the surgery goes well, should the Bears look to extend Braxton Jones’ contract this offseason? He’s been a mid-level starting left tackle on a super cheap contract. He has one cheap year left and is coming off a real injury. He might want some guaranteed money before they start drafting OL and having too many good OL on reasonable contracts seems like a good problem. — Bob B.

This is an interesting thought exercise because the knee-jerk reaction would be no, but I do think Jones played better than the overall offensive line numbers show. Analytics back it up. ESPN’s run-block win rate had Jones fourth in the league among tackles. Here’s a chart from Pro Football Focus measuring how tackles performed “on an island.”

Offensive Tacke island rate and performance when left on an island pic.twitter.com/su8I9CfKpD

— Timo Riske (@PFF_Moo) January 1, 2025

First things first is Jones’ health. If he can be ready to go by the April practices the Bears get to have with a new head coach, that would be critical. Offensive line coach Chris Morgan is obviously going to have Jones’ back, but he still sees the potential.

“I definitely think Braxton’s a keeper,” he said Thursday. “First of all, he’s got to get healthy now. Then the rehab piece of it. And then just continue to get stronger, bigger — and he will. I still think the future’s bright for him.”

This could be similar to the Teven Jenkins situation this season. The Bears did not replace Jenkins in free agency or the draft and said they’d take a look at his situation at the bye week as far as an extension goes. Jenkins didn’t get one and struggled to stay healthy.

A new staff might have a completely new view of Jones. There’s also Kiran Amegadjie to consider, and the opportunity to draft a new left tackle in the top 10 or sign one in free agency. But if the Bears feel good about Jones being their starter, he’s already an incredible bargain and also someone who might be worthy of an extension, one that would potentially save the team money in the long term.

Bears-Packers … facts

• The Packers lead the all-time series 108-95-6 and are 42-53-4 at home.

• Since Brett Favre took over as Green Bay’s starting quarterback, the Bears are 15-51 in the series.

• The Packers have won 11 in a row in the series dating to December 2018. It’s the longest streak for either team in the 103-year rivalry.

• The Bears have not won at Lambeau Field since Thanksgiving 2015. It’s their longest stretch without winning a game in Green Bay.

• The Bears have lost seven season finales in a row against the Packers (2023, 2021, 2013, 2011, 2006, 2005, 1998) dating to their 23-21 win to close the 1983 season.

• The Bears are 2-13 when playing in Green Bay in December or January. The only wins came in 2005 and 1979.

• This is only the second time since 2008 that the Bears-Packers game in Lambeau is an early-afternoon kickoff.

• The Packers are 15-2 when they’re at least 10-point favorites against the Bears. The only losses came in 1963 and 1968.

Game picks: Bears (+10) at Packers, noon CT on Fox

Kevin Fishbain: Packers 32, Bears 16

(14-2 straight up, 8-8 against the spread)

I started to write about how the Packers might take their foot off the gas if they see the Commanders winning big, or how Caleb Williams played well against Green Bay in the second half, or how the defense is coming off a solid performance … but then I just let out a long sigh.

Adam Jahns: Packers 27, Bears 23

(10-6, 8-8)

The Packers are playing for postseason seeding; the Bears are playing for pride.

Dan Pompei: Packers 33, Bears 17

(10-6, 6-10)

The Packers will play their starters, but even if they played the junior varsity, they probably could handle the Bears, who have dropped 11 straight to their neighbors to the north. The Bears have been outscored 178-98 on the road this season, and that trend is not likely to change in the finale.

Jon Greenberg: Packers 105, Bears -5

(9-7, 9-7)

At this point, who cares?

Matt Schneidman (Packers beat writer): Packers 31, Bears 17

I’m done offering X’s and O’s analysis for these picks. It’s the Packers and the Bears. Enough said.

(Top photo of Caleb Williams: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)