It's been a sobering couple of weeks for the Chicago Bears, as this fan base is facing a feeling that's far too familiar. It's a new season, with a new coach, after what was supposedly a great offseason, and the Bears are 0-2 and coming off a complete beatdown by the Detroit Lions.
It's tough to pinpoint one area that's most alarming through two games, but let's focus on the secondary. Jared Goff threw five touchdowns on Sunday in a game that saw the Bears' corners struggle mightily.
With Jaylon Johnson banged up again and Tyrique Stevenson getting burned left and right, this team is suddenly in need of cornerback depth. Unfortunately, general manager Ryan Poles allowed one of last year's training camp and preseason darlings, Reddy Steward, to walk.
Steward has since caught on with the Dallas Cowboys and had himself one heck of a game against the New York Giants on Sunday.
Letting Reddy Steward go is yet another in the long line of Ryan Poles misfires
In a Giants-Cowboys game that ended up being a high-scoring affair, Steward finished with the highest grade out of any Dallas defensive back (73.6) per Pro Football Focus. He would allow only three receptions for 23 yards on the day.
Meanwhile, you have both Jameson Williams and Amon-Ra St. Brown making Stevenson look the fool. The Lions' wideouts had no problem with Stevenson in coverage.
In two games, Stevenson has allowed a perfect opposing QB rating (158.3) and given up 17.7 yards per reception.
He's been penalized twice and has three missed tackles.
Terrel Smith is out for the year, so the Bears have been down a significant depth piece there. Johnson, again, left the game against Detroit and did not return. Now, the Bears are relying on Stevenson and Nahshon Wright to be their starters, with virtually no depth behind them.
Poles' evaluation of talent and inability to scout has been called into question several times lately, and it's completely mind-boggling why the Bears decided to extend him this past offseason. The Steward decision seemed minor at the time, but now it appears to have been a hysterical backfire.
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When will the incompetence in Chicago end? So long as Poles is around, it seems like this is a reality we're stuck living in.