Ryan Poles has now officially tied his reputation to Matt Eberflus.
Ryan Poles is going all in with Matt Eberflus next season. He better be right about Eberflus or his decision will have serious ramifications for both the Bears and his career.
The 2023 Bears season ended just like the season opener: Losing to the division rival Green Bay Packers. The same Packers team that finally moved on from diva Aaron Rodgers yet had no problem manhandling the Bears this season, even with a new signal caller, Jordan Love. Instead of beating them to knock them out of the playoffs on the last game of the season, they dominated the Bears and got into the playoffs. Those who watched the game had to be disgusted by just how one-sided this game was despite the 17-9 game.
The last time the Bears beat the Packers was back in 2018. The last time they won in Green Bay was back in 2015. Their head coach, Matt LaFleur is 10-0 against the Bears. If you know anything about the history of the Bears, that does not sit well with the fans and George McCaskey.
Still, after deliberating the last three days, the Bears made a very unpopular decision to bring back Matt Eberflus while jettisoning incompetent offensive coordinator Luke Getsy, and a bunch of other coaches, including quarterbacks coach Andrew Janocko, wide receivers coach Tyke Tolbert, running backs coach Omar Young and assistant tight ends coach Tim Zetts.
When Ryan Poles first took over, he completely tore down this team to a bare minimum, while acquiring Chase Claypool and trading away disgruntled linebacker Roquan Smith on the same day en route to the worst record in franchise history.
Then, he auctioned the first overall pick and fleeced the Carolina Panthers, who gave wide receiver DJ Moore, and several picks including the 2024 first overall selection. One of those picks turned out to be cornerback Tyrique Stevenson, who played very well in the last 5-6 games. Undoubtedly, the Bears are in a much better position right now. Trading for pass rusher Montez Sweat really transformed the team post-trade deadline, and helped Eberflus' defense.
Still, the Packers game was a massive reality check. The Packers moved the ball both on the ground and in the air with ease while Matt Eberflus' defense barely put up any resistance and even worse, the whole team looked unprepared and bored.