LAKE FOREST, Ill. – When things implode for the Chicago Bears, it’s usually late in the season. Until then, the playoffs are out of the question. Jobs are at stake. We can look forward to the changes at the beginning of the new year.
It’s not even Week 3 yet and the Bears had more drama on Wednesday than any good team could have in a season.
If it happens in September, there is still time. There is a season for saving. It is no longer unthinkable for a team to go 0-2 and make it to the postseason. It’s far too early to write it all off, start making head coaching candidate lists and start scouting quarterbacks for 2024.
But who will save the Bears in 2023?
Sources around the league wanted to know, “What’s going on?” They found everything strange, from quarterback Justin Fields’ comments to defensive coordinator Alan Williams’ resignation.
The Bears once again find themselves in an unenviable position in the NFL, and it’s hard to see any light beyond the headlines.
When general manager Ryan Poles and coach Matt Eberflus took over, they inherited disaster. The 2021 season was terrible in the building and on the field. It was up to them to lead the Bears toward relevance.
Eberflus is now the head coach of a team that has suffered twelve consecutive defeats. Regardless of whether it’s in his power, he hasn’t looked like someone who can save the Bears – but he has the most at stake.
Poles was tasked with reshaping the roster and creating something Chicago hasn’t seen since the ’80s – a consistent winner. Even back-to-back playoff seasons would be nice, something that hasn’t happened since 2005-06. The free agents he brought in didn’t make any game-changing plays. The draft picks are not yet as countable as this squad needs them.
Poles isn’t going anywhere, but there’s only so much he can do now to save this team.
Fields began Wednesday with a forceful press conference that – although it was not his intention, as he later said – shifted responsibility for his problems onto the coaching staff. He said he thought too much and didn’t play the way he knew how – trusting his instincts.
There was a time when some in Chicago thought Fields could save the franchise. Based on his first two games this season, it’s hard to say he’s capable of saving the Bears in 2023.
Chairman George McCaskey has led this franchise since 2011. During that time, the Bears have not won a playoff game. They are their fifth head coach and third GM. He is currently in no position to save this team. Many decisions made by McCaskey and former team president Ted Phillips got them into the situation they found themselves in.
GO DEEPER
Why Bears quarterback Justin Fields’ coaching comments left our experts stunned
Offensive coordinator Luke Getsy has faced increasing criticism over his game plan over the first two weeks of the season, and Fields added on Wednesday – again, whether that was his goal or not. Maybe Getsy is creating a new, innovative and successful offense that can turn things around, but what created the confidence that can happen?
It won’t be Williams, the now-former defensive coordinator who resigned Wednesday “to take care of my health and my family,” as he said in his statement, and not that of the team, which said only that he was his submitted my resignation. Eberflus as a play caller could potentially stave off the lingering effects of a coordinator’s resignation after Week 2, but the mystery surrounding him will remain.
DJ Moore? Tremaine Edmunds? Cole Kmet? Jaylon Johnson? Good players, but they’re not All-Pros who can turn around a team that’s falling apart.
Amid all the chaos, Braxton Jones, who was placed on the injured list on Wednesday, doesn’t remain.
Who at Halas Hall gained the trust of Bears fans, not to mention players and other staff, to fix this problem – again?
It could be new President/CEO Kevin Warren.
It’s probably too late for him to save this year’s team, but his tremendous attitude is the main source of hope that the organization, while in shambles, can finally move in a positive direction. Maybe it’s just hope because he’s new and was here for this mess, but he started in April. This isn’t his team yet.
GO DEEPER
Justin Fields is unhappy, Alan Williams has resigned and the Bears are in disarray
So often the bears are in the same cycle. We see it again with the quarterback. They have a head coach who may struggle to keep things going. This is nothing new at Halas Hall.
Warren is the difference. He is now the one overseeing the Poles and the football team while he works to build a new stadium for the Bears. He is the one who assesses everyone in the building and checks how everything works.
The most important decisions that shaped this Bears team weren’t made by Warren. He has the resume and fresh eyes to figure out how to lead the team out of this mess and prevent the Bears from stepping on the proverbial rake again and again.
That doesn’t mean Warren will make the right decisions. In the NFL, it comes down to the head coach and the quarterback. Any future decisions in these positions will affect Warren.
Will he save the bears? Maybe, maybe not, but he’s her best chance right now.
(Photo by DJ Moore: Mike Ehrmann / Getty Images)
“The Football 100,” the definitive ranking of the 100 greatest NFL players of all time, hits stores this fall. Pre-order here.