Week 18, Bears at Packers, noon Sunday, Fox

[Hairyducked Idiot]

4 hours ago, Wilson A2000 said:

The Bears want organizational stability and he did make an all-time trade. He picked or re-signed Caleb and DJ and Sweat and Rome and Edwards and Jalen and Wright and Kmet. That’s a solid foundation and prospective coaches see that. The McCaskeys also might see that as enough despite Poles’ misses as long as Warren looks over his shoulder. 
 

To his credit, George has been very open to hiring minorities. If he pushes to fire Poles, some media members are going to hammer him for not giving Poles enough time and I don’t think George wants those optics. 

Like half the foundational players you listed aren't even above-average starters at this point in their careers 

[gflore34]

1 hour ago, Tryptamine said:

The recent hire of Eberflus and that Vrabel and Flores are prime candidates says, yes they are that stupid.

One would think Poles, coming from Kansas City, might know the meathead defense approach is outdated and ineffective.

Edited January 2, 2025 by gflore34

[jersey cubs fan]

1 hour ago, Derwood said:

Pretty sure he's the only person with prior HC experience since before the George Halas era

Okay, so? They don’t refuse to do it. They did it a couple hires ago and it didn’t work There’s only a handful of guys who should get second and third chances. Are we lamenting the decision not to go after Gruden? 
 

They haven’t made their decision this time and there are multiple guys with previous HC experience on the list. The lack of nfl HC experience is not a thing people should worry about. 

[Derwood]

5 minutes ago, jersey cubs fan said:

Okay, so? They don’t refuse to do it. They did it a couple hires ago and it didn’t work There’s only a handful of guys who should get second and third chances. Are we lamenting the decision not to go after Gruden? 
 

They haven’t made their decision this time and there are multiple guys with previous HC experience on the list. The lack of nfl HC experience is not a thing people should worry about. 

They had no interest in Harbaugh, who has turned the Chargers around real quick

[Tryptamine]

Gonna be funny when Warren refuses Harbaugh because of prior relationship and Poles refuses Johnson because he's scared of losing his job.

[gflore34]

I know plenty of us are resolved to the fact the Bears aren't going to change their ways.  The other side of the coin could be that Vrabel and Flores are the Bears doing their due diligence.  After all, Poles did get McCaskey to break with tradition, etc. and fire Eberflus.  Maybe, just maybe, they're not headed down the BS meathead defense path.

Edited January 2, 2025 by gflore34

[Wilson A2000]

7 minutes ago, gflore34 said:

I know plenty of us are resolved to the fact the Bears aren't going to change their ways.  The other side of the coin could be that Vrabel and Flores are the Bears doing their due diligence.  After all, Poles did get McCaskey to break with tradition, etc. and fire Eberflus.  Maybe, just maybe, they're not headed down the BS meathead defense path.

Gotta interview a minority candidate and you can get multiple opinions on the state of your team from differing voices

[WrigleyField 22]

Which minority is Vrabel?

[NorthsideAvenger]

No to Mike McCarthy.

[WrigleyField 22]

1 minute ago, NorthsideAvenger said:

No to Mike McCarthy.

Sadly, the defense is just "they could do worse"  

[Hairyducked Idiot]

37 minutes ago, gflore34 said:

I know plenty of us are resolved to the fact the Bears aren't going to change their ways.  The other side of the coin could be that Vrabel and Flores are the Bears doing their due diligence.  After all, Poles did get McCaskey to break with tradition, etc. and fire Eberflus.  Maybe, just maybe, they're not headed down the BS meathead defense path.

I'm not gonna nose dive into doomerism until the actual decision is made. I'm just mapping my route 

[NorthsideAvenger]

21 minutes ago, WrigleyField 22 said:

Sadly, the defense is just "they could do worse"  

But the bar need and be higher than "they could do worse." McCarthy feels like John Fox 2.

[Wilson A2000]

1 hour ago, WrigleyField 22 said:

Which minority is Vrabel?

Doesn’t hurt to interview him, but he’s like the 5th-best option right now

[UMFan83]

9 hours ago, gflore34 said:

I know plenty of us are resolved to the fact the Bears aren't going to change their ways.  The other side of the coin could be that Vrabel and Flores are the Bears doing their due diligence.  After all, Poles did get McCaskey to break with tradition, etc. and fire Eberflus.  Maybe, just maybe, they're not headed down the BS meathead defense path.

I don't get why people act like firing a coach mid-season was some iron clad rule the McCaskeys had and Poles and Warren had to move heaven and Earth to make it happen.  I would assume a vast majority of coaches are fired after a season.  The Bears probably preferred to not fire a coach in the middle of a season, but there is no evidence that ownership was completely against it either.

Not picking on you, its just something I've seen written about so much and I don't recall there ever being actual reporting that the McCaskeys are against firing coaches midseason.

[BigbadB]

16 hours ago, Derwood said:

They had no interest in Harbaugh, who has turned the Chargers around real quick

I'm not so sure you can claim this so easily. First off, Eberflus had not been fired. He most likely should have been, but Harbaugh was coming off a season where he'd been suspended twice and the Bears already had a coach. Harbaugh wanted out of his situation and may have been uttering he'd go just about anywhere to get out of Michigan, but do we know that Chicago had no interest in him entirely? Maybe Harbaugh said he might interview, but maybe that wasn't enough for the Bears to fire their coach and all of a sudden be in a coaching search if Harbaugh still chose the Chargers.

All I remember him saying is that he wanted to be in California and working with Herbert. His ties to California crush his ties to Chicago. Chargers player, University of San Diego HC, Stanford HC, '9ers HC. His kids probably all grew up/live in California.

[gflore34]

7 hours ago, UMFan83 said:

I don't get why people act like firing a coach mid-season was some iron clad rule the McCaskeys had and Poles and Warren had to move heaven and Earth to make it happen.  I would assume a vast majority of coaches are fired after a season.  The Bears probably preferred to not fire a coach in the middle of a season, but there is no evidence that ownership was completely against it either.

Not picking on you, its just something I've seen written about so much and I don't recall there ever being actual reporting that the McCaskeys are against firing coaches midseason.

Well, if this is true, I've got no hope.  Just resolve myself to the fact the Bears are stuck in permanent hibernation and nothing will change until the ownership changes.  Flores or Vabrel, meathead defense, defense, control the clock, middling 8-9, 9-8, 10-7 here we come.

[BigSlick]

Unless they do something insane again and hire a Canadian football league guy whose brain is melting out of his ears, I’ll be back and optimistic for 2025. Because what else can I do? I’m a Bears fan. 

[Brian707]

10 hours ago, UMFan83 said:

  The Bears probably preferred to not fire a coach in the middle of a season, but there is no evidence that ownership was completely against it either.

 

Disagree here, Eberflus was holding a press conference talking about the next game in San Fransico while Poles/Warren were trying to convince Ginny and George it was time for him to go.

Why else would they let him do the press conference and fire him two hours later?

[NorthsideAvenger]

53 minutes ago, BigSlick said:

Unless they do something insane again and hire a Canadian football league guy whose brain is melting out of his ears, I’ll be back and optimistic for 2025. Because what else can I do? I’m a Bears fan. 

Not me. They will have to show it on the field before I get optimistic about the Bears.

[UMFan83]

32 minutes ago, Brian707 said:

Disagree here, Eberflus was holding a press conference talking about the next game in San Fransico while Poles/Warren were trying to convince Ginny and George it was time for him to go.

Why else would they let him do the press conference and fire him two hours later?

Fair point.  But you can also chalk that up to standard Chicago Bears organizational incompetence. I’m sure any GM has to get ownership approval to fire a coach in the middle of their contract. Some franchises that empower their football operation departments might just meet to get the rubber stamp, and others need to explain the justification. 

All I’m saying is no one has ever reported (that I’m aware of) that the McCaskeys had a stated rule to not fire a coach midseason. I can’t remember this ever even being mentioned as a thing prior to Trestman.  When he wasn’t fired midseason despite the team completely falling apart and largely tuning him out, it was assumed this meant the Bears won’t fire a coach midseason. 

Anyways, semantics I guess. 

[UMFan83]

This is what is being discussed on Jacksonville radio. I’m assuming they are just about reliable as reports from guys that appear on Chicago radio:

 

[SpongeWorthy]

5 hours ago, BigbadB said:

I'm not so sure you can claim this so easily. First off, Eberflus had not been fired. He most likely should have been, but Harbaugh was coming off a season where he'd been suspended twice and the Bears already had a coach. Harbaugh wanted out of his situation and may have been uttering he'd go just about anywhere to get out of Michigan, but do we know that Chicago had no interest in him entirely? Maybe Harbaugh said he might interview, but maybe that wasn't enough for the Bears to fire their coach and all of a sudden be in a coaching search if Harbaugh still chose the Chargers.

All I remember him saying is that he wanted to be in California and working with Herbert. His ties to California crush his ties to Chicago. Chargers player, University of San Diego HC, Stanford HC, '9ers HC. His kids probably all grew up/live in California.

being unwilling or unable to sell the charter franchise of the NFL against the LA Chargers who don't even have any fans is a skill issue all on its own

[Wilson A2000]

So Bears!

[minnesotacubsfan]

all this speculation is stupid. Lets just get old scHool; horsefeathers THE PACKERS

 

go like hell caleb

 

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Fun fact:

Williams leads the league in sacks graded as QB fault 

He also leads the league in sacks graded as not QB fault 

He also leads the league in sacks escaped in the backfield