If Poles isn’t better than 9-8 in 2024, he should be fired BEFORE 2025.
If Fields stays, then I would expect a continued improvement, just as 2023 was an improvement over 2022. But a hard reset with a new offense, coaching staff on offense - and a new rookie QB1 too, may result in a transition year. We are in essence starting over on offense. People think Caleb Williams will be Stroud. That probably won't happen. I'd be thrilled if it did happen but Stroud was an exception. Let's face it. The Bears are usually not a good exception to the rules. And if Fields is not here, then 2026 becomes the new 2025. I could be wrong but that's my gut feeling. We are "starting over" on offense. Hard resets can reset the clock.
Come on, Poles himself says he’s 80% done. I give him 2024 and all of 2025 to be Super Bowl ready. That’s enough.
It is interesting to see how the outside world rates the Bears. Are they wrong, or are we delusional? Go Google “nfl power rankings 2024” for a sobering experience… The Athletic, PFF, ESPN,, or any others. Everybody has the Bears way behind the Lions and Packers. Maybe they are just projecting 2023 standings into 2024.
Surely, having #1 and #9 is going to get us into 10-12 wins, assuming we can split with the Lions and Packers. I think 2024 comes down to how we stack up with them, and that’s TBD.
If I had to bet I would say they are correct. National media over the last several years tells us the Bears are not very good and we think we no better until the end of season and we're in shock they were right again.
+1 Sad but true. I go into these seasons sky-high with hopes. By about November each year (sooner in REALLY bad years) I am in the "depths of despair" ... mighty tough to be a Bears fan.
If Fields stays, then I would expect a continued improvement, just as 2023 was an improvement over 2022. But a hard reset with a new offense, coaching staff on offense - and a new rookie QB1 too, may result in a transition year. We are in essence starting over on offense. People think Caleb Williams will be Stroud. That probably won't happen. I'd be thrilled if it did happen but Stroud was an exception. Let's face it. The Bears are usually not a good exception to the rules. And if Fields is not here, then 2026 becomes the new 2025. I could be wrong but that's my gut feeling. We are "starting over" on offense. Hard resets can reset the clock.
Come on, Poles himself says he’s 80% done. I give him 2024 and all of 2025 to be Super Bowl ready. That’s enough.
But the fact remains the offense was reset. Starting over. New coaches. New players. New schemes. New franchise QB coming. Hard reset. Back to square one. Whether we like it or not.
EDIT: But we can very well be a better team this year. I do expect that. I'm just not saying we will be a great team this first year. Better but not "there" yet. And maybe 2025 the team is that good. It is certainly possible.
Come on, Poles himself says he’s 80% done. I give him 2024 and all of 2025 to be Super Bowl ready. That’s enough.
But the fact remains the offense was reset. Starting over. New coaches. New players. New schemes. New franchise QB coming. Hard reset. Back to square one. Whether we like it or not.
This is not square 1. We add a center, a WR, and a QB if he drafts Williams. That’s it. I am giving Williams two seasons. If he truly is Mahomes 2.0, that’s enough. Mahomes threw for 5,000 yards his second year. Purdy got to Super Bowl in two years.
But the fact remains the offense was reset. Starting over. New coaches. New players. New schemes. New franchise QB coming. Hard reset. Back to square one. Whether we like it or not.
This is not square 1. We add a center, a WR, and a QB if he drafts Williams. That’s it. I am giving Williams two seasons. If he truly is Mahomes 2.0, that’s enough. Mahomes threw for 5,000 yards his second year. Purdy got to Super Bowl in two years.
But it is... the offense was reset. Starting over with a new O coaching staff. New players including the main O player, the franchise QB. New schemes. It's a "big deal" to do that. There is no comparison with the Mahomes situation. Mahomes had arguably the most perfect intro to the NFL that a QB could possibly have. Great franchise and a Hall of Fame tutor who took him under his wing day-1, and let him carry a clipboard and ease into that great team situation with Hall of Fame talent. LOL, then there is the Bears team... decades of fail and new players for the new QB.
But on the positive side it is like one step back and two steps forward. Ultimately, if the Bears get all of this right with the new coaches and players and QB1 - then there will be a net gain. But it may not be as seamless as we hope. Could be. But don't bank on that as a given.
This is not square 1. We add a center, a WR, and a QB if he drafts Williams. That’s it. I am giving Williams two seasons. If he truly is Mahomes 2.0, that’s enough. Mahomes threw for 5,000 yards his second year. Purdy got to Super Bowl in two years.
But it is... the offense was reset. Starting over with a new O coaching staff. New players including the main O player, the franchise QB. New schemes. It's a "big deal" to do that. There is no comparison with the Mahomes situation. Mahomes had arguably the most perfect intro to the NFL that a QB could possibly have. Great franchise and a Hall of Fame tutor who took him under his wing day-1, and let him carry a clipboard and ease into that great team situation with Hall of Fame talent. LOL, then there is the Bears team... decades of fail and new players for the new QB.
But on the positive side it is like one step back and two steps forward. Ultimately, if the Bears get all of this right with the new coaches and players and QB1 - then there will be a net gain. But it may not be as seamless as we hope. Could be. But don't bank on that as a given.
A new offensive coordinator following Getsy should be expected to accelerate progress, not reset to square 1. Yeah, it’s different than Getsy, but if Poles is drafting smart players, they should be able to figure things out in two years, so I’m not allowing that excuse either.
Joe Burrow threw 4,600 yards his second year, too. Williams should be in the motm 4K club by year two if he’s the real deal.
But it is... the offense was reset. Starting over with a new O coaching staff. New players including the main O player, the franchise QB. New schemes. It's a "big deal" to do that. There is no comparison with the Mahomes situation. Mahomes had arguably the most perfect intro to the NFL that a QB could possibly have. Great franchise and a Hall of Fame tutor who took him under his wing day-1, and let him carry a clipboard and ease into that great team situation with Hall of Fame talent. LOL, then there is the Bears team... decades of fail and new players for the new QB.
But on the positive side it is like one step back and two steps forward. Ultimately, if the Bears get all of this right with the new coaches and players and QB1 - then there will be a net gain. But it may not be as seamless as we hope. Could be. But don't bank on that as a given.
A new offensive coordinator following Getsy should be expected to accelerate progress, not reset to square 1. Yeah, it’s different than Getsy, but if Poles is drafting smart players, they should be able to figure things out in two years, so I’m not allowing that excuse either.
Joe Burrow threw 4,600 yards his second year, too. Williams should be in the motm 4K club by year two if he’s the real deal.
Yeah, we can "expect" anything we want. But the goalposts have been moved here. 2026 is the new 2025 whether we like that or not. There probably won't be a Bears SB ready team in 2025. That is probably not happening.
A new offensive coordinator following Getsy should be expected to accelerate progress, not reset to square 1. Yeah, it’s different than Getsy, but if Poles is drafting smart players, they should be able to figure things out in two years, so I’m not allowing that excuse either.
Joe Burrow threw 4,600 yards his second year, too. Williams should be in the motm 4K club by year two if he’s the real deal.
Yeah, we can "expect" anything we want. But the goalposts have been moved here. 2026 is the new 2025 whether we like that or not. There probably won't be a Bears SB ready team in 2025. That is probably not happening.
2025 is the key year for financial reasons, too. Moore is going free agent. And if the plan is to keep Fields, his agent will try to break the bank. If it’s not there in 2025, I don’t think anything miraculous will happen in 2026. For better or worse, we going to have a good idea what we’ve got by the end of 2025.
Yeah, we can "expect" anything we want. But the goalposts have been moved here. 2026 is the new 2025 whether we like that or not. There probably won't be a Bears SB ready team in 2025. That is probably not happening.
2025 is the key year for financial reasons, too. Moore is going free agent. And if the plan is to keep Fields, his agent will try to break the bank. If it’s not there in 2025, I don’t think anything miraculous will happen in 2026. For better or worse, we going to have a good idea what we’ve got by the end of 2025.
We should have a good idea of what we've got by then. My point is that the team probably won't be SB ready in 2025. In other words no SB that 2025 season.
2025 is the key year for financial reasons, too. Moore is going free agent. And if the plan is to keep Fields, his agent will try to break the bank. If it’s not there in 2025, I don’t think anything miraculous will happen in 2026. For better or worse, we going to have a good idea what we’ve got by the end of 2025.
We should have a good idea of what we've got by then. My point is that the team probably won't be SB ready in 2025. In other words no SB that 2025 season.
And my point is that if we aren’t Super Bowl ready in 2025 — or sniffing distance close — it’s not likely in 2026, either, so I’m holding you to your own new goal post — 2026 — with no more allowances for “resets”. Agree?
