Ben Johnson was hired to make a quarterback out of Caleb Williams. But he’s also making a general manager out of Ryan Poles.
Before Johnson was hired, Poles had more misses than hits. He traded for the eventual No. 1 overall pick (Caleb Williams) and wide receiver DJ Moore, drafted offensive tackle Darnell Wright and traded for defensive end Montez Sweat, but he also hired coach Matt Eberflus, signed guard Nate Davis in free agency, drafted wide receiver Velus Jones and offensive lineman Kiran Amegadjie in the third round, traded a second-round pick (No. 32 overall) for wide receiver Chase Claypool, signed off on offensive coordinator Shane Waldron and stuck with Eberflus after two losing seasons when he could’ve pursued Jim Harbaugh — or Johnson — with a quarterback about to be picked No. 1 overall.
Since Johnson was hired, Poles has had a much more efficient touch. He aggressively upgraded the offensive line by trading for left guard Joe Thuney and right guard Jonah Jackson, signing center Drew Dalman and drafting offensive tackle Ozzy Trapilo in the second round. That’s a huge improvement from his offensive-line rebuild for Eberflus — Davis, Wright, Lucas Patrick, Coleman Shelton, Braxton Jones, Riley Reiff and Michael Schofield at the top of that list.
Let’s put it this way: Before Johnson was hired, Poles traded a fifth-round pick (No. 144) for Ryan Bates. After Johnson was hired, he traded a fourth-round pick (currently No. 131) for Thuney and a sixth-round pick for Jackson.
With the hiring of Johnson and the upgrading of the offensive line, the Bears have a running attack that maximizes any back in it a la the Kyle Shanahan 49ers (Raheem Mostert, Elijah Mitchell, Matt Breida) and the Sean McVay Rams (Kyren Williams, Cam Akers). Before Johnson was hired, Poles signed D’Andre Swift to a three-year, $24.5 million contract. After Johnson was hired, he drafted Kyle Monangai in the seventh round. In the Bears’ last seven games, their production is virtually identical. Swift is averaging 79.8 yards per game and 5.3 per carry with three touchdowns; Monangai is averaging 72.9 yards per game and 5.2 yards per carry with five touchdowns.
Poles gets due credit for hiring Johnson, but like the drafting of Williams, that’s like putting “O” in the center of a tic-tac-toe game — a move anyone would make. And it was the historic disaster of the Eberflus demise — the first in-season firings of an offensive coordinator and head coach in franchise history — that created the urgency for the Bears to break the bank and get the best candidate available.
Still, Poles turned a bad situation into a good one and is on a roll. He has a productive draft class with tight end Colston Loveland, wide receiver Luther Burden III, Monangai and even Trapilo, who started the last two games after failing to win the left-tackle job in training camp.
Sometimes, all a GM like Poles needs is the wind at his back. Jason Licht was 34-62 in his first six seasons as the Buccaneers’ GM — a worse record than Ryan Pace’s with the Bears. But in 2019, he hired Bruce Arians — a connection he developed only after losing the Bears’ GM job to Phil Emery in 2012 — and that played a part in signing Tom Brady in 2020. The Buccaneers won a Super Bowl and two division titles. Even since Arians and Brady left, Licht and the Bucs (7-5) are in line for their third consecutive winning season and playoff berth with Baker Mayfield at quarterback.
Poles suddenly has the potential for that kind of success. If he ever hoists the Lombardi Trophy, he’ll have Johnson to thank, with a nod to Lovie Smith.
2. As “statement” games go, the Bears’ 24-15 upset of the Eagles could end up ranking with the best statement games of the Mike Ditka era as a harbinger of success: the 23-19 upset of Washington in the NFC playoffs in 1984, the 26-10 victory over the defending Super Bowl champion 49ers — “We remembered to pack our offense this time” — and the 44-0 demolition of the Cowboys to go 12-0.
The Bears have had statement games since then, but none that led to sustained success. With a potential elite quarterback in Williams, an offensive line that helped produce 281 rushing yards against Philadelphia and Johnson running the show, the Bears have more potential for a run of success not seen since the Ditka era. The Bears haven’t had more than two consecutive winning seasons since 1984-88.
3. The Bears’ 281 rushing yards not only were 109 more than the most the Eagles have allowed in one game in Vic Fangio’s two seasons as defensive coordinator, but the second-most allowed by a Fangio defense in his 25 seasons as an NFL coordinator/head coach. Only in 2005 did a Fangio defense allow more: The Seahawks rushed for 320 yards against the fourth-year Texans, who ranked last in the NFL in run defense.
4. Several Bears are playing with hungry hearts. The upset of the Eagles assured the Bears (9-3) of their first winning season since 2018 (12-4). In fact, this will be the first winning season for six veterans who have played five seasons or more in the NFL: Moore (eight), defensive tackle Andrew Billings (eight), Sweat (seven), tight end Cole Kmet (six), cornerback Jaylon Johnson (six) and Dalman (five).
5. On the other hand, newcomer C.J. Gardner-Johnson will be on a winning team for the seventh time in his seven NFL seasons — the Saints in 2019 (13-3), 2020 (12-4) and 2021 (9-8), the Eagles in 2022 (14-3), the Lions in 2023 (12-5) and the Eagles in 2024 (14-3).
And Gardner-Johnson started this season with the Texans, who are 7-5 after an 0-3 start. Gardner-Johnson is 73-22 (.768) in NFL games he has played in, including 9-4 in the playoffs.
6. After the Bears rushed for all those yards against an Eagles run defense anchored by Jalen Carter, it’s fair to put Wright in the win column for Poles, who passed on Carter at No. 9 to take Wright at No. 10 (trading down one spot with the Eagles) in the 2023 draft.
Carter was an All-Pro last season, and the Eagles won the Super Bowl, but he’s not Aaron Donald, which is the level he’d have to be at to make the Wright choice a mistake. On the contrary, Wright is likely to make the Pro Bowl this season and looks like he’ll be at that level for a while.
7. If the victory against the Eagles was a statement game, then the matchup against the Packers on Sunday is an even bigger test of the Bears’ playoff mettle — back-to-back road games against playoff-caliber opponents.
The Bears haven’t won back-to-back games against eventual playoff teams since 2006, when they beat the Giants 38-20 and the Jets 10-0 on consecutive Sundays at the Meadowlands on their way to the Super Bowl.
8. Quick Hits: The Bears lead the NFL with 54 rushes of 10 or more yards (Swift 24, Monangai 12, Williams 12). The Ravens are second with 48. . . . The Bears’ strength of victory improved to .330 (37-71-1) with the win over the 8-4 Eagles, but that’s still 14th among 17 teams with winning records. . . . The top seeds in the NFC and AFC have played the weakest strength of schedule in the NFL — the Bears (.376, 54-90-1) and the 11-2 Patriots (.342, 54-104).
9. Josh McCown Ex-Bear of the Week: Panthers right guard Jake Curhan started for Chandler Zavala and helped pave the way for 164 rushing yards in Carolina’s 31-28 upset of the Rams.
10. Bear-ometer — 13-4: at Packers (W); vs. Browns (W); vs. Packers (W); at 49ers (L); vs. Lions (W).