Ryan Poles, Brad Holmes and the makings of an NFC North massacre
The Chicago Bears crashed to a new low on Sunday. The problem's always been the general manager. Also inside, we riff on everything Week 2 in the NFL.
Our eyeballs are always drawn toward the quarterbacks. That’s how pro football works. So, naturally, the national conversation today will shift toward those two quarterbacks at Ford Field. Jared Goff proved again that nobody is his puppeteer — not Sean McVay, not Ben Johnson — with a 23-of-28, 334-yard, five-touchdown masterpiece.
Caleb Williams was average. At best. Not optimal from a No. 1 overall pick.
The real story in the Detroit Lions’ 52-21 demolition of the Chicago Bears, however, mirrors the real story within our “House of Dysfunction” series. This is about Ryan Poles. Since declaring that these Bears would #TakeTheNorth and never give it back, the team’s general manager is 3-17 against NFC North foes.
Poles, described as a “Media GM” by those who’ve worked for him, has infested the organization in a multitude of ways. There’s the childish fixation with what’s being tweeted, the callous manner in which he fires people and, of course, that “rigged” draft process of 2024. All is chronicled in Part II and Part III. Central to the worst roster management the league’s seen since Matt Millen two decades prior are vile personnel decisions. In a vacuum, one error is forgivable. Even two. Or three. But make the wrong choice…. repeatedly… and the result is what you saw inside Ford Field.
Butchery.
How Poles handled the most precious asset in sports — a No. 1 overall pick in a QB-rich draft — was a disturbing hint at how most decisions get made by the boss inside Halas Hall. At best, as one scout suggests, he’s traits-obsessed. He gravitates toward 40 times and broad jumps and projection more than production. At worst, as another believes, he’s never been a pure scout grading off a blank slate. Poles fast-tracked into a coordinator role, then a director role, then became a GM with “the answers to the test.”
Sunday was a damning testimony. Poles’ players appeared to outright quit.
Go Long aims to take you places others will not. Miss “House of Dysfunction?” Our three-part series begins here.
Detroit gained 8.8 yards per play, the most in franchise history. Detroit was also a mere three points shy of tying a team record for most points in a game, while Chicago was three points shy of tying its most allowed. Offensively, the Bears weren’t much better. After a promising first drive, Williams (again) mostly stalled out. Chicago turned it over on downs each half, surrendered four sacks and Williams threw for only 207 yards with an ugly interception.
Squint and you’ll see a jarring difference in the construction of these two teams.
Brad Holmes took over as a GM in 2021. Poles, in 2022. Yet on Sunday, Holmes’ Lions appeared to be operating within their own space-time continuum.
Whereas the Bears were built by a GM who’d openly admit to scouts “If I don’t take (Williams), the media will kill me,” the Lions do it different.