Final Bears Grades: Ryan Poles' Playoff Type Year

Two feelings GM Ryan Poles expressed at season's end properly encapsulated the 2023 Bears season.

"One was there was a little disappointed," Poles said. "I wish there were some games that we finished. I really wished we finished those games and took this thing to a higher level than where we are now, because at the end of the day our goal is to win championships and to win the division, and we came up short of that."

Not to nitpick, but they came up short of the other three teams in their own division based on two miserable losses to Green Bay and a tiebreaker with Minnesota.

The 2023 Chicago Bears were a last-place team ... again.

The three games Poles spoke about are like scars on the memories of all Bears fans.

No one quickly forgets watching a 28-7 lead with 21 seconds left in the third quarter vanish so quickly that the Bears still had an entire 6:55 of the fourth quarter to try to break a tie and win the game.

No one forgets seeing a game with Detroit so thoroughly dominated by their defense for almost 56 minutes finish with a pop-up onside free-kick attempt before a 31-26 loss.

No one forgets seeing the Bears defense pick off Joe Flacco three times before squandering a 17-7 fourth-quarter lead completely vanished in a 20-17 loss to Cleveland.

Three losses that were properly, even routinely finished would have left the Bears 10-7 and in the playoffs. The Packers could have had their two embarrassing victories over the Bears and they'd have still been sitting at home watching a Chicago wild-card game now.

"However, I also was really proud of the steps that we did take," Poles said. "If you really look back and really look at the starting point and look at where we are today, you can't tell me you don't see the difference.

"We're making strong progress. We're doing it the right way. It's built on a solid foundation. It's not a house of cards."

This is for the future to decide.

All that can be done here is give out grades for a 2023 season of extreme disappointment, great hope and now anxiety over the future.

Here's how the two big decision makers graded out, and the overall Bears grade for the year.

Bears Coach Matt Eberflus: C+

This is not to be confused with his grade as the acting defensive coordinator, which was separate. Eberflus quickly showed on the season's first drive that he had a ways to go with his in-game strategic decision-making when he went for a first down on fourth-and-1 at his own 40. With 16 games plus 56 minutes and 29 seconds left in the season it was that critical to get a first down that they had to risk giving the ball to Green Bay in their territory. Of course they got stuffed, and of course Green Bay scored and of course they never recovered.

Eberlfus made some other early strategic snafus, like three weeks later with a tie game after the blown lead against Denver and 2:57 remaining, when he decided against the 35-yard Cairo Santos go-ahead field goal and risked a fourth-and-1 run by Khalil Herbert that ended in no gain, setting the Broncos up to drive for the winning field goal.

Gradually Eberflus got a better grasp of what he was working with on both sides of the football and made better in-game decisions.

His decision to use Justin Jones in coverage against the Browns cost them, but this was more him wearing hjis defensive coorinator hat than a head coach.

The problems with the two departed assistant coaches fall ultimately on Eberflus. He hired them. There was a lot of chest-beating and rah-rah talk about how they had circled the wagon each week. Then they went to Kansas City and lost 41-10 and to New Orleans and lost 27-17.

It would have been easy at times for Eberflus to blow a gasket over some of Justin Fields' turnovers earlier in the season and bench him but he stayed the course. He got them through the four games using a Division II, undrafted passer.

Through it all the Bears coach maintained a strong belief in what the foundation they had built.

Bears GM Ryan Poles: B+

Poles' grade started by pulling off what might have been the best trade in Bears history. Getting DJ Moore, two seconds and two firsts so that they're now in position to take whoever they want first. Imagine this Bears offense this year without Moore. They got starting cornerback Tyrique Stevenson as a result of that trade and he made more interceptions than any player selected in the 2023 NFL Draft.

Once it became apparent Poles' biggest mistake this season had been made—he did nothing to help their edge rush and bought into Eberflus' garbage about an interior rush that would make up for this, when there wasn't one of those either. So Poles acted again. He signed Yannick Ngakoue. When it was apparent this did nothing, he made the trade for Montez Sweat. Getting a pass rusher so impactful who also plays the run well for a second-round pick was quite the steal.

Imagine what the Bears defense would have been without Sweat this year. Eberflus would most likely not be the coach. They had nine sacks when they made the trade at midseason and finished with 29 sacks.

The Bears Poles drafted last year suddenly sprang to life this season, mainly Kyler Gordon and Jaquan Brisker. He signed linebacker T.J. Edwards to be the weakside replacement for Roquan Smith that they didn't really get out of Nick Morrow in 2022 and Edwards produced Pro Bowl-level numbers.

Poles made up for some of the rookie mistakes he made in his first year, like trading a second-round pick for Chase Claypool, signing injured Larry Ogunjobi before voiding the contract.

He managed to get contract extensions for Cole Kmet, Cairo Santos and Andrew Billings while continuing to work toward one for Jaylon Johnson after he'd gone through a disastrous negotiation with Roquan Smith.

They've done all of this while maintaining a strong salary cap situation for 2024.

As a result, Poles might have been the most valuable Bears asset in 2023 aside from Moore and Sweat.

The Bears might not have had a playoff season but Poles had a playoff-type season himself.

Bears 2023 Overall Grade: C+

As Poles said, they've come a long way from where they started.

The problem is they had the potential to be so much more than what they ended up being—another Bears last-place team.

At least this time it's easy to see how they've set themselves up for theTw future if they can finally get the quarterback play they need.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven