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CHGO Digest: Bears finish season on high note, snap skid to Packers

January 6, 2025

Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams

Good morning, friends!

For the first time since CHGO’s inception, the Chicago Bears have prevailed against the Green Bay Packers. Sure, the win cost the Bears a shot to move up in the draft rankings, but 2,212 days without a victory against your rival was a bit excessive.

Throughout the week, I struggled with whether fans would prefer a higher pick or a meaningless win, but my biggest takeaway was that there’s no such thing as a ‘meaningless win’ when it comes to the Packers.

For Bears fans, they’d heard enough of the insult stats. Dropping a spot in the draft order was worth snapping winless streaks against the NFL, against the Packers, at Lambeau Field and on the road on Sundays.

Same goes for the players in the locker room. They didn’t want to lose several games in the final minutes this year. They didn’t want 13 weeks between wins on American soil. That’s just how it played out.

“Just being able to finish it,” Cole Kmet said after the game. “Kind of getting the same situation as the last time against these guys and being able to finish it out was just really awesome.”

Montez Sweat said, “It just felt good to finally finish a game.”

Rome Odunze called the postgame scene in the visitors’ locker room “a party”.

Now, the organization embarks on the most important offseason in franchise history for a third straight year (not a typo, I just keep hearing that), but at least it comes on the heels of a nice win against their bitter rival.

Fun fact No. 1: Caleb Williams has a higher winning percentage at Lambeau Field (1.000) than Aaron Rodgers at Soldier Field (.786).

Fun fact No. 2: Both the Bears and Packers finished the season 1-5 against the rest of the NFC North.

— Patrick Norton

So, what’s next for the Bears?

108 days until the NFL Draft. ⏰️ pic.twitter.com/DIMi51lCg8
— CHGO Bears (@CHGO_Bears) January 6, 2025

It appears that Ryan Poles’ job is safe for now. *incoming side tangent* However, the Bears haven’t posted a long statement of support from ownership, so who knows? When did that become a trend? Indianapolis isn’t firing their front office and coaching staff? Thank you, Jim Irsay, for making it clear you thought about it but ultimately decided against it. We wouldn’t have been able to figure that out when, you know, you didn’t fire them.

Anyway, it would be unusual for an organization to allow him to be a lame-duck in 2025, so it’s likely the Bears general manager will receive (or has received) an extension. Is Poles deserving of it? I think that remains to be seen, but while it’s much easier to have tunnel vision on the poor decisions he’s made since being hired in 2022, there should still be some acknowledgment for the good. After all, he technically hasn’t broken his promise to “take the North and never give it back”. Chicago would have to take the NFC North for it to count.

If Poles is safe, then let’s assume he’s the point man on the head coaching search as president and CEO Kevin Warren said would be the case after the team fired Matt Eberflus earlier in the season.

That search is expected to cast a wide net with names like Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and former Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel among the stable of candidates. However, with Vrabel’s deep ties to the New England Patriots, it feels like a given that the former three-time Super Bowl champion will return to Foxborough after the Pats fired Jerod Mayo.

Poles also confirmed to ESPN 1000 during his regular Sunday hit with Jeff Joniak that interim head coach Thomas Brown would receive an interview beyond his normal season-end exit interview.

On Saturday, The Athletic’s Dianna Russini reported another name that could interest the Bears: Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver. Then, on Sunday, Jay Glazer reported that multiple teams had contacted the Minnesota Vikings about trading for head coach Kevin O’Connell.

That report prompted Carl Williams, Caleb’s father, to retweet an article about the time the Tampa Bay Buccaneers acquired Oakland Raiders head coach Jon Gruden via trade. The package? Two firsts, two seconds and $8 million. Tampa won a Super Bowl with Gruden against his former club the following season. Worth it.

🏈 HOGE: Caleb Williams earns legitimate reason to celebrate with first win over Packers