Few things are more maddening to the Bears than losing to the Packers, and there’s been plenty of fuel for that fury.
As the Bears head to Lambeau Field on Sunday for the final game of the season, they’ve lost 11 in a row to the Packers, and in George McCaskey’s time as chairman, which began in 2011, they’re 3-24 in the rivalry.
Everyone they hire takes aim at the Packers, most recently with general manager Ryan Poles declaring his intent to “take the [NFC] North and never give it back,” yet none hit the bullseye. The constant has been McCaskey, and the Bears have repeatedly built the core of their organization out of order under him.
They might be about to do it again.
After ownership, the four power players in any organization are the president, general manager, coach and quarterback. Those pieces are best assembled in that order, but the Bears have done it haphazardly.
“They make no small plans,” an executive from another team observed, “but they make all different plans.”
Meanwhile, up the road, everything makes sense. President Mark Murphy hired general manager Brian Gutekunst, who hired coach Matt LaFleur. Those two drafted Jordan Love. The Packers are 11-5 and headed back to the playoffs.
Fast-forwarding through the early years of McCaskey’s tenure, featuring Marc Trestman and Jay Cutler, the team set off a laughably dysfunctional cycle with general manager Ryan Pace drafting Mitch Trubisky in 2017 as coach John Fox cruised toward termination.
Here’s what ensued:
- Pace hired Matt Nagy in 2018, sticking the new coach with the old quarterback.
- Pace drafted Justin Fields in 2021, then he and Nagy got fired. Poles and Matt Eberflus inherited a quarterback they didn’t draft.
- McCaskey hired Kevin Warren in 2023, giving Poles a new boss and requiring Warren to trust football operations to someone he didn’t hire.
- Poles drafted Caleb Williams last year, then fired Eberflus, guaranteeing the Bears will again hire a new coach and hand him the old quarterback.
The upside this time is that Williams’ potential is so high that he’ll be a selling point.
Regardless, because of McCaskey’s disjointed approach, the Bears will proceed with a coach who didn’t pick the quarterback. And if Poles doesn’t turn it around, they could be hiring a general manager in 2026 who didn’t choose the coach or quarterback.
That’s the concern for any potential head coach.
“Here we go again,” one NFL agent said. “You always think they take one step forward, but then they take a step back again.
“If you reset, is Warren the president of operations? Is he micromanaging which free agents they sign and how the football side operates? A coach wants to know, ‘If I sign there, how do I know there won’t be a new regime next year?’”
Warren took his first year as president to evaluate the organization and came away with a glowing impression of Poles. The team has since plunged to 4-12, fired Eberflus and offensive coordinator Shane Waldron and fallen far short of expectations.
For all the rumors and speculation, every indication within Halas Hall is that Warren will stick to his word when he said last month that Poles was his guy.
“He will remain the general manager of the Chicago Bears,” Warren said. “Ryan is talented, he is bright, he is hard working, he has done everything in his power on a daily basis to bring a winner to Chicago. I am confident in Ryan.”
Does a string of ugly losses under an interim coach move him off such a strong statement? Probably not.
But if things don’t improve dramatically and quickly?
“We’re going to be having the same conversation,” the agent said.
It keeps coming up, and as soon as McCaskey gets the core of the organization aligned, then he can have a conversation about beating the Packers.
