(670 The Score) On the Bears' 12th snap of Monday night, rookie left tackle Kiran Amegadjie never had a chance trying to block Vikings outside linebacker Jonathan Greenard.
Greenard beat Amegadjie handily with a speed rush, pulled off the strip-sack-fumble of Bears quarterback Caleb Williams that seemed inevitable and gave the Vikings early control of the game. Five plays later, the Vikings scored a touchdown to take a 10-0 lead and, just like that, a promising Bears drive was turned into a double-digit deficit.
These are the little mistakes that constantly contribute to a much bigger problem for the Bears, details not to be lost in a 30-12 defeat to the Vikings at U.S. Stadium in Minneapolis.
The Bears have so many issues that zeroing in on one, admittedly, risks overlooking other relevant shortcomings. But in this Monday Night Football game in front of a national audience full of NFL peers, a rookie third-round draft pick getting overpowered by a 10-sack veteran edge rusher warrants a closer look for what it says about the Bears' ability to climb out of the hole the organization has dug for itself.
Why was Amegadjie left to block Greenard alone? Why didn't the Bears have better options? How many third-round misses is one general manager allowed?
It all represents a roster that Bears general manager Ryan Poles failed to construct completely.
That's what happens when an NFL team fires its head coach at midseason and keeps losing. It shifts the brunt of the scrutiny and pressure on the front office. In this case, that means examining how much Poles' inability to address the offensive line specifically has led to this disastrous season.
Amegadjie started, simply, because the Bears had no other choice. Starting left tackle Braxton Jones surprisingly reported concussion symptoms over the weekend, forcing Amegadjie into the lineup. The Bears could've tried Larry Borom but thought so much of Borom that he didn't see the field against the 49ers in their previous game. (Borom, incidentally, is making $3.1 million this season.) Versatile veteran Matt Pryor always was an option, but he's the starter at right guard, mostly because the player whom Poles paid handsomely to play the position – Nate Davis – was cut after a disappointing two-year stint in Chicago. (The Bears guaranteed Davis $19.25 million.) Ryan Bates, the other object of Poles' pursuit, has been out for weeks in concussion protocol and unavailable due to a shoulder injury before that. The only Bears offensive lineman worth keeping is right tackle Darnell Wright. It's a mess.
Nothing against Amegadjie, who’s an intelligent and engaging local product who enjoyed a fine career at Yale. But the Ivy League isn't the SEC or Big Ten. And frankly, it always looked like a reach for Poles to draft Amegadjie in the third round, a spot in the draft typically reserved for players likely to be counted on as rookies. In limited action – his availability was delayed due an injury suffered his senior season at Yale – Amegadjie has performed more like a late-round pick trying to make the team than a third-rounder who has progressed enough to be trusted. That's less on Amegadjie than it is on Poles, a former offensive lineman at Boston College who has oddly swung and missed badly at building a quality offensive line in Chicago.
That's on him and is the kind of football accounting that happens in the NFL when coaching tenures end.
Poles likely will keep his job. Team president Kevin Warren gave Poles a public vote of confidence two weeks ago, the kind of endorsement image-conscious executives like Warren would be loath to betray. Warren also probably realizes that a general manager as weakened and meek as Poles appeared during their last Halas Hall press conference would be less likely to challenge his authority than a new hire who would want full control of the operation.
But if Poles keeps his job, it doesn't necessarily mean that he deserves to. The offensive line remains the weakest part of the Bears team, consistently weaker than the coaching, the defensive front, the running game, the quarterback, everything. Every explanation of what’s wrong with the Bears since the last regime change starts with how bad the offensive line is. Poles assembled a solid defense that's fallen prey to attrition and misses its play-caller – the fired Matt Eberflus. Poles pulled off a coup of a trade that ultimately brought Williams, the most important piece, to the Bears. He drafted an elite punter and added some nice pieces.
None of it matters if the Bears can't run the ball or protect the passer.
With three games left, the Bears do neither well. And inserting Amegadjie before he was ready for the challenge did nothing for his future or the present.
The Bears threatened to make it a one-score game in the third quarter but had their red-zone threat thwarted by an Amegadjie holding penalty, for instance, settling for a field goal that changed the game. A false start in the fourth quarter by Amegadjie complicated another red-zone drive. An illegal man downfield penalty on Amegadjie just seemed like piling on. That was four yellow flags on No. 72, if you're counting.
All four of those penalties were on Poles as much as they were on Amegadjie. All of the Bears’ problems can be traced to a lack of depth and talent on an offensive line neglected by the general manager.
That makes bolstering the offensive line the No. 1 priority of free agency and the NFL Draft. Nothing will work at Halas Hall until that's fixed.
Offensive line inconsistency has put Caleb Williams on pace to be sacked more than 70 times and prevented the Bears from establishing any kind of identity as a power football team. Poles thought surrounding Williams with top receivers like Keenan Allen and Rome Odunze, who joined DJ Moore, mattered more than building from the ball on out. Instead of protecting Williams, Poles endangered him and thus impaired his potential. And if shoddy line play didn't stunt Williams' growth as a rookie, surely firing his offensive coordinator and head coach in-season did.
Meanwhile, the Vikings showed the Bears how wide the gap has become between teams that say they want to “take the North” and those who actually know how to do that. Coach Kevin O'Connell and his staff withstood the loss of Pro Bowl-caliber left tackle Christian Darrisaw by trading for solid veteran Cam Robinson. General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah overcame the offseason losses of Kirk Cousins and Danielle Hunter by taking a practical approach to free agency and the draft. As a result, the Vikings are the most surprising team in the NFC while the Bears easily are the most disappointing.
How much should Poles be trusted to find the right head coach this time?
It's a fair question, even if it looks like Warren's fingerprints will be all over the coaching search after he publicly backed Poles. The Bears would be wise to keep chairman George McCaskey as far away from the process as possible or find somebody outside the organization to stage an intervention. As an organization, the Bears must become more comfortable being uncomfortable with strong personalities inherent to football people. Hire an accomplished coach who isn't afraid of anything, not even working for a dysfunctional football organization that inexplicably still doesn't know football, after all these years.
Nobody asked, but former Titans coach Mike Vrabel and current Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores should be at the top of the Bears' list. That's contrary to what some league observers such as ESPN insider Adam Schefter and color analyst Troy Aikman suggested Monday when both cited an offensive-minded coach as the Bears' priority. That speculation favors Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady, whose teams combined for 90 points Sunday. Both Brady and Johnson have bright minds and future, but neither has commanded a room as a head coach before.
Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury would be an intriguing fifth name on any Bears' short list given his success in Washington this season and his past with Williams at USC. The Bears had interest in interviewing Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman before the school signed Freeman to a contract extension over the weekend, a source said. And why the Bears never called Bill Belichick before he took the North Carolina job is a question that defies logic and creates skepticism about the entire process.
The Bears are badly broken. An eighth straight defeat – the Bears' last victory came 64 days ago – merely confirmed what everyone already knew. From the first through the 53rd spot on the roster, this team lacks the talent and depth to compete in the NFL's toughest division.
Sure, you can fault the former head coach and offensive coordinator for that. You can blame the overmatched players like Amegadjie, who clearly wasn't ready for prime time. You can point to many people without being wrong.
But it all starts with the man who put the roster together, and he had the worst night of all the Bears.
David Haugh is the co-host of the Mully & Haugh Show from 5-10 a.m. weekdays on 670 The Score. Click here to listen. Follow him on X @DavidHaugh.
Listen to WBBM Newsradio now on Audacy!
Sign up and follow WBBM Newsradio
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | TikTok I Bluesky