NFL Preview Week #14 CHICAGO BEARS: Ryan Poles & Ben Johnson Save Bear Fans!

“Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty… I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well.”

-Teddy Roosevelt-

Ten years before the National Football League was formed in 1920, Teddy Roosevelt gave his famous "Man in the arena" concept during his famous "Citizen in a Republic" speech he delivered in Paris, France in 1910. Little did Teddy know, one-hundred, ten years later his speech would be quite appropriate describing the path Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles took while being named NFL Executive of the Year.

Roosevelt's speech celebrated men who struggled to succeed and the importance of effort, struggle, and participation in life. Roosevelt didn't envy those who led easy lives. In fact, he pointed out those that led easy lives without challenge, didn't really live.

Teddy was years ahead of his time. This is 2025 and Bears general manager Ryan Poles is in the running to be named NFL Executive of the Year. Many say this is out of the clear blue, but those closely following Ryan Poles' strategy, saw he was onto something, but it always seemed to be a little bit short and fans were frustrated. It all came to a boil after the October 27, 2024 loss against the Washington Commanders.

Prior to the game, Bears were improving under coach Matt Eberflus, but a last second Hail Mary pass in the endzone gave the Commanders the win. The wheels fell off the Bears and they lost all but one of their remaining games.

Calls to replace Ryan Poles along with Bears ownership filled Chicago sports talk radio airwaves. Fans went nuts. How bad was it? Ever watch zombie movies such as "28 Days Later" and "World War Z" where the zombies are running around screaming and tearing everybody apart? It was the same thing, but on a radio frequency.

But Ryan Poles didn't waver. Despite the disastrous 2024 season, Poles knew he was onto something. He stayed with his plan to build the Bears into a Super Bowl contender. All he needed was a head coach........

...And Ben Johnson accepted the Chicago Bears head coaching position. There was a sense things were about to become real different with the Chicago Bears as Ryan Poles smiled. It was a smile poker players would describe as a "tell". A poker "tell" is a change in a player's behavior or demeanor that provides clues to the strength of their hand.

In the case of Ryan Poles, his smile wasn't just a smile. It beamed as Ryan Poles announced to the world he not only hired Ben Johnson, but in doing so, he held a Royal Flush.

At the time of publishing this article, the Bears face the Green Bay Packers. The Packers are favored by (6-) at Lambeau Field. There's some off-field drama with this game. Video of Bears coach Ben Johnson describing his Detroit Lions tenure saying it was "nice to beat Matt LeFleur twice a year" set off a bomb. Johnson didn't say "beat the Packers", he said "beat Matt LeFleur". In an instant, this became personal. As football rivalries and schoolyard fights go, it isn't a good idea to fire up your opponent anymore than he already is.

Matt LeFleur wants WAR. Ben Johnson wants a victory and he's an underdog road team going to a stadium filled with dedicated Packer fans. One has to ask, "Why'd Ben fire up Le Fleur?" That's a good question and reading Sun Tzu's "Art of War" may provide insight: Ben Johnson is using psychological manipulation to induce anger which can lead LeFleur to act impulsively. In other words, let leFleur make mistakes leading to a Packer loss.

What will Bear fans see? First off, DON'T BET THIS GAME! Instead, this game should be savored. If this game goes the way I believe it will, the Packers take a first half lead, then the wheels fall off as Caleb Williams leads the team from behind for the victory. For those of you not picking up on this, think of the strategy Captain Kirk used in "Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan" where Khan responded with one-dimensional thinking and made all the mistakes leading to him losing the battle to Kirk.

Speaking of battles, here's the Circa picks:

Titans (+4-) vs Browns. If you're a Titans fan, this season you've banged your forehead into your walls and spent thousands repairing drywall.

Falcons (+7) vs Seahawks. Seahawk mania starts wavering after this game.

Jaguars (+1-) vs Colts. Lucky for you, we spotted the Colts slide into oblivion last week.

Saints (+8-) vs Buccaneers. Why does this game have "upset special" written on it?

Texans (+3) vs Chiefs. What's wrong with Chiefs? Everybody says "Chiefs will come back strong in this game". WRONG! If the Chiefs were going to come back strong, they'd done it a few weeks ago. The next question: Will Andy Reid hang it up?

Last week: 4-1

Season record: 31-33-1