Chicago Bears lose 10th straight, earn top pick in draft

The Chicago Bears finish the 2022 season with their tenth loss in a row. However, with the Houston Texans winning, Chicago earned the top pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.

Well, after 18 weeks the Chicago Bears ended their 2022 season. They fell to the Minnesota Vikings 29-13. The loss was Chicago’s tenth straight loss in the season and their ninth straight loss in the NFC North.

There was some good news, though. With the Houston Texans coming from behind late in the game and beating the Indianapolis Colts, the Bears earned the top overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.

With a number of quarterbacks available and a number of quarterback-needy teams, general manager Ryan Poles could trade down and amass a nice haul of draft picks. Add that to the highest amount of salary cap space in the league, and the rebuild could be quicker than we thought. They might not be Super Bowl contenders next season, but they could be the 2023 version of the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The Jaguars had the most salary cap space last season and seven draft picks. The Bears enter the next league year with more than $125 million in salary cap space and eight draft picks.

The Bears did battle throughout the game. That was something that was lacking in last week’s loss against the Detroit Lions. The defense forced two turnovers. That gave them eight in the last four games. That was encouraging since each of those four teams had offenses ranked in the top ten.

The Bears did not do much on offense, but they had a number of players missing. Justin Fields did not start the game so Nathan Peterman and Tim Boyle both played in his absence. Wide receiver Velus Jones and tight end Cole Kmet both had good games, however. Jones had a great 42-yard reverse run for a touchdown. He did a great job of staying in bounds then put on the afterburners to run away for the score.

Kmet led receivers with four catches for 57 yards and a nice touchdown. As he was coming down near the end zone he made a nice quick stretch before going down and getting the ball into the end zone.

Kmet finishes the season with 544 receiving yards, the most on the team. Darnell Mooney had 493 yards but he hasn’t played since Week 12. Kmet also had 7 touchdowns, also the most for receivers. He only had two career touchdown catches in his career and none of them last season. He is starting to blossom and his arrow is pointing up.

Now it’s Ryan Poles’ season: Chicago Bears 2023 offseason

Now the players’ job of winning games is over. They were only able to muster three wins but this was a roster devoid of talent. It is now general manager Ryan Poles and his front office’s job to overhaul the roster.

Poles did a magnificent job of being disciplined with his approach. In the past, we’ve seen multiple Chicago Bears general managers make big news by signing some big names. However, they did not do much in building the whole team. While they’ve had some great players, the rosters weren’t good enough to be real contenders.

Poles wants to change that and build a roster that contends year in and year out.

In order to do that, Poles had to completely tear down the roster and avoid signing any players with big contracts. He took a lot of heat for that, but it appears as if that approach is working. Now Poles has the tools to hit free agency with the biggest wallet in the league and eight picks, including the top overall pick.

In this year’s draft, Poles turned five picks (and no first-round picks) into 11. He did that while still keeping his two second-round picks. Now he can trade down from the top pick, acquire a number of other draft picks, and still have a first-round pick.

Throughout the entire game, Chicago Bears fans were paying attention to the Texans game. The Bears offered little opposition to the Vikings. The game was pretty much over in the middle of the second quarter. The only question was what would happen with Houston. The Texans led most of the game but then the Colts came back and took the lead in the fourth quarter. The Texans were able to come back, though, and scored a touchdown with 50 seconds left. they went for a two-point conversion and made it for the win.

Let’s see what Poles and company do this offseason. The new league year begins on March 15th and the draft is from April 27-29. Hopefully, Poles gives the fans some hope for a much better season in 2023.