Bears are defined by a losing culture and backward logic. Is change anywhere in sight?

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Halas Hall might as well be its own plane of reality. “When we say long-term, you know,” Bears president Kevin Warren said, “a year is a lifetime.” He was speaking about embattled general manager Ryan Poles’ contract, but maybe that’s also why every Bears season seems so interminable. “When we say ‘long term’, a year is a lifetime.” pic.twitter.com/eSeslgD4I0 — Marquee Bears January 7, 2025 If you learn to think like the Bears do, you won’t be so frustrated every time the Bears front office and ownership talks. “I think his greatest attribute is he’s willing, as he just did in the press conference, to raise his hand and say here’s some things where he fell short,” Warren said. Warren said plenty of other nice things about Poles — though it’s a bit infantilizing to describe your GM as “young” and “curious” — but complimenting him on accepting failure is fitting for a franchise that had a worse winning percentage in the calendar year of 2024 than the Chicago White Sox, who just set a modern major-league record for losing.