Bears GM Ryan Poles is getting blamed for a Ben Johnson problem

The Chicago Bears certainly had a successful 2025 NFL campaign, winning 11 games, capturing the NFC North division title and then defeating the Green Bay Packers in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs.

If anything, the Bears were a bit ahead of schedule last season, and it bodes very well for 2026.

However, there is one area in which Chicago really needed to improve this spring, but it didn’t take significant steps to do so: the defense.

The Bears ranked 29th in yards allowed and 23rd in points allowed last season, which is not what you want from a Super Bowl hopeful. The problem is that Chicago didn’t really do a whole lot to make the unit any better … even though the Bears somehow have a ton of money invested into the defense.

Warren Sharp of Sharp Football recently revealed each team’s spending on defense heading into 2026, and Chicago ranked third in the league with a $177.7 million unit. General manager Ryan Poles is getting flamed for it, but this actually falls on Ben Johnson, too.

Chicago Bears coach Ben Johnson deserves blame for the defense

Johnson is an offensive-minded coach. We all know this. He was an offensive coordinator with the Detroit Lions, and his claim to fame during his debut campaign in Chicago was helping quarterback Caleb Williams show massive improvement in Year 2.

But what about the defense? Anthony Miller of Bear Goggles On explained it pretty succinctly.

“The main problem with the Bears is that there is way too much focus on offense during the draft,” Miller wrote. “Despite getting safety Dillon Thieneman in the first round, the next three picks in the second and third rounds were all on offense. The 2026 NFL Draft should have been the time for Poles and the Bears to find defensive starters to develop.”

While Poles is being criticized for Chicago going light on defense in the draft, let’s be honest: that came from Johnson.

It’s pretty clear that Johnson has a stronger influence on this Bears roster than Poles, which is why the team is built so heavily around offense. Chicago ignored signing a pass rusher in free agency even though the team collected just 35 sacks in 2025, and Johnson didn’t even seem to consider nabbing one in the draft.

The Bears are banking on Austin Booker breaking out and Dayo Odeyingbo bouncing back from his torn Achilles, but those are major asks.

We can lambast Poles all we want for improper spending, but Johnson must also shoulder some of that responsbility.

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