The weekend slate of NFL playoff games was more than just riveting television for Chicago Bears fans.
Five coordinators under consideration for the Bears head coaching job coached in the games. One executive in the running to be the Bears general manager saw his team advance to the AFC championship game. And one longtime thorn in the Bears’ side ruminated about what’s next after his loss.
As the Bears enter Week 3 of their GM and coach searches, here’s what mattered from the games Saturday and Sunday.
1. The teams of five coordinators who have interviewed with the Bears all lost.
Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll and defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier, Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich and defensive coordinator Todd Bowles and Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett were five of the 10 coaches the Bears interviewed the last two weeks.
With those coaches no longer immersed in preparation for another game after losses Saturday and Sunday, they have been freed up to interview — and be hired — as soon as they’re wanted.
The New York Giants wasted no time in securing a second interview with Daboll on Tuesday, according to reports out of New York. The Giants hired Bills assistant GM Joe Schoen on Friday to be their new GM.
The Bears interviewed Daboll on Jan. 16.
News of Daboll’s Giants interview broke about 12 hours after the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Bills 42-36 in overtime in an incredible offensive performance for both sides that included three touchdowns and a field goal in the final two minutes of regulation.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen threw for 329 yards and four touchdowns and ran for 68 yards. But the Chiefs behind Patrick Mahomes emerged with the victory when they won the coin flip and scored a touchdown on the only drive of overtime — keeping the ball out of Allen’s hands.
One game is unlikely to make a hiring decision, but here’s how the other four Bears candidates fared in the weekend games.
•Frazier, who interviewed with the Bears on Friday, is coming off a less-than-triumphant performance in the Bills’ loss.
Mahomes threw for 378 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 69 yards and a touchdown. With 13 seconds to play in regulation after taking the lead, the Bills allowed the Chiefs to get into field-goal range, and Harrison Butker made a 49-yard field goal to push the game to overtime. The Chiefs went on an eight-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to win it.
Frazier also has interviewed with the Miami Dolphins.
—Hackett, who interviewed with the Bears on Jan. 15, was another whose unit didn’t put up its best performance in a 13-10 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers threw for 225 yards and no touchdowns and was sacked five times, and Green Bay rushed for just 67 yards against one of the NFL’s better defenses.
Hackett also has interviewed with the Denver Broncos, Jacksonville Jaguars and Minnesota Vikings.
—Bowles, who interviewed with the Bears on Saturday, faces his own late-game questions from the Los Angeles Rams’ 30-27 victory. The Bucs tied the game with 42 seconds left but allowed the Rams to get in range for Matt Gay’s 30-yard field goal.
Bowles’ play call that resulted in Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp’s 44-yard catch to set up the winning field goal was the subject of scrutiny, including questions from former coach Tony Dungy on Twitter.
“Some guys didn’t blitz,” Bucs coach Bruce Arians said of the play. “I don’t know if we didn’t get the call. It was an all-out blitz. We should have gotten a ton of pressure.”
However, the Bucs defense did force three second-half turnovers to help fuel the comeback.
Bowles also has interviewed with the Jaguars and Vikings.
•Leftwich had a better night despite the loss after Bucs quarterback Tom Brady led a comeback from a 24-point, third-quarter deficit to tie it.
Brady threw for 329 yards and a touchdown and the Bucs scored two touchdowns in less than three minutes late in the fourth quarter.
Leftwich, who interviewed with the Bears on Thursday, is also a Jaguars candidate.
2. Aaron Rodgers’ future in Green Bay remains in question after his glum exit from Lambeau Field.
After the loss to the 49ers, Rodgers was asked multiple questions in a postgame news conference about what’s ahead for him — whether it be another season with the Packers, a request to be traded to another team or retirement.
“It’s tough to say at this point,” he said. “I don’t think it’s fair to anybody or myself to really go down those paths at this point. It’s disappointing, sad and fresh. I’ll have the conversations in the next week or so and start to contemplate after that.”
Rodgers’ decision could have a big effect on the NFC North and the Packers’ rivalry with the Bears. He is 23-5 in his career against the Bears, and the Packers have won 11 of the last 12 meetings.
Rodgers said he would talk to Packers GM Brian Gutekunst in the next week or so. The quarterback noted there are a lot of decisions to be made on other Packers players’ contracts and the team’s salary-cap situation that could affect his decision.
“I don’t want to be a part of rebuild if I’m going to keep playing,” Rodgers said. “So a lot of decisions in the next couple of months.”
Rodgers did, however, say that his relationship with Packers leadership, including Gutekunst, improved after a rocky 2021 offseason.
“That was definitely a special part of the season to see that relationship grow,” Rodgers said. “He put together a really nice team, a team that could have won the Super Bowl, and he deserves a lot of credit for some of the moves that he made. Disappointed we couldn’t put it together for him and the organization and disappointed it’s ending.”
3. As the Chiefs prepare for the AFC championship game, Ryan Poles gets set for a second Bears GM interview.
Poles, the Chiefs executive director of player personnel, has helped GM Brett Veach build the roster for a team that will host the AFC championship game for the fourth straight season. Poles has been with the Chiefs for 13 years, working his way up the scouting ranks.
He will interview for the second time with the Bears on Tuesday and then with the Vikings on Wednesday, according to NFL Network.
Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer speculated Poles could be the next executive to come off the board. He connected Poles with former Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores and said Poles also has been in contact with Bowles, Jim Caldwell and Dan Quinn for possible pairings with the Bears or Vikings.
Poles and Flores both played football at Boston College, and they overlapped there during the 2003 season, when Poles redshirted a year before he played four seasons on the offensive line. Flores, who was a linebacker at BC, interviewed with the Bears on Jan. 14.
Ran Carthon, the 49ers director of player personnel, is the other Bears GM candidate whose team made it to a conference championship game. Carthon, who interviewed with the Bears on Wednesday, has been with the 49ers for five years and also was the director of pro personnel for the Rams for five years.
