I hate that we’re already at this point with so much football left to play, but I think it’s it’s more than fair to ask if Sunday’s game has placed Matt Eberflus on the hot seat.
Now, I’ll preface everything in this post by saying that I would be STUNNED if the Bears made a coaching change in-season. The franchise has never done it. And to be fair, Eberflus has not done a bad enough job to warrant parting ways and going with an interim for the rest of the season.
What has happened, however, is another example of a disturbing trend with Eberflus’ Bears teams – shying away in a big moment against a team as good or better than you.
Think back to the end of the 2023 season. Matt Eberflus and the Chicago Bears had a chance to go into Lambeau Field with a ton of momentum and end the Green Bay Packers playoff hopes with a Week 18 win. It was a chance to prove something and end the season on a high note. But instead, they came out flat, unorganized, and uninspired offensively.
Does that type of game sound familiar to anyone?
How about Week 1 last year? Were the Bears expected to be a playoff team? Mostly not. But it was a much-improved roster with the potential to be a “dark horse” team in the NFC North. What did they do? They no-showed for most of the first half and were embarrassed on their home field by their biggest rival.
This year’s Sunday Night Football game at Houston is another example. The Texans are a good team, but they’ve shown that they’re beatable. Sure, the offensive line played horribly in Week 2. But the game plan did no favors to their rookie quarterback or their struggling offensive line. Count it as another example of Eberflus’ team being unprepared when the lights get brighter and his team has expectations.
Sunday was another failed chance to get Coach Flus’ “prove It” year off and running.
Heading into the matchup against Washington, the Bears and Commanders matchup was the talk of the NFL. The first two picks in the draft, both having very good seasons, and two up-and-coming teams competing for playoff positioning. It was being billed as the beginning of what could be a long-lasting rivalry in the NFC between two quarterbacks. Chicago was coming off three straight wins, granted against struggling opponents while Washington boasted a 5-2 record and just embarrassed the Carolina Panthers at home.
Despite having an extra week to get ready coming off a bye, the Bears looked unprepared. Chicago started slow, committed several pre-snap penalties, and looked unorganized offensively through the first three quarters of the game. Obviously, we all know what went down in the fourth quarter. Rookie quarterback Caleb Williams put his Superman cape on and led the Bears to a late lead only for coaching miscues and lapses in judgment to end up costing the Bears the game – and potentially a playoff spot – on a last-second Hail Mary.
Bad coaching decisions happen, I get it. A boneheaded decision in a vacuum isn’t why Sunday was a tipping point. However, when the players only start to take notice and openly question some of the coaching, that’s when I think we have a tipping point.
Jaylon Johnson on his weekly hit on 670 The Score said he wished the Bears took a timeout in the final sequence and called the situation “rushed.” Kevin Byard said he would liked to cover the play before the Hail Mary differently. Cole Kmet essentially said that practice needs to be taken more seriously and “respected” more.
For me, the tipping point isn’t necessarily the loss (though that was inexcusable), it’s not only players on the team but THREE CAPTAINS openly questioning the coaching is eye-opening.
This is Matt Eberflus’ “prove it” season
Before the season, I wrote a reaction post to ESPN ranking the Bears coaching staff 25th overall in the NFL. I understood the ranking because Matt Eberflus hadn’t proved much yet as a head coach. There was certainly potential there, but after two years of re-tooling the roster, he finally had a group that would allow him to show off his coaching ability. And now, as we enter Week 9 of the 2024 NFL season, there are already whispers connecting the Bears to coaches who might have eyes on this job.
MORE: Is Ben Johnson the Answer to the Bears Coaching Question?
Matt Eberflus is a good defensive coordinator. Check out these rankings from The Athletic’s Kevin Fishbain:
Unfortunately, I think we’ve seen, more often than not, that Eberflus is more suited for that role than as a head coach. He still has plenty of time this season to right the ship and I would be stunned if he wasn’t granted the entirety of it.
Starting Nov. 17, the Bears play six of their last eight games against NFC North opponents. The two other games are against NFC playoff contenders โ the 49ers (in San Francisco) and the Seattle Seahawks (at home, the day after Christmas). That stretch of games will likely ultimately decide Coach Flus’ fate.
So is he on the hot seat right now? Probably not. At least, not for his immediate future. But after losing a few winnable games and sitting at 4-3, as opposed to a potentially 6-1 record, the Bears head coach has likely left his fate up to the final two months of this season. If he can run that gauntlet and come out on the other side proving his team can hang in the best division in football, maybe that narrative changes.
But if the trend of falling flat in big moments with high expectations continues, Bears General Manager Ryan Poles might be looking elsewhere this offseason.