NEWSLETTER
How did you enjoy your Bears-less Sunday?
- Things you might’ve missed while you were putting away the rest of your Thanksgiving leftovers:
- Matt Eberflus is no longer the Chicago Bears’ head coach (this happened on Friday after he told reporters he was confident that he’d be coaching in Week 14 against the San Francisco 49ers).
- Eberflus has since released a statement sharing his gratitude for his bosses, players, and fans in his reflection of his time in Chicago. Classy.
- Bears General Manager Ryan Poles did not meet the same fate as Eberflus and was essentially given a vote of confidence by team President Kevin Warren.
- If you were wondering what took so long, this helps explain things.
- Details from an ugly post-game locker room scene have begun emerging. It sounds like the Bears’ players were fed up with their (now former) head coach’s same old schtick.
- As for what’s next, the Bears are reportedly targeting a particular type of coach. Stay tuned.
- Heads up: The Tribune’s Brad Biggs tweets that Bears CEO Kevin Warren and General Manager Ryan Poles will speak with reporters at 11:45 a.m. CT at Halas Hall. Interim Head Coach Thomas Brown will pop in at 12:15 p.m. CT.
- Jason Lieser (Sun-Times) writes that Warren and Poles have a mess to clean up before they move on to finding an Eberflus replacement. Sometimes, being a Bears fan feels like you’re watching the same movie but with different actors.
- I strongly recommend this episode of Laurence Holmes’ “House of L” podcast featuring Leila Rahimi, who kept all sorts of receipts from the Matt Eberflus era:
- There is a bunch of good insight in that 30-minute podcast. My favorite nugget was how Leila and Laurence caught on to CBS Sports NFL analyst (and former MVP-winning QB) Matt Ryan delivering scathing Eberflus breakdowns. When I caught wind of them, my mind immediately went to “Ryan Poles’ old college buddy going off on Matt Eberflus feels awfully telling” and I’m glad I wasn’t alone in feeling that way.
- More from Matty Ice:
- Ironic: Matt Eberflus had been trying to take up the accountability train in recent weeks, but it was so clear that it was too little too late.
- Windy City Gridiron’s Jack Silverstein unearths the fact that Eberflus is the only Bears head coach to never (ever) beat the Green Bay Packers. That is not the kind of history you want to make as a head coach in Chicago.
- My favorite non-Bears play from Week 13 was Aaron Rodgers throwing a Thicc-Six against the Seahawks:
- I was surprised to see that Aaron Rodgers has a 92.0 passer rating and 12-4 touchdown-to-interception ratio since Robert Saleh was fired as the New York Jets’ head coach in October. The Jets are 1-6 since the dismissal and every loss feels like a special treat. When Aaron Rodgers loses, everybody wins.
- Jayden Daniels scored four total touchdowns (3 passing, 1 rushing) in the Washington Commanders’ 42-19 win against the Tennesee Titans. Kliff Kingsbury might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but stringing together games like that as an offensive play-caller will boost his coaching stock.
- Do you remember the player who threw a punch at Bears running back Roschon Johnson in Week 2? Well, Houston Texans defender Azeez Al-Shaair had a dirty hit on Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence that knocked him out of the game and into concussion protocol. This is quite the shot from an AP photographer:
- This really takes me back:
- Tell me it’s December without telling me it is December: Kirk Cousins threw four interceptions as the Falcons fell to the Fightin’ Jim Harbaughs a.k.a. the Los Angeles Chargers.
- After throwing for 414 yards and 3 touchdowns, this is what Russell Wilson’s numbers look like since replacing Justin Fields in the starting lineup in Pittsburgh: 1,626 pass yards, 10 touchdowns, 3 interceptions, 104.3 passer rating. Pro Football Focus grades Russell Wilson as the site’s 14th-best quarterback. He has to be the front-runner for NFL Comeback Player of the Year, right?
- The San Francisco 49ers will enter their Week 14 game against the Bears after getting bludgeoned by the Buffalo Bills on Sunday Night Football. And it sounds like star running back Christian McCaffrey might have suffered a season-ending injury in the defeat.
- Michigan and Ohio State are each getting served with a $100,000 fine for the postgame fracas after the Wolverines beat the Buckeyes. Now that discipline has been handed down, we don’t have to clutch our pearls anymore — right? (Yahoo Sports)
- The Chicago Cubs are reportedly signing left-handed pitcher Matthew Boyd to a two-year deal. I can’t say I saw this one coming. Boyd gets a good number of strikeouts (27.7 K%, 10.44 K/9 in 2024) and this Cubs staff could use some swing-and-miss stuff. And yet, I can’t shake that this feels like a significant risk that this rotation is taking on by targeting Boyd. Hopefully, this isn’t their last move. (BN Cubs)
- In BN Bulls Bullets, Elias Schuster wonders if we should appreciate Billy Donovan more. Fair questions.
- Even though Connor Bedard’s scoring drought is a thing of the past, the Chicago Blackhawks took the L last night against Columbus. Tab Bamford has more on the latest loss for Chicago’s hockey team. (BN Blackhawks)
Matt Ryan says it wasn't just the timeout debacle that cost Matt Eberflus his Bears HC job — it was the lack of accountability afterward. pic.twitter.com/pSzSfN0L3A— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) December 1, 2024
LEO TAKES IT HOME. pic.twitter.com/BzcOiWAM5g
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) December 1, 2024
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