NEWSLETTER
The Chicago Bears will visit the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, which will be an excellent opportunity to ride the momentum of Thomas Brown taking over for Matt Eberflus and San Francisco’s injuries to their first victory in quite some time.
Chicago Bears Keys to Victory Against the San Francisco 49ers
Thomas Brown’s first test will be calling plays from the sideline.
During his three weeks as the Bears offensive coordinator, Thomas Brown was up in the press box calling plays. Calling plays on the sideline presents a different environment and viewpoint, and while it may not seem like a significant change, there’s a reason play-callers prefer to be in the box. Not only will Brown be calling plays from the sideline, but he’ll now be doing so while managing the game operation, timeouts, and challenges.
MORE: Thomas Brown Sends a Refreshing Message to His Team
The good news is, it’ll be hard to be worse than Matt Eberflus at any of those things. Still, a nice showing on Sunday will help answer one of the questions surrounding the decision to elevate Brown to the interim position this week.
Run the football!
The Bears offense has been vastly improved since Thomas Brown took over play-calling duties, but much of their success has come through the air. In Week 14 against Detroit, the Bears had 78 rushing yards, with Caleb Williams and D’Andre Swift each logging 39 yards on the ground. Swift picked up his yardage on 11 carries, which breaks down to 3.5 yards per attempt.
In Week 13 against the Minnesota Vikings, Chicago racked up 78 yards on 22 attempts (3.5 yards per attempt), 33 of which belonged to Williams, who led the team in rushing. Swift picked up 30 yards on 13 attempts (2.3 Y/A), and Roschon Johnson picked up two yards on two carries (one of which was a touchdown from the goal line).
In Brown’s first game as the play-caller, Chicago had a much more balanced rushing attack, picking up 179 yards and two touchdowns on 34 attempts (5.3). Swift averaged 5.1 yards per attempt while picking up 71 yards and a touchdown on 14 attempts and Johnson was used in a more significant role, receiving ten carries, which he turned into 33 yards and a touchdown in short-yardage and goal-line looks.
WEEK 14 INJURY REPORT: Two Bears Running Backs Did Not Practice
Johnson suffered a concussion against Detroit and was a non-participant on Wednesday, so his status for this week is up in the air. Still, San Francisco’s defense has been vulnerable against the run, ranking 26th this season in EPA per rush attempt.
Attack San Francisco’s weaknesses and get things going on the ground.
Hit the reset button on the defensive side of the ball.
The Bears defense hasn’t looked the same in recent weeks, and much of that can probably be attributed to the morale in the locker room and the disconnect between the players and their former play-caller Matt Eberflus.
It’s well documented that Jaylon Johnson exploded on his former head coach and defensive play-caller Matt Eberflus last week after the loss to the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving, Tyrique Stevenson has been a different player since the Washington Fail Mary and Jaquan Brisker has eluded to his dislike or distrust for Eberflus through a bevy of pointed posts on X in recent weeks.
With Eberflus gone, there are no more excuses for this unit. It’s time to put up or shut up, and they get to hit the reset button against a banged-up San Francisco 49ers unit that will be without Christian McCaffrey and Jordan Mason. Brock Purdy has also been nursing a shoulder injury in recent weeks. He will likely play on Sunday, but the injury affected him in his return against the Bills, where he completed 11 of 18 passes for 94 yards and zero touchdowns.
