They finally did it. After weeks of angry Chicago Bears fans calling for it to happen (or, in my case, over a year now), they did it. According to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, the Chicago Bears fired head coach Matt Eberflus after nearly three seasons. It's the first time in Bears franchise history that they have fired a coach in the middle of the season. Chicago has named offensive coordinator Thomas Brown as interim head coach for the final five games of the regular season.
Here is a statement from General Manager Ryan Poles in the wake of the firing:
"This morning, after meeting with [chairman] George [H. McCaskey] and [President and CEO] Kevin [Warren], we informed Matt of our decision to move in a different direction with the leadership of our football team and the head-coaching position," Poles said. "I thank Matt for his hard work, professionalism and dedication to our organization. We extend our gratitude for his commitment to the Chicago Bears and wish him and his family the best moving forward."
Ian Rapoport later reported that the firing went beyond just his actions in Detroit, but also his comments at the press conference this morning, saying that the Bears did all the right things in that situation.
In his 46 career games with the Bears, Eberflus amassed a measly record of 14-32 (.304), the third-worst mark among head coaches in Bears history. Outside of his overall record, three key areas doomed Eberflus' time in Chicago: close games, road games, and clock management. During his tenure, Eberflus never recorded a road win on a Sunday road game (0-18), with his only road wins coming on Monday Night against New England in 2022, Thursday Night against Washington, and Monday Night against Minnesota last year. The Bears are 0-5 on the road this year, with four of those games coming within six points or less.
Speaking of those types of games, according to Josh Dubow of the Associated Press, of the 221 coaches that have had 20+ games decided by seven or fewer points, Matt Eberflus has the lowest win percentage out of all of them at .227 (5-17 record).
Then there's time management, oh boy the time management with this guy. Nothing proved that more than the last three weeks against Green Bay, Minnesota, and Detroit. He mishandled the clock and situation in three very winnable divisional games and cost his team those three games. After a heroic drive by Caleb Willaims to get them within field goal range against the Packers, Eberflus turned turtle and opted not to run another play after a rush by Roschon Johnson, resulting in a blocked field goal. Then, after the Bears pulled off a miraculous comeback against the Vikings, the defensive "genius," turned to soft shell coverage when all Minnesota needed was a field goal which they got. By now we have all seen his failure in the Lions game yesterday, by not calling a timeout to help his rookie quarterback and giving the Bears a chance to kick a game-tying field goal.
Some of the players are clearly in alignment with the decision, such as starting safety Jaquan Brisker (who is on IR with a concussion), who posted this on Twitter/X in the minutes after the firing was announced:
Now the Bears hand the reigns to Thomas Brown, who will get five games to audition himself as a head coach. He'll get a shot against each of the Bears' NFC North rivals again (at Minnesota in Week 15, home against Detroit in Week 16, and at Green Bay in Week 18.) while mixing in a road game this week against the San Francisco 49ers and the home finale against the NFC West-leading Seattle Seahawks in Week 17. The offense has looked better under Brown's leadership, as they have totaled a league-high 22 third-down conversions and have scored 46 second-half points, third most in the NFL, since Week 11. We'll see how Brown handles being moved from the booth down to the field to lead the team moving forward, but whether he's good or bad, this was the right move for the Bears and their future. Not only do they remove someone who they would have fired at the end of the season anyway in Eberflus, but they give themselves a chance to evaluate someone who the players, particularly your young franchise quarterback Caleb Williams, like a lot.
As the Bears sit at 4-8 and three games out of the seven seed in the NFC (which they would lose the tiebreaker to the Washington Commanders as of now), the most important goal is the development of Caleb Williams. If you can continue the upward trajectory he's had since Brown was promoted to OC, then the season will have been a massive win, despite the playoff expectations at the beginning of the year. Breathe easy Bears fans and enjoy the ride for the rest of this year, because, despite this objectively positive step forward, there is also the possibility of the Bears being the Bears and screwing this up again.
Comentários