Matt Eberflus became the first Bears head coach in franchise history to get canned in-season. Considering the long list of questionable calls and demoralizing losses, the move didn’t come as a complete surprise…especially to those in the building.
[RELATED: Bears Fire Matt Eberflus]
According to Adam Jahns and Dianna Russini of The Athletic, players were especially “furious” following Chicago’s loss on Thursday. Many players questioned Eberflus’s decision to not call a timeout before the last play, with team captain Jaylon Johnson described as especially “emotional.”
“We felt as players it’s been too many instances where we fought our way back into games to lose because of bad time management and decision-making,” one player told The Athletic.
One staffer noted that the post-game locker room “was ugly” and featured “a lot of yelling.” While Eberflus tried calming down his squad with a speech, he didn’t hang around while his players continued to fume. Eberflus’s uncharacteristic exit from the locker room could have also been due to the presence of team president Kevin Warren, who notably hung around the team much longer than usual following the Thanksgiving debacle.
The locker room outburst appeared to be a long time coming. As The Athletic notes, Ebereflus’s recent attempts to take accountability for the team’s mounting losses appeared to be “insincere” and countered his differing tone from earlier in the season. While the now-former HC also tried saving face by firing offensive coordinator Shane Waldron, there were many in the locker room who believed Waldron wasn’t the right choice from the get-go.
Specifically, the offensive coordinator came in and installed a “pure progression passing system,” a concept that’s difficult for any QB. With Caleb Williams leading the way under center, some players voiced concerns that the staff wasn’t putting the rookie in a position to succeed. It went beyond the passing offense, as well; Waldron scrapped “two years of progress under offensive line coach Chris Morgan” by completely revamping the team’s running attack.
“Where they messed up was with Shane and making him the coordinator to begin with,” one player told The Athletic.
Chicago had a 4-2 record heading into the bye week, and the team’s demise was surely a collective effort. Still, Eberflus was going to be the clear scapegoat. Curiously, Eberflus met with the media hours before his firing. The Athletic notes that Morgan, chairman George McCaskey, and GM Ryan Poles were still meeting during that scheduled press conference, and the trio didn’t want to signal that “something big was happening” by cancelling Eberflus’s presser.
We’ve heard from Eberflus for the first time since the aforementioned press conference. The former HC released a statement this morning (h/t NBCChicago.com):
“I would like to thank the McCaskey family and Ryan Poles for the opportunity to be the head coach of the Chicago Bears … I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to the players for all of their effort, dedication and resilience. In every situation – practice, games and especially in the face of adversity, you stayed together and gave great effort for your team and each other … What I am most proud of was the way you carried yourself both on and off the field and represented the Bears organization with class in the community … To the fans, thank you for your support and passion. I will always have a deep appreciation for the Bears organization and the city of Chicago.”
If there’s any silver lining, there seems to be growing optimism surrounding interim head coach Thomas Brown. The team’s former passing game coordinator was promoted to OC following Waldron’s firing, and The Athletic notes that the coach’s “communication style and leadership skills earned the respect of players and staff.”
The Chargers relied on Herbert to carry the team for the first part of his career. Then they hired Harbaugh, who installed a run-first offense. All of a sudden, Herbert is playing the best football of his NFL career.
The point is that it always starts up front with the line, and if a D isn’t sure what’s going to be called, the QB will have a much better chance of success.
Harbaugh wanted to coach in Chicago too. But Bears management has no interest in strong head coaches.
Absolute BS. You don’t know anything of the sort.
Agreed, that’s a media narrative. If anything I’d doubt McCaskey’s want to pay the $10M/year Harbaugh or similar would cost. Plus Flus was George’s hire…interviewed him twice before Poles was even hired.
I agree, I don’t think either party wanted was interested. But, Harbaugh would’ve been the optimal hire, were the Bears organizationally flexible. A Succession-type documentary on their Executive level dysfunction would be fascinating.
As for the Chargers, they look only a weapon or two away from dominance. Imagine them adding T Higgins in FA and Jeanty in the draft somehow.
“All of a sudden, Herbert is playing the best football of his NFL career.”
I don’t agree. I’m not going to say he’s playing worse or anything, but I wouldn’t say he’s playing better. I don’t think Harbaugh’s system is a good fit but it’s still early and the jury is still out. Some of his numbers are better, some aren’t (by far his worst completion percentage, for example). 18th in points per game, which is better than last year (23rd) but a far cry from a few years ago (5th) when Herbert was slinging it (5,000+ yards and 38 TDs).
The best team the Chargers have beaten this year is the Broncos (7-5). Outside of that, every other win of theirs is against a horrible team: Raiders, Panthers, Saints, Browns, Titans, and Bengals. They’re not a good team.
The team is in a much better position for sustained success without sacrificing Herbert. Balanced offense and yes completion % and some numbers are down, but he’s also playing without Keenan, Williams, and Ekeler for first time as a pro. They have some talented young receivers, but could use a TE and another vet skill player. Overall they look to be a much better team, in the past the defense was terrible and they relied on Herbert to throw 50 times to try and hang in games.
Herbert’s got one target to throw to. McConkey.
Johnston is at best a 3rd or 4th wr option who you can put into the red zone as a tall target for a jump ball or send him deep couple times a game to take a shot.
Comparing this years group to when Herbert had a healthy Keenan Allen catching 100+ balls for 1000+ yards, healthy Mike Williams catching 1000+ yards, Ekeler in the passing game and run game going for 1500+ yards is silly.
Chargers are 7-4. The year Herbert threw 5000 yards they finished 9-8. This years team is much more well rounded and better balanced. They’re a good team. Not elite like a Lions or Chiefs but they’re a good solid team that can run the ball, play defense, and move the chains in the passing attack.
Chargers wins against “terrible” teams also includes a few good defenses. Their offense looks promising to me, especially Herbert’s growing connection with McKoncky. Not much wrong with him except a full complement of targets.
Herbert’s having his worst season ever statistically speaking.
Hes 18th in QBR this year
23- he finished 6th
22- 11th
21- 3rd
20- 13th
The chargers are a doing well as a team because Harbaugh brought in a solid run game and defense.
Offense was never the issue for the Chargers all those years under Lynn and Staley, well scoring offense wasn’t running the ball was. Defense was atrocious finishing near the bottom last 3 years compared to this year.
24- 11th
23- 28th
22- 20th
21- 21st
20- 10th
False: Passer rating he is having his best career season.
QBR is a broken evaluation. It factors in rushing, down and distance, even penalties. It takes into so many aspects of the game rather than just passing.
IMO he’s having no his best season as a passer. He just has a lower completion percentage because of the amount of drops from his unreliable WRs.
His 1 game interception on the season is him making wiser decisions. And his TDs are down because they run it inside the goal or his QBR would be much higher if he was getting fade routes for TDs. But his receivers drop everything.
The Chargers have 20 drops before this weekend and many are deep shots to Johnston who drops them.
I guess we’re just going to ignore how badly the Bears players, Caleb Williams especially, crapped the bed at the end of the Lions game and instead blame Eberflus for not calling a timeout. CW missed a wide open DJ Moore that would have gotten the ball to about the 5 or 10. Teven Jenkins flagged for hands to the face. RT Larry Borom didn’t even touch Za’Darius Smith on 2nd and 20 and allowed an embarrassing sack of CW. CW repeatedly took an eternity to get plays off, burning a ton of time off the clock. CW throwing the ball 35 yards downfield on the last play rather than a quick out pattern to get into field goal range. I think Eberflus was in over his head and should not be a HC, but the players need to be called out. They lost the game too–not just Eberflus. And in my opinion CW played like a chicken with its head cut off.
So do you want to fire the players? Combine Eberflus’s mismanagement with this apparent open player revolt, and the Bears had no choice but to fire him.
A Rookie qb gets much more leeway than a head coach in year 3 with a history of boneheaded mistakes.
Williams- a rookie-brought them all the way back. Just like he did against the Commanders, Packers and Vikings only to have Eberflus choke away the games at the end. Period.
You have to admit that in those comebacks Williams led, the opposing teams were playing soft, prevent style defenses. Much easier to gain yards and look good there
Really? Whole second halves? I sure didn’t see that.
CW is the one who choked. That last drive was a masterclass in having your head up your (bleep). The Bears best play was a bogus pass interference call.
Agree. Eberflus should have called a timeout…but when he didn’t CW should be paying attention and not let the clock run out. Or call a timeout himself.
BS. Williams was the reason they were even in a position to win it. Are you having your stroke in installments?
No stroke here…thanks for the concern. Williams was the one that dug the big hole to begin with. His awful play and erratic passing in 1H was a major contributor to the loss. He kind of brought them back, but again didn’t get the job done. Not to mention his total lack of awareness with the clock – – he (and Eberflus) wasted 27 of the last 32 seconds. The QB is the one responsible for running the offense and he didn’t run it very well on Thanksgiving.
Bears gonna Bear. This is more of the same. I’m sure with whoever they hire, the fan base will be convinced the Bears are in it to win it next summer. Only to be in hibernation by Halloween.
Wash, Rinse, Repeat. Yawn.
Caleb Williams still just as much to blame as eberflus was. Can’t take a sack there and you have to have the knowledge that time is ticking you have to get that ball snapped asap. Caleb could have saved the day there and failed. Rookie mistakes? Sure, but that can’t happen there from either the coach or the QB.
Eberflus is replaceable and was gonna be fired anyway at seasons end.
Can’t take a sack? You mean when Smith came untouched before Caleb even had a chance to get a throw off?
Yes. Then. Throw the ball away. Caleb is a rookie. A promising one. But a rookie nonetheless. I understand Bears fans defending him to the hilt. But it’s clear he’s made wild mistakes in each of the past 3 games that cost his team the win just as much as Flus. It is true he also put them in that position to win. But he’s a rook doing rook things.
Saying they handled the end of the Lions game “the right way” was ridiculous.
While anyone on the Bears could have called a timeout, that fact they didn’t falls on Eberflus. They had a slim chance to tie that game, but Eberflus blew it.
Eberflus would have been better off saying the poor clock management ultimately falls on him. But he didn’t. Still, wouldn’t have saved his job.
If Rome kept running he may have ended up in the endzone and the Bears win, Eberflus remains head coach. That’s how fine the margins are in the NFL.
Also the players need to take responsibility for their play as well. They have made costly mistakes as well, however it does come down to coaching at times and this is probably a good decision.
Let’s say a timeout had been called.
Let’s say the Bears had managed to NOT have the FG attempt blocked as happened two weeks earlier.
Let’s say the Bears somehow managed an OT upset and improved their record to 5-7
What difference would any of that make?
How much evidence would even a casual fan need to realize Eberflus was not the HC that was going to lead the Bears back to glory?
Cairo Santos was not making a 58 yard field goal. The people who want Eberflus hung from the nearest tree don’t know that. He’s been in the league 11 years and his longest was 55. He missed a 56 yarder short earlier this season in a dome.
Don’t you ever get tired of ankle biting?
Apparently not. They spend more time bashing the Bears than they do rooting for any team. Plus 3 -Or as I call him Harbaugh’s love child keeps saying the the Bears should have drafted Alt instead of Odunze. Which would have been a neat trick since Alt went at 5 to the Chargers. They should have hired Harbaugh even though they already told Eberlose he was coming back. I’m sure it makes sense in their minds somehow. Just not sure what a delusion like that should be called. Not a shrink.
Every team gets bashed in this forum so it’s a bit silly to get upset when your favorite team is on the receiving end. Some people just respond emotionally without putting any thought into presenting valid arguments or criticism but I’d rather read comments from someone like AK who always keeps a cool head and has meaningful things to say.
I’m not against bashing the Bears. And it’s not that they don’t deserve it. But when you constantly drone on about the same crap( That’s usually not based on any facts), Then it’s like your town had an air raid siren drill and it got stuck on. Cool at first, then hurts your ears and eventually becomes a steady drone. I bash other teams when they deserve it but try to keep it light. The Bears make curious decisions to be sure. Not restarting the whole coaching staff with an Offense Minded HC was a huge mistake. Then whoever hired Waldron should admit it and take the blame. BTW where the heck is Kerry Joseph? Quarterback coach extraordinaire? Anybody seen or heard from this dude all year? Now you’ve already wasted 2 years of Williams probably. This one and next because he’ll have to learn a whole new system. Plus they need a lot of OL parts. Now they’re saying Morgan got undermined by Waldron changing the blocking scheme. Nobody thought to mention that until now? It took 12 weeks to figure that out? So bash away if you want. Just stop being a monotonous drone. No team is all good. no team is all bad. Chicago is a beautiful city. That’s just like the country being run into the ground by the morons who run it. Look at your own town and tell me I’m wrong.
Offering up honest critiques on here is one thing. It creates great debates. But the low lifes that are here to spew nothing but hate get no quarter from me.
I still say making Brown the Interim HC was a mistake. He has enough to do keeping Caleb Williams learning curve on track. The Head Coach shouldn’t be calling Defensive or Offensive signals during the game. His focus is supposed to be on monitoring game situations and figuring out the overall strategy for the team. The distractions are what helped Eberlose get fired. Not that he was all that great at it ever. Brown has already got enough on his plate without having to worry about everything else. There was nobody else that could just figure that out? So Brown is calling the offense and Washington is calling the defense, Who’s worrying about the timeouts, Game strategy, Arguing with the officials, Figuring out the challenges,You know the stuff that wins football games. Every time I hear somebody on the Bears trying to explain what’s going on, The dumber I get. Maybe they should just be quiet.
The Bears will always be the Bears and I love it lol
Russini, the queen of the unnamed source.
Denny’s never heard of ESPN’s corporate policy — take credit for stories you do not originate.
Everyone wants to point to the last play when the game was on the line but the Bears lost this past week in the first half. Detroit left points on the board stalling out and settling for field goals while the Bears didn’t have a single first down. Not having the team ready to play does also fall on the coach so it’s still an indictment on Eberflus’ inability as a head coach but really that game was lost way earlier.
The beauty is the internal belief that Williams is more than a bottom 10 QB.
There’s that drone again. Not based on any fact whatsoever. Just pure stupidity.