The worst part about the absolute madness of the Chicago Bears at the end of their Thanksgiving loss might be that Matt Eberflus said afterward that he liked what they did.
He told the fan base that what everyone saw at the end of the Bears’ horrific final 30 seconds in a 23-20 loss to the Detroit Lions actually wasn’t that bad. Regardless of the context, it turned out badly. And it happened, Eberflus was released on Friday.
For anyone who missed it during the holiday, the Bears were outscored 23-20 in the final minute. Caleb Williams was called just before 30 seconds remained in the game. And the clock kept ticking. The Bears had a timeout, but they didn’t call it. Williams looked like a confused rookie. Eberflus did not throw him a life preserver. The clock ticked down to six seconds, and when the ball was finally snapped, Williams’ incomplete pass downfield was the final play of the game.
“I like what we put out there,” Eberflus said after the game as part of his explanation.
The Bears had never fired a coach during the season before, which they made sure to make everyone aware of on multiple occasions. For Eberflus, they had to break that weird tradition, and it wasn’t just the Thanksgiving fiasco that led to it.
Matt Eberflus cost the Bears in close games
Part of a coach’s job is what he says after a loss. It’s not a huge part of the job, but you also can’t tell a devoted fan base that your mistakes were actually perfectly fine.
When the Washington Commanders beat the Bears on Zdravas, picking up an easy 13 yards on the second-to-last play, when the Bears played back to give Jayden Daniels a shot and threw it into the end zone, Eberflus said he wasn’t worried about the gain. Meanwhile, Commanders coach Dan Quinn said the Commanders couldn’t have completed the Hail Mary without it.
A last-second field goal was blocked in a loss to the Green Bay Packers. Eberflus said the team “felt good” about not trying to move the ball closer for kicker Cairo Santos, although Packers players said afterward they knew Santos had tripped the low lane on the longer kicks.
Then came the late game situation against the Lions. If you thought you’ve never seen anything like this before, you’re right. OptaSTATS said that in the past 30 NFL seasons, in 1,501 instances, there has been only one team that has been down by three points or fewer and had a play inside the opponent’s 30 on its final drive but ran out of time without attempting a field goal. or use all their time limits. That was the Bears on Thursday.
According to Josh Dubow of the Associated Press, Eberflus had the worst record of any 221 coaches in NFL history with 20 or more games decided by seven points or less. Eberflus was 5-17 in those close games. It cannot be attributed to bad luck either.
The Bears aren’t exactly a clean organization either. On Friday, Eberflus was allowed to speak to the media before being fired a few hours later. That’s a really unprofessional look.
The entire franchise needs a cleanup. Maybe it started on Friday.
How can bears change things?
The Bears haven’t won a Super Bowl since the 1985 season. They’ve never had a 4,000-yard passer. They haven’t won a playoff game since January 2011.
And they’ve also never had a quarterback prospect like Caleb Williams.
The Bears firing their coach in the middle of the season was a sign that they know that sticking to the old axioms is holding them back. Chicago is stuck in the past in many ways. The Bears need to modernize their operation to maximize Williams. They’ve already wasted a season on him, giving defensive-minded head coach Eberflus one season too long after he finished last season on a high note.
Lost in the uproar over Eberflus’ late-game mismanagement is that Williams had a very good second half against Detroit and nearly led a wild comeback. He had his ups and downs as a rookie, but much of that can be attributed to training. The Bears offense has looked better since they fired offensive coordinator Shane Waldron three weeks ago. Maybe it will look even better when Eberflus is gone. The Bears as a whole can’t help but be more organized at the end of games now.
The Bears have tried everything when it comes to head coaching hires, so who knows which direction they’ll go this time. However, it must be done with Williams’ development in mind. They can’t afford to throw away a big prospect like Williams.
Whatever the Bears decide to do, they can look to their long history first. Then do the opposite.