Matt Eberflus was probably working on borrowed time this season before finally being fired on Friday. Many called for his job after the Chicago Bears went 7–10 last season, beginning the campaign with four consecutive losses and a 2–7 start.
The Bears were on the way to the No. 1 overall selection in the 2024 NFL Draft as a result of a trade with the Carolina Panthers the previous year and it was questionable whether or not a franchise quarterback prospect—widely projected to be USC star Caleb Williams—should begin his career with a coach likely to be fired.
But then Chicago began to play better under Eberflus.
5–3 finish saved Eberflus’ job last season
Players quitting on a coach is probably the worst indictment, yet the Bears weren’t doing that. They were playing hard for him and the results began showing on the scoreboard. The turnaround began with a Week 10 win over the Panthers, then became two of three victories before their bye week.
After the bye, Chicago went 5-2 in its final seven games, including a win over the Detroit Lions. The Bears still finished last in the NFC North, but general manager Ryan Poles said the improved play demonstrated leadership and believed keeping Eberflus would maintain stability.
“Just in terms of his leadership and stability,” Poles said. “I really think that the head coach needs to be able to captain the ship when the seas have storms and really keep everything settled. When you go through hard times and you can keep everyone together, that’s the critical piece in a big market like this. You have to be strong.”
New offense, new franchise QB
Keeping his job, Eberflus quickly made changes to his offensive staff in anticipation of adding a new, young quarterback. Luke Getsy was dismissed and Shane Waldron was hired.
In three seasons leading the Seattle Seahawks’ offense, Waldron worked with Russell Wilson, then helped revive Geno Smith’s career. The thinking was that he could play a major role in tutoring Williams in his rookie season.
That looked like a good move with Chicago starting 4–2. Yet after nine games, Eberflus decided the offense wasn’t working with Waldron and he was fired. The Bears dropped to 4–5 and had gone 23 consecutive possessions without a touchdown despite a presumably upgraded offense with No. 1 pick Williams, running back D’Andre Swift, and receivers Keenan Allen and Rome Odunze.
Passing game coordinator Thomas Brown was promoted to OC, but firing Waldron had the look of a head coach in jeopardy who was making moves to save his job.
Late-game mishaps
Chicago’s record was discouraging enough, but what truly worked against Eberflus was late-game decision-making that cost his team potential wins. In his third season, game and clock management looked to be inept. The players had stuck with Eberflus, but the mistakes had to affect their faith in him and almost certainly was a key factor in the decision to make a coaching change.
The beginning of the end was in Week 8 when the Bears suffered a crushing 18–15 loss to the Washington Commanders on a 52-yard Hail Mary touchdown pass from Jayden Daniels to Noah Brown with no time remaining.
Three weeks later, the Bears appeared to have a win over the rival Green Bay Packers in hand. Chicago had driven 42 yards in seven plays, moving in position for a game-winning field goal on three passes for 49 yards by Williams.
However, Cairo Santos’ 46-yard attempt was blocked and the Packers escaped with a 20–19 win. Eberflus and the Bears complained to the NFL that Green Bay’s T.J. Slaton made illegal contact with long snapper Scott Daly. But the league disagreed, holding up another crushing loss for Chicago.
The following week, the Bears scored a touchdown, recovered an onside kick and kicked a 48-yard field goal to tie the Minnesota Vikings at 27–27 and put the game into overtime. Unfortunately, Chicago went 3-and-out in its first possession due to a sack and false start penalty.
On its ensuing possession, Minnesota went 68 yards in 10 plays with Sam Darnold completing six passes. Parker Romo kicked a 29-yard field goal to give the Vikings a victory, denying the Bears after a valiant comeback.
Turkey Day tomfoolery
That led to the Thanksgiving Day debacle in Detroit with the Bears having 36 seconds and a timeout to drive 60-plus yards for a game-tying field goal. However, after Williams was sacked, Eberflus did not use that timeout and the clock ran down to six seconds remaining. All the Bears could do was attempt a desperation pass toward the sideline that fell incomplete.
Everyone watching criticized Eberflus’ inept clock management, yet he insisted that he liked how those final seconds played out. What everyone else saw was a head coach fail to put his team in position to tie a game when it was in fine position to do so.
That included the players, who expressed their disbelief afterward, and Bears executives who could no longer listen to Eberflus’ rationalizations and made an obvious decision that had developed during a lost final season for a doomed head coach.
