Perhaps the worst part of the Chicago Bears’ utter tomfoolery at the end of the Thanksgiving loss was that Matt Eberflus later said he liked what they did.
He told a fan base that what everyone saw at the end of the Bears’ horrendous final 30 seconds in a 23-20 loss to the Detroit Lions wasn’t all that bad. Whatever the context, it’s going to be bad. And it did, Eberflus was fired on Friday.
For those who missed it over the holidays, the Bears trailed 23-20 in the final minute. Caleb Williams was sacked with 30 seconds left in the game. And the clock kept ticking. The Bears had a timeout but didn’t call it. Williams looked like a confused rookie. Eberflus didn’t 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 did there,” Eberflus said after the game as part of his explanation.
The Bears had never fired a coach in a season before, a fact they made sure everyone was aware of on multiple occasions. They had to break that weird tradition for Iberflus, and it wasn’t just the Thanksgiving fiasco that led to it.
Matt Eberflus pitched the Bears in a close game
Part of a coach’s job is what he says after a loss. It’s not a big part of the job, but you can’t tell even a devoted fan that your mistakes were actually perfectly fine.
When the Washington Commanders beat the Bears in a Hail Mary, picking up an easy 13 yards on the second-to-last play when the Bears returned to give Jayden Daniels a shot to throw into the end zone, Eberflus said he wasn’t. Not concerned about profit. Meanwhile, Commanders coach Dan Quinn said the Commanders couldn’t have completed the Hail Mary without it.
In a loss to the Green Bay Packers, a last-second field goal was blocked. Eberfluss said the team “felt better” for kicker Cairo Santos not to move the ball closer, although Packers players later said they knew Santos kicked with less speed on long kicks.
Then came the late game against the Lions. If you said you’ve never seen anything like it before, you’re right. OptaSTATS said that in the past 30 NFL seasons, in 1,501 cases, there was only one team that lost by three points or less and ran a play inside the opponent’s 30 on their final drive, but the clock expired without attempting a field goal. or using all their deadlines. That was the Bears on Thursday.
According to Josh Dubo of the Associated Press, Eberflus had the worst record of 221 coaches in NFL history with 20 or more games decided by seven or fewer points. Eberflus was 5-17 in those close games. It can’t be chalked up to bad luck.
The Bears aren’t exactly a clean organization either. They addressed Eberfluss to the media on Friday and then fired him hours later. That’s a really unprofessional look.
The entire franchise requires a clear. Maybe it started on Friday.
How can the bear 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 didn’t even have a quarterback prospect like Caleb Williams.
The Bears firing a coach was a sign that they know holding on to 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 with him, giving defensive-minded head coach Eberfluss a season on a high note after finishing last season.
Lost in the confusion over Eberflus’ late-game mismanagement was the fact that Williams played a very good second half against Detroit, nearly leading a wild comeback win. He had his ups and downs as a rookie, but much of that can be attributed to coaching. The Bears’ offense has looked better since firing offensive coordinator Shane Waldron three weeks ago. Perhaps it will look better with Eberflus gone. Overall the Bears can’t help but be more organized in the late game from here on out.
The Bears have tried it all when it comes to head-coaching hires, so who knows which direction they’ll go this time around. But it has to be done keeping Williams’ development in mind. They can’t afford to pass up a great prospect like Williams.
Whatever the Bears decide to do, they can look to their long history first. Then do the opposite.
