The Chicago Bears are one of the oldest organizations in professional football. In that century-plus existence, they have never once fired a head coach in the middle of a season. The McCaskey family has upheld this tradition since taking over following George Halas’ death in 1983. There have been plenty of opportunities for them to break it, too. It could’ve happened in 1998 when Dave Wannstedt lost six straight games out of the bye week. It could’ve happened in 2014 when Marc Trestman saw his team give up 50 points in back-to-back games. Or it could’ve happened in 2020 when Matt Nagy lost six straight after starting 5-1. Yet they did. So, one can understand why optimism is low that it will be any different for Matt Eberflus.
His case is certainly a strong one. Nine collapses in the 4th quarter, capped by the heartbreaking Hail Mary in Washington. A 3-18 road record. A 14-28 overall record. Zero progress on offense. It is clear players are getting frustrated. What would it take for a change to happen? Insider Jeff Hughes of Da Bears Blog dropped an interesting hint two days ago.
Now, that could’ve been mere speculation, but Hughes is well-connected. He doesn’t post things by accident. That was made clear when he followed up with this a day later.
Losing 29-9 last week in Arizona should’ve been a wake-up call for the Bears. They even had a tense team meeting where guys aired their grievances, challenging each other to do better. New England is 2-7, one of the worst teams in the NFL. The Bears are at home. The Patriots are 2-7 with a rookie quarterback, a porous offensive line, and a below-average defense. If Chicago is as good as they believe they should be, this is not a game they have any business losing.
If they do?
That will mark three losses in a row coming out of the bye, with Green Bay and Minnesota up next. They will have gone from 4-2 with playoff aspirations to 4-5 with almost zero hopes of a second-half run. Even clearer is that many of the issues can be directly tied to Matt Eberflus himself. His poor situational awareness, decision-making, and steadiness under pressure have cost the Bears more than once in tight games. If he can’t steady the ship against New England, it sounds like he may sink.
