The Chicago Bears need everybody to be at their best this season if they are going to break through to the playoffs for the first time in five seasons. They sit in one of the NFL’s toughest divisions. Green Bay and Detroit both won playoff games last year. Most agree the Bears have enough talent to challenge those rivals, but whether they play up to that remains uncertain. That is why all eyes are on head coach Matt Eberflus. His tenure through the first two years has been rocky.
It started with a rough 3-14 season as the Bears underwent a total rebuild. They got off to a brutal start last season, marked by two coaches getting fired for workplace misconduct and some ugly, lopsided losses. However, Eberflus managed to turn the defense around, and together with an average offense, they went 5-4 over the second half of the season to finish 7-10. That in-season turnaround has many believing Eberflus is ready to push this team over the hump, which might explain why he is the current betting favorite to win Coach of the Year, according to Draft Kings. Pro Football Talk had it first.
Eberflus is the betting favorite to be named the NFL’s Coach of the Year for the 2024 season. His odds to win the award are +900 at DraftKings.com…
…Next in the Coach of the Year odds are Jets coach Robert Saleh and Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh, both at +1100. Packers coach Matt LaFleur’s odds are +1200 while Falcons coach Raheem Morris and Texans coach Demeco Ryans are both at +1300. Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon and Lions coach Dan Campbell are next at +1500.
Since its inception in 1957, a Bears head coach has won the award seven times. George Halas won it twice, Mike Ditka won it twice, Dick Jauron won it in 2001, Lovie Smith won it in 2005, and Matt Nagy won it in 2018. All but one of those teams won at least 11 games during the seasons mentioned. That is likely the needed mark Eberflus will have to hit if he wants a shot at the honor. Is it possible? Yes. Seven of the Bears’ first nine opponents didn’t make the playoffs last year. If they win all of those games, they’d only have to win four of the remaining ten to reach the goal.
Don’t expect Eberflus to focus on personal accolades, though. His goal is getting this team to play at 100% of their full potential, in line with his H.I.T.S principle. It felt like last year Chicago Bears players had started buying into the pitch. Guys were playing with effort, intensity, and intelligence. If not for a pair of gutwrenching 4th quarter collapses, they would’ve had a winning record. This team knows its close to a breakthrough. Eberflus will do everything possible to push them across the finish line.
