If there is one person inside Halas Hall who faces a somewhat uncertain future beyond 2024, it is Matt Eberflus. The Chicago Bears head coach has done some good things during his first two years on the job. After taking over playcalling duties last year, he turned around the defense from a laughing stock to a top unit. He improved from a 3-14 finish in 2022 to a 7-10 finish in 2023. That is progress. However, he isn’t without his critics. The Bears suffered from serious 4th quarter issues. Some of it came from defensive lapses. Some of it was poor offensive execution, and Eberflus also can’t escape blame for some bad decisions.
There were three games last season where the Bears held a double-digit lead in the 4th quarter and lost all three. It isn’t a great reflection on the head coach when your team struggles to finish games. It is why some wonder if Eberflus might be on the hot seat. Failing to make the playoffs in his third season could compel team brass to seek a replacement. Some worry this isn’t a smart idea, especially after drafting Caleb Williams. The last thing they want is to saddle another young quarterback with a new coaching staff after his first year. It didn’t work out well for Mitch Trubisky or Justin Fields.
According to Bill Zimmerman of Windy City Gridiron, there were rumblings in and around the building that Eberflus’ decision-making in the 4th quarter stemmed from his having zero faith in Fields as a passer.
There are plenty of people around the team (media and non-media) who believe that many of Eberflus’ questionable decisions were made because he didn’t trust Justin Fields to do the right thing with the football. On 3rd and 6 from the opponent’s 30, Eberflus was more comfortable running the football and settling for a field goal than risking a turnover on a pass or a bad sack that knocks them out of field goal range.
If that’s the case, we should see a big improvement in his fourth-quarter decision-making with a different quarterback under center. If we still see the conservative decisions because the Bears have a rookie QB, at some point, just believe people when they show you who they are. At that point, it would be safe to say that Eberflus is your typical conservative defensive head coach.
For all the support Fields gets from many sections of Bears fandom, there is one thing they can’t defend. The former 1st round pick was terrible in the 4th quarter. In 2023 alone, he completed barely 51% of his passes for 552 yards, four touchdowns (1 rushing), and six interceptions. That doesn’t even include two fumbles he had. Think about that. Two-thirds of the interceptions Fields threw last season came in the 4th quarter, the most important 15 minutes of any football game. Want to take it a step further? Fields has thrown 16 interceptions in the 4th quarter of his career. That is more than the other three quarters combined.
No wonder Matt Eberflus didn’t trust him. He wasn’t just battling the other team to win games. He was often battling his own quarterback. In hindsight, the decision to trade him to Pittsburgh probably wasn’t as difficult as the Bears insisted it was. At least it probably wasn’t for the head coach. One thing we know about Williams from his time in college is he avoids turnovers. On 1,099 career passes, he only threw 14 interceptions. If that trend holds in the NFL, Eberflus may receive vindication.
