Ryan Poles had a tough decision to make. The Chicago Bears had just finished 7-10 last season. While the final record was disappointing, it had come after a 0-4 start to the season. Head coach Matt Eberflus had managed to hold the locker room together and finish the year 7-6. That recovery told the Bears GM that the coach could withstand the hard times and keep his team focused. However, many felt there were too many red flags to give Eberflus another year, especially with the likely prospect of picking a quarterback #1 overall.
His in-game management decisions were suspect: poor challenges, questionable timeouts, and a failure to grasp situational football. It didn’t help that his team blew three double-digit 4th quarter leads. Still, Poles believed in the person and the leader.
He might be regretting that decision. Chicago has stumbled to a 1-2 record through the first three games, characterized by many of the same things that haunted the team last year. He had two misguided challenges against Houston that everybody knew would fail. However, things reached a low point against Indianapolis last week when Eberflus called a timeout because he wanted to go for a two-point conversion and then pointlessly burned another during a Colts drive that was at the Bears two-yard line and they were obviously going to score. Those two timeouts could’ve given the offense a chance to win the game in the final minutes, but they had no way to stop the clock.
A source informed SM that Poles didn’t react to those moments well. The timeout in the 4th quarter drew a particularly “frustrated” reaction from the GM.
No Bears head coach has ever gotten that dubious distinction. However, the source indicated that Poles’ patience with Eberflus is reaching its limits. The feeling is that both the Houston and Indianapolis games were winnable, especially the latter. The primary reasons for that loss can be traced to Eberflus and his decision-making. It doesn’t help that Shane Waldron, his choice to replace Luke Getsy as offensive coordinator, has looked like a complete flop to start the season.
The defense has continued to look good. However, that isn’t what Eberflus was hired to do. He was brought in to make this team a winner. Yet, it still remains plagued by sloppiness and lack of discipline in key moments. That falls at the feet of the head coach. Ryan Poles can’t do anything about it right now. His hands are tied. Even so, it appears the GM can’t keep finding excuses for the head coach.
