Matt Eberflus had no reason to feel pressure going into 2024. It wasn’t because of his team’s improvement last year or the upgrades across most of the roster, especially on offense. No, his comfort came from knowing he had the firm backing of Ryan Poles. The Bears GM has been vocal in his support whenever asked. Insiders close to the team have insisted Poles believes in Eberflus as a leader. That hadn’t changed through the first two months of the season. However, it feels as if things have cooled recently.
No, it wasn’t the Hail Mary loss to Washington. While bad, that wouldn’t have moved the needle for Poles. Instead, it was Eberflus’ decision to keep Caleb Williams in the game against Arizona late in the 4th quarter despite being down 29-9 and having just watched right tackle Darnell Wright leave with a knee injury. It exposed the rookie to needless further punishment in a game long since decided. Sure enough, Williams came up limping with an ankle injury. According to Adam Jahns of The Athletic, Eberflus got defensive when asked if Poles talked to him about that.
Sending out Caleb Williams late in the fourth quarter behind an offensive line of backups was the wrong time to send a message.
But that’s apparently what Eberflus did. This wasn’t a real two-minute situation for Williams. It was garbage time in a 20-point loss.
No one would have blamed (or criticized) Eberflus for removing Williams. Instead, we’re left wondering if general manager Ryan Poles is on board with such decisions.
“Yeah, I’m not going to get into private conversations with Ryan in terms of exactly what was said or not said,” Eberflus said Monday. “We’re always on board for getting better. And we’re always on board with competing to the very end. I’ll tell you that.”
Williams is the franchise. He is the guy the GM plans to build everything around. He can’t do that if he gets hurt and lost for the season. A few extra snaps in a lost game are utterly meaningless in the grander scope of things. If the offensive line had been playing well, that’s one thing. They weren’t. Williams had been pressured on more than 50% of his dropbacks. To throw him back out there after their only other starting tackle left the game with an injury was coaching malpractice. It was the type of decision you can’t defend.
One can understand why Ryan Poles would be upset. He hired Eberflus to elevate this team, to teach them to play smart. That isn’t possible if their head coach keeps making dumb decisions. That is how to hit the fast track to losing the locker room. Poles has stuck his neck out for Eberflus despite multiple setbacks over the past two seasons, insisting he’s the right man for the job. Ongoing moments like that one in Arizona make him look more and more foolish. Nobody likes that. Even the strongest relationships can fracture if one side doesn’t hold up his end of the bargain.
