Matt Eberflus is on borrowed time. Things were right there for him. He’d gotten to 4-2. Another surge through the halfway point of the season could get the Chicago Bears on a path to the playoffs. Instead, a four-game losing streak, characterized by a Hail Mary disaster in Washington and a blocked field goal against Green Bay, has all but cemented the likelihood he gets fired. Chicago has the hardest remaining schedule in the league, and Eberflus has only beaten a .500 or above team six times in his career.
There is widespread belief that the Bears will look for a replacement after the season ends. The only question is who it will be. Team insider Bill Zimmerman of Windy City Gridiron revealed a list of the likeliest names. Upon reviewing it, a clear theme developed: Every candidate follows a similar pattern.
Six of the seven names listed meet those criteria. Brady has Josh Allen on an MVP path in Buffalo and was the architect of Joe Burrow’s rise to the Heisman at LSU. Johnson is, of course, the mastermind of Detroit’s unstoppable juggernaut. Coen has kept Baker Mayfield humming in Tampa Bay despite losing his two best receivers. Moore has had success in Dallas, Los Angeles, and now Philadelphia with different types of quarterbacks. Petzing is quietly doing impressive work in Arizona.
The only outlier is Flores, who is both a defensive player and a former head coach. Why would he be considered? Well, his defense is #1 in the NFL, for one. Despite the ugly way his tenure in Miami ended, Flores rapidly turned them into winners, going from 5-11 to 10-6. It is also important to note that Kevin Warren has deep connections to Minnesota. He worked there from 2005 to 2019.
It’s pretty clear the Chicago Bears’ likeliest hire will be an offensive-minded guy. They have to maximize Caleb Williams. January and maybe February will be spent trying to find the right one.
