One of the best time for the Chicago Bears to fireside head coach Matt Eberflus was in January 2024, after he plodded his solution to a middling 7-10 report because the group set itself as much as draft Caleb Williams in April. The following greatest time to fireside Matt Eberflus is … proper now after the Bears clearly stop on the overmatched coach in an embarrassing 29-9 loss towards the Arizona Cardinals as a result of he nearly all the time throws them underneath the bus in public for his errors.
The worst and most predictable time to fireside Eberflus might be on Monday, January 6, 2025, when the Bears let this glorified soccer doofus get one other 9 video games to recklessly harm Williams’ future as a result of the NFL’s constitution franchise values not firing coaches midseason as some perverse badge of satisfaction.
If the Bears have any self-respect left and wish the Williams period to be vivid, aggressive, and crammed with superb success in winter after winter, it’s time to swallow the bitter tablet and ship Eberflus packing.
Chicago management can’t let a person who thinks like this (notice: Williams was underneath siege behind an terrible offensive line all recreation in Arizona) to proceed teaching their workforce:
Matt Eberflus says the explanation why Caleb Williams was within the recreation late down 20 was to get work in and get timing in for the 2-minute operation. #Bears
— Zack Pearson (@Zack_Pearson) November 4, 2024
They’ll deny it in public with their phrases, however Bears gamers made their opinion on the Eberflus matter very clear with their actions after a devastating Hail Mary loss final weekend. By handing over a pitiful effort from high to backside towards the Cardinals, the Bears confirmed they had been carried out with Eberflus providing empty, vapid platitudes from the leap.
The place do I even start? (Takes a deep breath.)
The Bears dedicated not one however two penalties on Arizona subject aim makes an attempt, certainly one of which gifted the Cardinals a recent set of downs and led to a landing. Nothing is extra undisciplined in soccer than particular groups penalties that give the opposition a clear slate. The Bears did it twice. Strike one. For a coach whose calling card is effort and protection, Arizona’s offense ran by the Bears like melted butter to the tune of 213 workforce speeding yards. The Bears, even with out Professional Bowl defensive finish Montez Sweat, have roughly a gajillion {dollars} and high-end draft picks invested of their protection.
So, you inform me if that speeding protection is effort or expertise? Strike two.
Don’t fear. It will get worse. It simply retains going.
Coming into their matchup, the Cardinals had one of many NFL’s worst defenses. (Similar to the Washington Commanders final week.) You’d by no means understand it whereas watching the Bears and Williams fail to determine any discernible rhythm for 3 hours. The sport plan, on this regard, was even worse. Cole Kmet went from a Professional Bowl-caliber tight finish dominating the center of the sphere a number of weeks in the past to 1 complete goal in his final two video games. In the meantime, the ghost of Keenan Allen continues to be monitoring down aimless deep passes someplace that he can’t attain anymore on one other unfathomable goal in his course. If not for his ankle damage, I’d additionally estimate that Williams was nonetheless ready for any Bears receiver, any in any respect, to return again to the ball on scramble drills he’s compelled to induce behind his patchwork offensive line. Strike three.
If this basic malaise wasn’t sufficient, the Bears gave up the longest end-of-half landing run this millennium. Strike … 4?
Dearest readers, that kind of factor doesn’t occur until a workforce stops enjoying:
That is the longest rush TD given up within the final 30 seconds of a half this century, which, lol pic.twitter.com/685J6LFSij
— Benjamin Solak (@BenjaminSolak) November 3, 2024
In mid-October, this Bears season had potential. Chicago regarded like a darkish horse NFC contender. Williams was a world-beater, and as a rookie, no much less. An elite protection laden with expertise was firing on all cylinders. Then Eberflus botched a Hail Mary defensive technique within the worst approach doable earlier than taking zero honest accountability for his failure in a trend that incensed his locker room.
His gamers responded in type: they “quiet stop” and threatened to tank the entire good vibes of a once-promising season now being taken out to pasture.
As my buddy Christian D’Andrea places it, the parallels to ex-Bears coach Matt Nagy as soon as dropping his thoughts over the “Double Doink” are an excessive amount of to disregard:
The chilly consolation for Chicago is each loss takes them nearer to the top of the Eberflus period, closing the door on a head coach who by no means fairly appeared to know the gravity his job entailed. Nagy had the Double Doink. Eberflus had the world’s worst Hail Mary protection. Barring an unlikely turnaround, that might be his legacy.
The Bears can’t faux to care about successful in the event that they let Eberflus proceed this charade any longer. The crux of the matter is he doubtless ended any optimistic potential for his head-coaching profession the second Noah Brown caught that landing in Washington, D.C.
For the sake of any a part of Chicago’s still-good roster, it’s time to ship Eberflus to the unemployment line.
