The Chicago Bears try to end their 14-game losing streak on Thursday Night Football. Does another loss doom head coach Matt Eberflus’ chances at remaining in Chicago?
As has been reported ad nauseam, the Chicago Bears are a mess. They are in the midst of a 14-game losing streak, the longest in franchise history. They’ve had trouble on and off the field.
Last week, the team snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. The offense finally flowed and scored points. Late in the third quarter, the Bears were on top 28-7. Then everything fell apart and the Bears blew that lead. Eventually, they lost 31-28.
Going into a short week, the Chicago Bears Nation still has the bad taste of that loss. If the Bears lost a game like this, what are the hopes for the next 13 games?
The fans are demanding something be done. The boos were never louder than how they were last week. The realistic fans did not really expect this team to compete for a title. However, with all of the improved talent added to the roster, they at least expected an improvement from last season’s three wins.
At the rate the Bears are going, it is difficult to find three wins the rest of the season. Sure, they are playing other teams that are struggling as well. However, they are still performing better in a lot of aspects of the game than the Bears. Heck against the Denver Broncos last week, the Chicago Bears were actually a home underdog. That happened despite the Broncos giving up 70 points the previous week.
There have to be changes if the Bears lose another game, right? The team cannot continue to let things devolve without doing something about it.
Is Eberflus a marked man?
Of course, when things get bad, the head coach is the fall guy. He is the one who gets the public decapitation. After that, the assistants usually go as well, just not as public as the head coach.
Head coach Matt Eberflus has not been successful in doing his job. He is responsible for not doing anything to stem the flow of negativity. Things are falling apart yet he acts like things are about to suddenly become great.
There is a disconnect between offensive coordinator Luke Getsy and quarterback Justin Fields. Getsy does not trust Fields to run his system. He tries to take away all of what makes Fields a dynamic player.
Getsy tries to turn Fields into a pocket passer. He won’t adjust his system to allow for Fields’ traits. We saw when he finally made adjustments how well Fields performed. He had the best game of his career.
Then. after amassing the big lead, Getsy decided to go into prevent mode early. He stopped calling the same plays that got them the lead. The playcalling got conservative again. Then, after the Broncos came back and tied the game, He got even more conservative. Back came the screens and flares behind the line of scrimmage. The offense bogged down (aside from some crazy third-down conversions) and could not score.
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Eberflus either doesn’t want to do his job and get involved between Getsy and Fields or he agrees with Getsy. Either way, it is a bad sign.
Could there be an imminent shift on the horizon?
Eberflus is in danger of losing his job. He is the man in charge of what happens with his coaches and players. He just has not done a good job of handling the team.
Some people argue that another person responsible for this mess is general manager Ryan Poles. They do have a point, but only if he doesn’t do his job to try to end this. If Eberflus isn’t doing it, then Poles has to.
Peter King, author of the Monday Morning Quarterback, was on the Parkins and Spiegel Show on 670 The Score. He spoke on the possibility of the Chicago Bears firing Eberflus. He speculates that it could be sooner rather than later. In fact, he says that if the Bears suffer another embarrassing loss, it could happen after the game.
You can not lose 14 games in a row and think you should hold onto your job. So I would not be surprised, if it’s a bad loss on Thursday, and the Bears make a change. It just wouldn’t be surprising.
.@peter_king wouldn’t be surprised if the Bears fire coach Matt Eberflus on Friday or sometime later during the season.
“You can not lose 14 games in a row and think you should hold onto your job,” he says.
Listen to full interview with @ParkinsSpiegel: https://t.co/sIcJEyYDIq pic.twitter.com/M7mUgFSJr0
— 670 The Score (@670TheScore) October 3, 2023
In addition to dealing with problems off the field, Eberflus just has not found a way to find wins. After last week’s loss, he now owns a 3-18 record. At .143, that is the fourth-worst winning percentage of all time. That does not bode well for his continued employment.
The McCaskey family, owners of the Chicago Bears, have never fired a head coach in the middle of the season. However, after they hired Poles they also hired Kevin Warren to be the team president.
The chairman of the team, George McCaskey, said that he would not interfere with what the football people want to do. We shall see if he is true to his word. This cannot continue and Poles and Warren need to be able to do what they can to stop it.
Should that mean firing the head coach or any of the assistants, then so be it. If McCaskey gave them the autonomy to make football decisions then he should allow them to make them and agree.
It will be interesting to see how the team performs on Thursday. More interesting will be what happens after the game if the streak extends to 15.