Seat heaters are a luxury in the Windy City come the holidays, but Matt Eberflus doesn’t need them, as his lower half may as well have been on fire all month.
The flames are climbing and the walls are closing in around the Chicago Bears head coach as the team continues to lose close games in gut wrenching fashion and public faith in Eberflus erodes toward absolute zero.
The calls for his job have intensified, with Bill Zimmerman of Windy City Gridiron predicting that the end for Eberflus could be just days away. Chicago is on the road for a Thanksgiving Day game against the Detroit Lions this week and regardless of how close the contest is, Zimmerman called for the ax if the Bears don’t come out of the holiday with a victory.
“It could get ugly, but even if it doesn’t and the Bears lose a close game, should that change Ryan Poles’ opinion? Should it change Kevin Warren’s? Why continue to delay a decision that if Halas Hall has any idea what they are doing, that decision has been made?” Zimmerman wrote on Tuesdsay, November 26. “If the Bears lose on Thursday. Check that, when the Bears lose on Thursday, whether it’s by 3 or by 17, what’s the difference? The trigger should be pulled on Friday.”
Matt Eberflus Has Lost Confidence of Bears Fans Over Time
GettyChicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus.
The decision by Eberflus to attempt a two-point conversion while trailing the Minnesota Vikings 24-16 in the middle of the fourth quarter last weekend drew ire across social media.
That decision wasn’t as egregious as some critics suggest, but fans’ reaction to it are indicative of a deepening distrust in Eberflus as a decision maker.
The botched defensive series against the Washington Commanders that ended in a Hail Mary touchdown on the final play is number one with a bullet on the worst moments of Eberflus’s season, but there are also less obvious weaknesses that show up over and over again, which have caught the attention of the more astute observers.
Zimmerman noted Eberflus “coached scared” at the end of the first half against the Vikings, when the Bears took an overly conservative approach rather than pressing for a touchdown drive with more than three minutes on the clock and all three of their timeouts remaining.
“Eberflus played for the field goal. He played scared, he played conservatively, he played not to lose,” Zimmerman wrote. “Why is Matt Eberflus 5-18 in one-score games? These decisions right here. He evaporated a great performance by Caleb Williams with his own decisions despite Williams trying to offset those conservative decisions.”
Thomas Brown Could Replace Matt Eberflus if Bears Make Change
GettyHead coach Matt Eberflus of the Chicago Bears.
Regardless of the validity of Zimmerman’s criticisms and those floating around the internet, yanking Eberflus in the middle of the season isn’t necessarily the best decision.
Chicago isn’t out of the playoff chase at 4-7, but playing the Lions — arguably the best team in the NFL — on the road and on a short week doesn’t bode well for the Bears’ chances to bust their five-game losing streak.
If the Bears lose on Thanksgiving, the season is essentially over, and another team is probably currently employing their head coach of the future. If Chicago can’t bring that person in immediately, then shaking up the coaching ranks in the middle of a campaign that is all but over from a postseason perspective feels like doing something just to do it.
That said, Zimmerman floated interim offensive coordinator Thomas Brown as Eberflus’s in-season successor. Elevating Brown into a head coaching role so quickly could be a recipe for disaster.
However, the argument for it is that the front office could find out whether Brown is up to the task. If he is, the Bears have their coach moving forward. If he isn’t, they can look elsewhere come the offseason.
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Bears Predicted to Fire Matt Eberflus Following Lions Thanksgiving Game