Chicago Bears News: Matt Eberflus to remain defensive play caller

The expectation this week was for the Chicago Bears to provide clarity on how the team will handle their vacant defensive coordinator position and head coach Matt Eberflus addressed the team’s decision on Wednesday.

While speaking with reporters, Eberflus confirmed that he will be the Bears’ defensive play-caller moving forward for the rest of the season.

Eberflus’ decision to be the defensive play-caller for the Bears moving forward does go against what he told reporters his role is as the team’s head coach when he was first introduced by the team prior to the 2022 season.

Eberflus, during his introductory press conference, was against the idea of calling defensive plays as he believed his role as a head coach was to serve as a CEO for the entire team.

Before diving into the idea of Eberflus calling plays moving forward and what that means for the defense, this is a bad decision.

The fact of that matter is that Eberflus already is giving the impression of a head coach who is succumbing to the adversity that has surrounded the team over the course of the past two weeks. Eberflus botched the messaging of how the Bears were handling the resignation of defensive coordinator Alan Williams.

The bigger issue is the rift that is seemingly growing between starting quarterback Justin Fields and offensive coordinator Luke Getsy. With his press conference last week and after the Bears’ loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, Fields is growing more comfortable making insinuations about the coaching and scheme of the Bears’ offense.

While Eberflus may not have a direct say in the team’s offense, it would be the head coach’s responsibility to ensure that there is not a growing fracture between the two main components of the offense.

The other concern with Eberflus is that his defense has failed. The Bears’ defense has allowed 407.3 yards per game this season and that is the third-highest mark in the NFL. If the defense continues to fail, this will just be more evidence that Eberflus is not the solution as the Bears’ head coach.