Bears Veteran Should Be Booted Alongside Matt Eberflus on Monday
To say Matt Eberflus is on the hot seat after Thursday's loss to the Detroit Lions is an understatement. If most Bears fans had his way he'd be fired today. And as things stand, there's a decent chance he ends up finding himself fired on Monday as the team begins preparation for Week 14.
But Eberflus isn't the only one who's gotta go on Monday. One Bears veteran's absurd gaffe played almost as big a role in the loss as Eberflus'. And he's someone whose job should already have been on the line too.
The play that set up the clock management disaster from Eberflus was a sack on 2nd and 20, and it wasn't some run-of-the-mill sack either. It was a sack that came so fast that Caleb Williams had literally no options to get the ball away or avoid the pressure. And that was thanks to one of the worst plays of the game coming from Larry Borom at right tackle.
Borom already looked like he probably shouldn't be on the roster before the game. His 48.7 offensive grade from PFF was the fifth-worst on the team, and lined right up with his 48.0 in 2023. He hasn't played enough snaps to qualify for the leaderboard this year, but in 2023 that grade had him ranked 74th among 81 graded tackles in the NFL.
So while it's easy to be annoyed at Borom for this play — blocking literally nobody with the game on the line — to some extent you can't say it's all his fault. The team knows full well the level of play he's capable of (or not capable of), and they've got him out there anyway. If the Bears put you or me in front of Za'Darius Smith, how much of the resulting beating would be our fault and how much would be the team's fault?
Borom is on the final year of his contract, and the team would take on essentially no cap penalty for letting him go early. He's not going to suddenly make this team a playoff contender, and he's not someone you need to get a good look at to decide on whether you'll keep them as part of your future plans.
Make the move now, Ryan Poles. Borom should not still be on this roster next Sunday against the 49ers.
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