Head Coach Matt Eberflus Deserved to be Fired

The end came a day after Matt Eberflus horrifically mismanaged the clock at the end of the Thanksgiving Day game against the Detroit Lions. The Bears had come back from down 16-0 and had a chance to tie the game or take the lead, but the clock ran out on a disorganized offensive operation following a penalty and a sack of quarterback Caleb Williams. What's particularly galling is that the Bears had a timeout remaining and Eberflus never used it.

This author was an Eberflus defender for a while -- he was hired to intentionally lose in his first season, as the Bears set up a rebuild. He seemed like a good person and he seemed to try hard to do the best job he could. But evidence that he's in over his head has stacked up over the past two seasons.

Eberflus had to fire not one, but two, position coaches/coordinators for mysterious misconduct in 2023. He oversaw four late-game collapses in 2023, despite having a very good defense to work with. He hired Shane Waldron as offensive coordinator when, in hindsight, it was clear that current OC Thomas Brown was a better fit, especially with Williams.

Then there were the late-game meltdowns that have keyed this six-game losing streak. There were poor decisions that allowed the Washington Commanders to have a walk-off Hail Mary -- and the fact that the impact from that game seemed to linger. Eberflus arguably should've played for extra yards before a potential game-winning field goal was blocked by the Green Bay Packers. There were a bevy of mistakes that cost the Bears a chance to complete a comeback against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 12.

Add in the egg that the Bears laid against the terrible New England Patriots -- at home -- and the fact that the defense appeared to quit on the final play of the first half against the Arizona Cardinals, and it all looks bad.

Speaking of that defense, Eberflus's strength is organizing and calling a defense. But the Bears defense has been bad at stopping the run since the Hail Mary game, and soft coverage against the Vikings in overtime allowed Minnesota to drive the ball down the field too easily.

Let's not forget Eberflus throwing a challenge flag against Minnesota in the hope that maybe the refs would find a reason to overturn the play. He didn't throw the flag based on actual evidence of a reason to overturn.

To be fair, not everything is on Eberflus. Poor execution and bad penalties are the players' fault, though coaching obviously plays a role. But when one looks at the four late-game collapses in 2023, and the four baffling close losses in the six-game losing streak in 2024, a lot of the questionable decisions and strategic choices fall on the head coach.

Let's take the Detroit game. If Eberflus uses the timeout and manages the clock correctly and the Bears still fail on the field, that's on the players. But the clock management is all on Eberflus.

After the game Eberflus tried to suggest he was holding on to the timeout hoping the Bears would get one more play off -- and they could use the timeout before a potential game-tying field-goal attempt if the play was successful. That logic makes no sense, though. There were around 36 seconds on the clock when Williams was sacked. Plenty of time to take the timeout and talk about the next few plays. Plenty of time for the Bears to get out of bounds or clock the ball if a play that put them in field-goal range was successful.

There was no need to hold the timeout.

Accountability was also an issue with Eberflus. He never threw his players under the bus, to be fair, but he often either sounded too optimistic or tossed out platitudes about fighting through tough times after a baffling loss that his decisions made more likely.

I appreciated him explaining his thought process, even if said thought process made little sense. But perhaps the team -- and fans, and the front office -- needed to hear a bit more things like "This is on me" after a poor decision. Perhaps the shock of the Hail Mary would've worn off more quickly, as just one example.

Eberflus is far from the worst head coach in Chicago Bears or NFL history. He came across as a nice guy and rarely threw his players under the bus, snapped at the media, or was involved in scandal. But he made coaching mistakes that cost his team too many games and never seemed to course-correct or take accountability, at least publicly.

There are truly bad coaches, and there are coaches who make the effort to be good but are in over their head. Either way, the on-field results tend to be the same. Eberflus is the latter, which might be a small consolation to him (especially if he learns enough to earn a second chance). But whether someone is bad at the job because they simply will never be good at it, or because they are trying their best but just overwhelmed, it leads to the same place: The unemployment line.

The Chicago Bears have jettisoned the 54-year-old, and it's well deserved.

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