Up until a couple of weeks ago, it was considered a foregone conclusion that Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus would be fired sometime between now and the offseason. A semi-rebuild was set to begin with the ousting of Eberflus and quarterback Justin Fields. A new coach would be brought in to guide an incoming rookie starting quarterback, selected with the Bears’ overall no.1 pick in the 2024 NFL draft.
Hold your horses, though.
The Chicago Bears Have Been Killing It
The Bears are on a 2-0 run and have played increasingly well over the last few weeks. Fields has shown developmental growth and general consistency in his game play. And all of this has been happening under the guidance of Eberflus, who has taken the play-calling reins from defensive coordinator Alan Williams, who resigned from the team at the end of September.
Eberflus, the former defensive coordinator for the Indianapolis Colts, has helped the team regain its defensive bearings and become one of the top defenses in the league over the last few weeks. Under Eberflus’ direct guidance, the Bears have the league’s No. 3 defense against the run, allowing 3.5 yards per carry. They’ve also allowed 324.2 yards per game, down from the 373.3 under Williams and have outgained opposition in 8 of their last 10 games. Under Williams, they were outgained in 12 of 18 games. They’ve also now held opposition to 13 points or less in two straight games (and 3 of their last 4).
Decisions, Decisions
All of this makes ownership/front office plans for the 2024-2025 season a lot more complicated. Does the team stand pat with Eberflus and Fields, continuing to bank on further development while selecting other needed pieces via the draft? Or do they bite the bullet, chalk up the team improvements to pure happenstance, and move forward with a new head coach and a new starting quarterback?
Some have begun to voice their feelings that, at least when it comes to Eberflus, the Bears will be staying their current course and that, actually, that decision was never really in doubt.
Respected NFL journalist Albert Breer of Spots Illustrated has opined that this “stay the course” philosophy may very likely be the case.
Per Breer’s Tuesday column:
“With the Bears suddenly catching fire, both Matt Eberflus and Ryan Poles have given their bosses (new president Kevin Warren among them) plenty to think about before they plan any changes. And, in fact, a lot of this has come according to plan—with this season earmarked as the time to reset the cap and flip the roster, and 2024 the first real year of building.
Taking all that into account, a bumpy Year 1, plus a Year 2 with a tough start and strong finish, is probably what Chicago would have hoped for.”
This seems to indicate that the franchise anticipated growing pains and was more than willing to let things work themselves out, having complete faith in Eberflus’ ability to right the ship and get things on track.
A Mentor’s Vote of Confidence in Matt Eberflus
Former Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy, who has served as a mentor to Eberflus over the years, has offered his own personal vote of confidence.
“I see a team that believes in their coach, they believe in the system, and that’s really the most important thing,” Dungy said. “You can be winning games and you don’t have what it’s going to take to win a championship.
“You can be making improvements, and the team buys in. It doesn’t show up on the scoreboard, but you can feel it and you can see it. And hopefully everybody in the building feels that.”
Time will tell how all this drama plays out. But, for now, the Chicago Bears certainly don’t look like a team in need of new field leadership.