Matt Eberflus is gone with the wind in Chicago.
The Bears opted to cut ties with their head coach on Black Friday following an embarrassing 23-20 loss to the Lions on Thanksgiving. Chicago will now be on the hunt for a new leader, one they hope can bring success back to the Windy City.
At 4-8, the Bears are again in a position to secure a draft pick in the top half of the first-round order. However, it’s a roster on the rise, one that should be considered among the top openings of this hiring cycle. With only the Jets and Saints having openings at this point in the season, the Bears probably find themselves as No. 1 on that list.
Eberflus’ firing marks the first time the Bears have made a coaching change during the season, but cutting their losses now allows them to get a head start on the upcoming hiring cycle. Here’s more on why the Bears decided to move on.
Why did the Bears fire Matt Eberflus?
Eberflus’ shortcomings have been abundantly clear in his three seasons as the Bears’ head coach. However, they can be best summed up in just one 30-second sequence at the end of a brutal Thanksgiving Day loss to the Lions.
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Armed with one timeout, Eberflus stood and watched his rookie quarterback, Caleb Williams, have difficulties navigating the final seconds that could’ve resulted in the game-tying field goal attempt. Instead, the quarterback heaved up a prayer for Rome Odunze that fell short as time expired.
Players expressed plenty of frustration after the game, suggesting that this situation was nearing its bitter end.
‘I feel like we did enough as players to win the game,’ Keenan Allen said.
In many ways, that perfectly encapsulates the Eberflus era. Close, but no cigar.
He’s struggled in one-score games, owning a 5-19 record in those situations. He is just 14-32 overall and 3-19 on the road.
No matter how you slice it, Eberflus hasn’t delivered success in the Windy City. He was brought in from the Colts to help stabilize the franchise following the firings of head coach Matt Nagy and general manager Ryan Pace. The goal was to put then-second-year signal caller Justin Fields in a position to become the franchise quarterback.
Instead, Chicago continued their march to the bottom, eventually earning the right to select Williams with the No. 1 overall pick, courtesy of a trade with Carolina. Eberflus’ firing somewhat completes a changing of the guard as the Bears try to avoid previous mistakes.
A defensive-minded coach, the now-former Bears coach treated his challenge flag like a lottery ticket. He was 0-for-5 on challenges this season, most of which came on plays with no chance of being overturned on review. Eberflus explained that they opted to challenge a 69-yard catch in Week 12 because it was explosive, suggesting it was worth it even if they didn’t have the best look.
On Thanksgiving, he wanted the officials to take another look at a play involving Jameson Williams, hoping it would be ruled a fumble when it was clearly incomplete.
Combine all of that with whiffing on his offensive coordinator hire, Shane Waldron, firing him after just nine games and you have a recipe for disaster. The Bears appear to finally have a quarterback in place who could catapult them into contention. However, Chicago is doomed to suffer a familiar fate without the right hire.
Matt Eberflus coaching record
Wins have been hard to come by with Eberflus running the show, with wins in only 14-of-46 games. Here’s a look at the year-by-year breakdown:
2022: 3-14
2023: 7-10
2024: 4-8 (fired after Week 13)