When Matt Eberflus was introduced as the newest Chicago Bears head coach, he stated in his opening press conference that he intended to be a CEO-style head coach. This meant that his calling card that led to him getting the job, defensive play-calling, would fall on someone else's shoulders.
However, in the middle of 2023, Alan Williams was mysteriously let go from his position, and with the Bears season already spiraling, Eberflus decided it was in the team's best interest for him to resume the defensive play-calling duties. Around the same time, the Chicago Bears acquired Montez Sweat, giving Matt Eberflus one of the key cogs that would make his defense go.
The stats around the Bears defense at the end of the 2023 season speak for themselves. Top 5 overall, Top 5 pass defense, top 10 rush defense (by EPA/play). Their second half surge also propelled them to ending the season top 4 in team takeaways. Yet, while the defense experienced a surge, the Chicago Bears still experienced a series of head scratching losses.
At the time, while these losses were frustrating, the anger was mostly offset by the fact that the Bears' season was, in large part, already lost due to their slow start early, yet another indictment of their head coach. A blown double-digit lead in the last 3 minutes of the Lions game and inexplicable defensive play calling down the stretch of the Cleveland game cost the Bears 2 road wins and ruined the possibility of a week 18 showdown in Lambeau Field to decide the NFC's 7 seed.
When Eberflus was retained in the offseason for the upcoming 2024 season, much to the chagrin of Bears fans, the cope for the decision and subsequent hype for the season largely rested on the performance of the defense late last season. While they needed to ensure they hired the right offensive coordinator (which we now know they didn't), fans could put stock in the defense being able to carry this team at least for this season largely because of Matt Eberflus' prowess as defensive play caller
However, what if the thing that saved Flus' job last year is what costs him his job this year. The big difference between this year and last year is that the end of game miscues are magnified, not just at a local scale, but nationally too. Additionally, Flus is managing a team that came into the season with expectations, not one that just feels happy to be in a close game with a good team or feels satisfied with moral victories.
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Take some of the Bears' miscues this season. The offensive players saying that there has been a lack of attention to detail and accountability since OTAs. Has anyone heard that about the defense? Take the way the team started. In week 1 the defense carried the Bears to victory while the offensive did nothing; clearly one side of the ball was more prepared while the other slacked behind.
Now, the hail mary play. What if instead of focusing on defensive play calling, Flus had more time to focus on situational football? Maybe he understands that the play before the hail mary is important. Maybe he can see his players unsettled and proactively take a timeout. This is the job of a head coach, and at that moment his job as defensive coordinator took away from that, and it cost the Bears a game they needed.
Lastly, the most recent field goal attempt. Sure, people can bicker about whether or not it was the right call to let the clock run out from the 29 and let Cairo attempt a 46-yard field goal. I think the more pressing indictment is his general lack of feel for the game. All day, both teams really had no problem moving the ball down the field when they got possession, it's just that posessions were few and far between.
So, when the Bears are driving down the field with 4 minutes to go and have a fourth and short opportunity to potentially ice the game, what does Flus do? He backs his defense to get him a stop after going for a punt and pin situation. His tendency to back himself instead of manage the game made him gloss over the fact that on that day, it should have been his offense that won him the game not his defense. Ultimately, punting in that situation only helped the Bears gain a net of 24 yards and the rest is history.
Overall, there is enough of a sample size within Matt Eberflus' tenure to prove that defensive playcalling duties have definitively impacted his head coaching duties, and if nothing changes that is sure to be his downfall as Bears head coach. The logical question at this point though, is there time to change course?
With 7 games left, and the Bears being 2.5 games out of the wildcard, the season is basically lost. However, these games are still important. Whether or not the Chicago Bears can make the playoffs this season doesn't matter because the Bears need to fight against normalizing losing. Sure, losing the next 7 games against your division and other NFC playoff hopefuls would help the draft pick, but it would allow a culture of losing to once again permeate through the locker room, only setting them back as they gear up for next season.
It is imperative that Matt Eberflus do whatever he can, whether he's here next year or not, to give this team, which is still young and ascending, some belief in themselves that they are on the cusp of being special as they go into this offseason by winning as many games as possible down the stretch. That all starts with going back to being head coach and letting Eric Washington handle defensive play-calling down the stretch of this season. Either way, it appears that his fate is likely sealed for reasons not just limited to defensive playcalling.
