Matt Eberflus has caught lots of heat from Chicago Bears fans over the past year. It shouldn't be a surprise. The man lost 14 games in a row dating back to last October. If that weren't bad enough, his vaunted defense was giving up 25 points or more per game. The two primary jobs he was hired to achieve were failing. People were calling for his head after the catastrophic collapse against Denver last Sunday. One more loss on Thursday night in Washington might be the killing blow. Then the Bears put together their best performance in months, thumping the Commanders 40-20. Jaylon Johnson gave full credit for it to Eberflus.
There were plenty of reasons why the Bears rolled. Justin Fields threw four touchdown passes. D.J. Moore caught three of them, gobbling up 230 yards as well. The running game compiled over 170 yards. Defensively, they harassed Sam Howell all night for five sacks while the secondary forced two crucial turnovers. Much of this came from how aggressive the Bears were on both sides of the ball from the opening whistle. Johnson said Eberflus was the big reason for that, especially at halftime, according to Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune.
“Coach (Eberflus), he challenged himself, the coordinators at halftime,” cornerback Jaylon Jones said. “He told the whole team at halftime, we’re going to call it aggressive. Don’t shy away. He challenged the OC (Luke Getsy), special teams (Richard Hightower) and he told us as a defense we were going to keep the pressure on them.
“We liked it. It charged us up. It was something we wanted to hear.”
Jaylon Johnson understood the message being sent.
Eberflus conveyed to players not to play scared. They weren't playing not to lose anymore. They were playing to win. It reflected in how the second half unfolded. The defense blitzed Howell several times, making him uncomfortable. In total, Chicago sent extra rushers at him 18 times. Two ended in sacks, and seven others ended in incompletions. It was by far the highest blitz percentage of the season for Chicago, something abnormal for Eberflus as a play caller. Perhaps it was an acknowledgment that his usual approach wasn't working. So he changed.
The bigger surprise was the offense. After going up 27-3, it would've been so easy for them to retreat into a shell, run the ball, and try to bleed the clock. They did that against Denver. This time, they let Fields keep throwing. He delivered two big plays to D.J. Moore that led to 10 points, effectively putting the game out of reach. It wasn't a flawless showing, but it was by far the best this team has put forward since their Monday night game against New England last October. Eberflus deserves credit for making it happen.
Jaylon Johnson hopes to keep the momentum going next week when he returns for a big game against the rival Minnesota Vikings.
