Matt Eberflus Is Flirting With A Bears Record Nobody Wants

When he took over as Chicago Bears head coach in 2022, Matt Eberflus had a long-term vision for what he wanted his team to be. It made sense. He wanted a roster filled with great athletes who loved football and were hard workers. Everything he preached was based on a logical, time-tested approach. Unfortunately, good plans often don't survive contact with the enemy. Eberflus already endured one of the worst seasons a Bears head coach has ever led, going 3-14 last season. After Sunday's dispiriting loss to Green Bay, he enters uncharted territory.

No Bears head coach has ever had a worse record through his first eighteen games than Eberflus. He's 3-15 with a .167 winning percentage. That is bad enough. Here's where it gets ugly. The worst record in a two-season span in Bears history belongs to Abe Gibron. He went 7-20 in his first two years with the team in 1972 and 1972. That means Eberflus needs to win four of his next nine games even to tie that mark. Anything less would make him the losingest head coach in franchise history through his first two seasons.

Given the team's state, with its 11-game losing streak, that is far from a given.

The optics don't look good for Matt Eberflus.

His losing streak is bad enough. What makes it worse is how non-competitive his team has been in every matchup with the Packers thus far. Not only that, but his vaunted defense has been nowhere to be found for literal months. Chicago has surrendered at least 25 points in each of their last 11 games. There is nothing for him to hang his hat on. Even the development of Justin Fields has stagnated. When it looks like nothing is going right for a coach, things tend to spiral in a hurry.

That might explain why Matt Eberflus has taken over play calling duties. Now, the details for that are uncertain. All anybody knows is defensive coordinator Alan Williams stepped away from the team for personal reasons. It could be a family matter. It could also be a decision by Eberflus to relieve him of his duties. Either way, he controls the call sheet going into what is undeniably a must-win game for the Bears. A 12th consecutive loss with Kansas City on deck might spell the end of his run in Chicago before it's barely begun.