Matt Eberflus May Get Fired Soon. And He May Not Be Alone

Good head coaches find solutions to their team's problems. It's becoming more apparent with each passing week that Matt Eberflus hasn't been able to find any for the Chicago Bears. Despite an active offseason to upgrade the roster, this team looks as inept as it was towards the end of 2022. An opponent rolled through his defense for the second week in a row with minimal resistance. Baker Mayfield topped 300 yards passing and rarely threw incompletions most of the day. The defensive line still couldn't pressure the quarterback.

Yet the seeming regression of Justin Fields is the part that baffles people. He still looks like the gunshy passer he was last year, but now he's not even a major threat on the ground. His two interceptions at the end of the game somehow may have been overshadowed by his ongoing tendency to take horrible sacks. Nothing about this team seems better from last year. Eberflus has now lost 12 games in a row. Good head coaches don't do that, even if the roster isn't great.

This failure has him on the fast track to getting fired at some point in the near future. The reality is he might not be the only one. There is a real possibility GM Ryan Poles might join him.

Matt Eberflus and Poles had the right idea.

They wanted to rebuild this roster according to a singular vision with specific types of players. That is a good thing. However, executing the plan is always the hard part. Poles appears to have done a fair job adding talented athletes over the past two off-seasons. There is one problem. The head coach he handpicked to turn them into a cohesive unit has utterly failed at that job. Picking Eberflus was viewed as a gamble last year by Poles. Some were concerned his defensive background wouldn't serve Fields well at quarterback.

That proved true, but the problems go deeper than that. It's also apparent Matt Eberflus lacks the flexibility to adapt beyond his defensive system. It is obvious this team doesn't have the linemen necessary for a four-man rush. Yet that is what he continues to do. No uptick in blitzing. Constant passive coverages. No Bears regime has looked this bad through the first 19 games of their tenure.

We also must not forget Kevin Warren now runs the show. The new Bears team president had no say in the hires of Poles or Eberflus. That feels important as this season continues spiraling out of control. It seems quite possible he will insist to George McCaskey that the team hit the reset button with a new regime of his choosing. Nobody would blame him at this point.