Before this season, the Chicago Bears had never fired a coach during a season, a fact they were proud of.
They’ve also never experienced some of the late-game coaching fiascos they’ve had this season, especially what happened on Thanksgiving with everyone watching.
Eberflus will take a final timeout from the Detroit Lions loss into his next job. A final-minute debacle, in which the Bears let about 25 seconds run off the clock instead of calling a timeout in a 23-20 loss to the Lions, was the end of the Bears’ patience. Eberflus met the media Friday morning and was fired shortly after. It’s the first time the Bears have fired a head coach during a season.
“This morning, after meeting with [chairman] George [H. McCaskey] and [President and CEO] Kevin [Warren], we informed Matt of our decision to move in a different direction with the leadership of our football team and the head-coaching position,” said Bears general manager Ryan Poles in a statement. “I thank Matt for his hard work, professionalism and dedication to our organization. We extend our gratitude for his commitment to the Chicago Bears and wish him and his family the best moving forward.”
“I support Ryan and the decision that was made this morning. We understand how imperative the head-coaching role is for building and maintaining a championship-caliber team, leading our players and our organization,” said Warren. “Our fans have stood by us and persevered through every challenge, and they deserve better results. Our organizational and operational structure is strong, focused, aligned and energized for the future.”
Offensive coordinator Thomas Brown will take over the remainder of the season.
The Bears had some losses that were punctuated by weird coaching decisions, including the Lions loss and a Hail Mary loss to the Washington Commanders. First overall pick Caleb Williams struggled for most of his rookie season before offensive coordinator Shane Waldron was fired and the Bears were quickly out of playoff contention. Brown was the passing game coordinator prior to Waldron’s firing.
The Bears will move on, and their fans’ final memory of Eberflus will be how his team blew yet another game in the final seconds.
Eberflus’ first season ended with a 3-14 record, but Eberflus kept his job. The following season started just as bad, with a 2-7 record. But Eberflus rallied to win five of their last eight games, which saved his job. It was a fun stretch but ultimately a damaging one, because it meant Eberflus kept his job another season.
The 2024 season didn’t start that poorly. They were 4-2 at the bye, though some weak opponents helped. After the bye it got ugly. Williams started to regress. The Bears lost to the Washington Commanders on a Hail Mary, which came after the Bears gave up just enough yards to get Washington in range for the long throw, a decision that Eberflus said “doesn’t really matter.” A couple weeks later the Bears were in position to beat the Green Bay Packers but settled for a 46-yard field goal attempt that was blocked. The Packers said they knew kicker Cairo Santos had a low trajectory on his kicks, which gave them a shot at blocking the last attempt. Eberflus stood by that decision to not try and get closer. An overtime loss to the Minnesota Vikings made it seem like perhaps the Bears were getting a little better, but the embarrassing loss to the Lions erased that thought.
On Thanksgiving, the Bears fought back from a 16-0 halftime deficit and trailed 23-20 in the final minute. A sack with about 30 seconds set the Bears back, and then chaos ensued. Williams looked like a confused rookie trying to get the team lined up. The snap didn’t come until six seconds were left. Williams threw deep and incomplete, after the clock was expired. The Bears had a timeout left but didn’t use it.
You won’t find many NFL teams blow the end of a game as badly as that.
The Bears’ situation isn’t a bad one. The bar for success is low. Chicago has missed the playoffs 12 of the past 14 seasons. They haven’t won a playoff game since the end of the 2010 season. But the roster is pretty good, and Williams showed enough that a good coaching candidate can see the upside in working with him.
After the Bears made the incorrect decision to go with a defensive-minded coach in Eberflus when the rest of the league was hiring offensive minds, it seems like a good bet that the Bears’ next coach will have an offensive background.
There are reasons to believe the Bears have brighter days ahead, which would be nice for a franchise that hasn’t won a Super Bowl in nearly four decades. Eberflus wasn’t the right fit, and it took the Bears an extra year to admit it.
In a spotlight game on Thanksgiving, Eberflus’ time ran out.
