Matt Eberflus is fighting for his job now. Everybody knows it. People around the Chicago Bears have said even the head coach himself seems to know it. He already owns the franchise record for consecutive losses (14), has fired seven assistant coaches, including two offensive coordinators, and has blown five 4th quarter leads since the start of 2023. His lack of situational awareness and tendency to wilt under pressure is impossible to disguise behind a bad roster anymore. This team is too talented to be 4-6.
That doesn’t even account for how bad his offenses have been and the overall lack of discipline. Plenty of people believe Eberflus is a dead man walking. It is almost impossible he doesn’t get fired at this point. Some project the Bears won’t win another game this season, which would be 11 straight losses, the second-longest streak in franchise history. What many want to know is what the coach has to do to save his job. Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune provided a crystal clear answer to that.
Given the remaining schedule, the requirement is almost impossible.
The Bears would have to go on an absolute heater, starting Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings at Soldier Field, for Eberflus to improve his prospects of remaining employed. That’s pretty much a rewrite of what I said a week ago. There’s even less room for error now with the team at 4-6, in last place in the division and chasing in the NFC playoff picture…
…All of that is more subjective than simply placing a number on a required win total. Clearly, the Bears would need to have a better record than two games below .500. It was fair to believe the Bears, even with a rookie quarterback, could be better than they were in 2023, when they finished 7-10. That’s going to be an uphill battle with the remaining schedule, and I’m not sure 8-9 gets it done for Eberflus.
If the Bears somehow get to 9-8 — they would have to go 5-2 in their final seven games — with Caleb Williams playing well and the offense clicking and the skill-position talent producing like they imagined entering the season, there’s probably a conversation that needs to take place.
Matt Eberflus stares down a long-standing NFL rule.
If you have three straight losing seasons in this league, you’re almost guaranteed to lose your job as a head coach. Dave Wannstedt and John Fox are some examples of this is recent Bears history. Eberflus hasn’t accomplished anything since his arrival to justify more time. The only way out is if he can somehow duplicate what he did last year, going on a late surge from 2-7 to 7-10. If he did it once, he can do it again. Unfortunately, luck isn’t on his side this time.
Last year, the coach benefitted from a soft schedule over the final eight games. Four of them were against opponents who would finish with losing records. As things stand, none of the seven remaining games this season are against such opponents. Five of them are against teams projected to make the playoffs, while the other two are the defending NFC champion 49ers and a Seahawks team with the #2 passing offense in the NFL. Matt Eberflus is 6-20 against such teams.
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That is why is almost certainly cooked.
