With the Bears over .500 and rookie quarterback Caleb Williams on the upswing, there’s rare peace and quiet at Halas Hall. And if coach Matt Eberflus is at the center of every storm they encounter, he gets credit when everything is calm, too.
Eberflus was on notice yet again just two weeks ago after a feeble performance in a loss to the lowly Colts, and that cost of that defeat will lurk in the standings all season. Imagine the Bears rallying toward playoff contention and missing out by one game.
It was around that time that familiar questions swirled around Eberflus, who at 13-26 in his tenure will carry a sizable burden of proof for a while:
• Did he, after three decades of specializing in defense, know how to intervene with coordinator Shane Waldron and right the capsizing offense?
• Could the Bears entrust him to oversee Williams’ development?
• Would he manage all of that while also being the full-time defensive play caller, rather than his original plan of operating as a CEO-style coach who delegates those responsibilities?
“Whenever there’s an issue on any side of the ball, I’m always going to go directly to that issue and work on that and put energy, time, and attention to that,” he said at the time.
Those questions, of course, can’t be answered at the podium or merely by beating up on the Rams and Panthers the last two weeks, and the Jaguars team the Bears will face in London on Sunday also is a lightweight.
Eberflus has the team steady, but as has been the case throughout his three seasons and for every recent predecessor, that’s momentary and fragile.
Now he meets the wild card of taking the Bears overseas for the week to play at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, which remains a pitfall in the NFL.
“That field’s the same size, and it’s about preparation,” Eberflus said Monday. “It’s all about us. That’s what my mantra is going to be and that’s what it’s always been.”
It’s never that simple. International games are unpredictable because teams often show up unready or unfocused amid the disruption to their routine.
Getting a victory over a 1-4 Jaguars team, which has allowed the third-most points in the league, Sunday would hardly make Eberflus the frontrunner for Coach of the Year or fortify his long-term job security.
It is the next checkpoint, however, and he can’t take anything for granted when it comes to stacking the good side of the ledger. The Bears should beat the Jaguars, just as they should’ve beaten the Rams and Panthers, but since the ’85 championship season, this team doing what it should hasn’t been a given.
There’s always been uneasiness offensively under Eberflus. One of the chief concerns raised when they hired him was that he’d be even less equipped than Matt Nagy to fix what has been a decades-long frustration for the Bears, and he was asked about that when the Bears introduced him as head coach in 2022.
The offense teetered between one-dimensional and inept with Luke Getsy as offensive coordinator and Justin Fields at quarterback in Eberflus’ first two seasons, and alarms went off regarding Waldron after that Colts game — none louder than on the way-too-cute option call on fourth down at the goal line for a 12-yard loss.
In the two games since, albeit against terrible defenses, the Bears scored a total of 60 points and Williams had a combined passer rating of 117.5. It needs to be viewed in the context of those being bad teams, but it’s still progress.
And now, regardless of it being a game in London against the Jaguars, this is a pivotal moment in the season for Eberflus and the Bears. Any sign of regression would be damaging and possibly destabilizing. It’s crucial they get to their bye week on a high note as they head toward greater challenges.