As losses and errors accumulate on Bears coach Matt Eberflus, his future looks bleak. Barring a surprising surge of upsets, he’s headed toward his third consecutive losing season, and the team can’t afford to keep going that direction.
The Bears, however, had made no decision on his future going into their game Thursday at the Lions and the evaluation is ongoing, a source said. The team arrived at Ford Field on a five-game losing streak and with a 4-7 record, and there are six games remaining.
It’s late in the season, and things aren’t looking good. Eberflus went into the game with a 14-31 record and has had a losing streak of four or more games in each of his three seasons.
Beyond the glaring overall record, which was third-worst in franchise history before the game, Eberflus has made in-game mistakes and had major instability on his coaching staff.
The most egregious issues have been on offense, where he already is on his third coordinator after firing newcomer Shane Waldron nine games into this season and replacing him with passing game coordinator Thomas Brown.
Eberflus seemed oblivious to problems on offense even as players began speaking up publicly about them early in the season. One week before firing Waldron, he was adamantly opposed to the idea of changing play callers.
The trickle-down effect of that mismanagement is that it has hindered the growth of rookie quarterback Caleb Williams, the No. 1 overall pick. The Bears are in an incredibly important window with him on a rookie contract through 2028 and can’t afford to waste their chance.
The Bears have an unwritten policy of not firing a head coach during the season and haven’t done it, but Eberflus might put them in a difficult position if the losses continue, the morale in the locker room disintegrates or it becomes so overwhelmingly clear that he’s on his way out that there’s no purpose in continuing to have him coach.