The Bears made just enough progress in the second half of last season to justify bringing coach Matt Eberflus back for a third season and strive for what they’ve wanted ever since they fired Lovie Smith: continuity.
Marc Trestman lasted two years, John Fox three and Matt Nagy four. The Bears didn’t want to reset their franchise again, particularly when they planned to bring in quarterback Caleb Williams with the No. 1 overall pick.
“We’re doing it the right way,” general manager Ryan Poles said in January. “It’s built on a solid foundation. It’s not a house of cards.”
The Panthers have spent the past few seasons spraying cards all over the room. The Bears’ opponent Sunday has penned a how-not-to book about how to develop their young quarterback.
Both before and after drafting Alabama quarterback Bryce Young No. 1 overall less than 18 months ago, the Panthers epitomized dysfunction.
Since the start of the 2022 season, they’ve had five different head coaches: Matt Rhule, who was fired after five games of his third season and replaced by interim Steve Wilks; Frank Reich, who was fired 11 games into his first season and was replaced by special teams coordinator Chris Tabor; and Dave Canales.
In a season-and-a-quarter, Young has played for three different position coaches and watched as the Panthers changed play-callers four times. Reich handed coordinator duties to Thomas Brown, now the Bears’ pass-game coordinator, midway through last season, then took them back. When Reich was fired last year — with about $25 million left on his contract — Brown called plays again. (Brown declined comment when asked about the Panthers last week.) Canales, the head coach, is the play-caller this season.
Predictably, both the Panthers and their young quarterback have failed miserably.
Young was benched after only two starts this season. Presuming veteran Andy Dalton stays healthy, Young — for whom the Panthers traded the Bears a fortune in March 2023— might have already played his last snap with the franchise.
Even without factoring in the trade that sent the Bears receiver DJ Moore and draft picks that produced Williams, tackle Darnell Wright, cornerback Tyrique Stevenson and punter Tory Taylor, plus a second-rounder next year, Young has been one of the biggest busts in NFL history. His 70.9 passer rating is second-worst among all No. 1 overall picks in the last 30 years — behind JaMarcus Russell, the ultimate cautionary tale. No quarterback in NFL history, regardless of draft status, has started as many games as Young’s 18 and won fewer games than his two.
Young isn’t the only Panthers quarterback to struggle for the franchise. Sam Darnold, who leads the NFL in passer rating this season, and Baker Mayfield, who is third, played for the Panthers the year before Young did. The Panthers even cut Mayfield.
Franchises fail quarterbacks. The Bears can attest to that, given that their most accomplished passer took his last snap in 1945.
After first-round picks Mitch Trubisky and Justin Fields were drafted, the Bears replaced their head coaches a year later. Williams and Eberflus can stop that cycle with a strong season.
The Bears were self-aware enough to not run their entire coaching staff back for 2024 — Eberflus hired offensive coordinator Shane Waldron, quarterbacks coach Kerry Joseph and Brown to help mentor Williams. Eberflus, though, will either show the Bears the value of continuity, or the folly of it, this season. Because while not all change is bad — three of the four NFC division leaders have new coaches — constant change guarantees chaos. Just ask the Panthers.