In the wake of Matt Eberflus’ shooting, the Bears venture into uncharted territory

the Chicago Bears They have officially done something they have never done before in the 104-year history of their franchise: fire a head coach midway through the season.

After the third heartbreaking loss in a row, this one 23-20 on Thanksgiving Day for a division rival Detroit LionsMatt Eberflus has been relieved of his coaching duties The team announced on Friday.

The news came on the heels of Eberflus’ regular weekly press conference earlier Friday morning, where Eberflus said things were… “Business as usual” And it was “Confident” He will coach the Bears in their next game against San Francisco 49ers next Sunday (4:25 PM ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app).

Two hours later he came out.

The mismanagement and malpractice appear to extend beyond the head coach’s position in Chicago. Making such a drastic move when it has never happened before suggests something bleak and perhaps encouraging for Bears fans.

Maybe it can’t get any worse.

The Bears viewed their coach as a liability. This is the only reason to fire a coach before the season ends After gross incompetence in a potentially game-tying situation againThere’s really no argument against that.

(Related to: NFL Coach Hot Seat Rankings: Matt Eberflus may not be the last coach to go)

Although Chicago got off to a slow start against NFLThey fended off the best team away from home in a nationally televised match on Thursday. Rookie midfielder Caleb Williams He led a touchdown drive to pull the Bears within three points with 5:36 remaining in the game. It was Chicago’s third touchdown in four drives. The defense then put it together, forcing a punt that gave the ball back to the Bears with 2:05 left in regulation.

It was largely a start-and-stop drive, but Williams and the offense got to the Lions’ 25-yard line. A punt and a poorly timed sack by Williams pushed them back to the Detroit 41 with 36 seconds on the clock. Chicago had a timeout, but Eberflus inexplicably didn’t take it. Williams wasn’t going fast enough. Suddenly, one last incompleteness Roma Udonzi It became the last play of the game. And so Chicago lost.

The Bears players were in shock. So were the Lions players, for that matter. It was written all over their faces after the game.

Then, Eberflus took to the stage — and made matters worse.

“I like what we did there,” Eberflus said of the final play. “Again, once it’s less than seven (seconds), you call a timeout there — actually less than 12 (seconds) and then you don’t really have a choice because from third (down) to fourth, you have to throw to the end zone after that.

“I think we handled it the right way. I think you just rearrange the play, put it in bounds and call a timeout, and that’s why we held it and it didn’t go the way we wanted it to go.”

There was nothing to like there. It was another late-game failure by a Chicago team that had a chance to win. Not acknowledging that that was almost as terrible as what happened in the first place.

In the previous match vs Minnesota Vikingsthe Bears came up empty with uninspired play in overtime despite converting an onside kick and connecting on a game-tying field goal that forced the game into overtime. They even won the extra coin toss.

And before that against the damned Green Bay Packersa blocked field goal spoiled Williams’ potential game-winning drive after he positioned his team well inside Cairo SantosKicking range.

I didn’t even mention “Mary’s Failure” vs Washington leaders. This was perhaps the most glaring mismanagement by the now-former Bears coach.

In that game, Williams helped give the Bears their first lead with 25 seconds left. The leaders needed a miracle to win. They got him as a rookie quarterback Jayden DanielsThe Hail Mary pass was put into the hands of the wide receiver Noah Brown By Cornerback Bears Tyreek Stevenson. The thing is, Stevenson was supposed to be covering Brown but instead wasn’t paying attention when the play started and came in late on a rogue assignment.

Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but the Bears had a reprieve. Eberflus could have taken the ball, and should have done so, even if he had not seen Stevenson taunting the fans at the far end of the field.

All of this left the Bears no choice. Chicago has found new ways to lose games every week it seems. Eberflus was a liability.

Chicago will now turn to Thomas Brown as its interim head coach. Just 17 days ago, Brown was the team’s passing game coordinator. He was promoted to offensive coordinator when Shane Waldron was fired two weeks ago. After Brown’s third game as interim offensive coordinator, he will now be promoted to interim head coach.

It’s hard to think the Browns are getting a fair shake given how much has gone wrong in Chicago already.

While the Bears have never fired a head coach midway through a season, firing Eberflus would perpetuate a cycle that has been occurring in Chicago for nearly a decade. Once again, the Bears fired a head coach less than a year after taking on a first-round quarterback. Williams will now have to make a staff change after his rookie season, just like Justin Fields and Mitch Trubisky He did before him.

Things like this are a sign of a larger regulatory problem. That Eberflus was allowed to appear before the media and talk about his confidence in his job security just hours before he was fired is a sign of a larger organizational problem. Perpetuating this cycle of systems replacing systems is a sign of a larger problem.

General manager Ryan Bowles said when he was hired in 2022 that he was brought to Chicago to break rotations. Although this list looks promising, the Poles and the organization did not deliver.

Although the process is the same now, the Bears will have one last chance to make things right with whoever they bring in. Their upcoming coaching appointment is perhaps the most significant in the team’s century-long history.

As a silver lining, this is probably the best opening of this league-wide season. It is so far, with New Orleans Saints and New York Jets There are also openings for a head coach. Chicago is by far the better option with the roster and quarterbacks they currently have.

However, the Bears shouldn’t rely on that alone to attract a top coaching candidate. They cannot fall into the trap of thinking that a coach will come because of the prestige of the team or even the existing roster of players.

The organization must keep doing things that it has never done before in order to get different results. It must raise all the money and resources it can muster.

Then – less measurably, but more importantly – the right person for the job must be selected.

Carmen Vitale is an NFL reporter for FOX Sports. Carmen previously had stops with The Draft Network and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. She spent six seasons with the Bucs, including 2020, for which she added Super Bowl champion (and boat parade participant) title to her resume. You can follow her on @karmiV.

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