Sources – Bears fire Eberflus after sixth straight loss

CHICAGO — The Chicago Bears fired coach Matt Eberflus on Friday, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter, a day after a 23-20 loss to the Detroit Lions that ended with the Bears falling victim to pacing mismanagement.

Eberflus held a press conference via Zoom on Friday morning and said he was “confident” he would coach the Bears against the San Francisco 49ers on Dec. 8, but he was fired hours later, sources told ESPN interim offensive coordinator Thomas Brown would take over on an interim basis.

Eberflus’ tenure ended with a six-game losing streak that included a number of last-gasp defeats including:

• An 18-15 road loss to the Washington Commanders in Week 8 that culminated in a 52-yard Hail Mary pass. In an embarrassing twist, Bears cornerback Tyrique Stevenson turned his back to the receivers running downfield as he tackled and taunted fans on the final play of the game before crossing into coverage.

• A 20-19 loss to the Green Bay Packers in Week 11, where a blocked 46-yard field goal would have given the Bears the win. It was Cairo Santos’ league-best blocked field goal attempt of the season, and came after the Bears decided not to run an extra play to shorten the attempt.

• A 30-27 overtime loss to the Minnesota Vikings in Week 12 that wiped out a furious fourth-quarter surge.

• Sunday’s loss ended with the Bears having the ball at the Lions’ 41 with 32 seconds left. Instead of calling his final timeout, Eberflus watched as rookie quarterback Caleb Williams threw a long pass out of reach of Rome Odunze as time expired.

The losing streak coincided with a dramatic improvement by Williams, who has thrown 232 passes without an interception, the longest streak for a rookie in NFL history. He has thrown five touchdowns without a pick in the past two weeks, and the next coach will be tasked with continuing the development of this year’s No. 1 overall pick in the draft.

Eberflus defended his watch management on Sunday. When Williams was sacked with 32 seconds left and the Bears trailing by three points, 26 seconds passed before the Bears played their final game.

Realizing Chicago wouldn’t have time to make another play after the ball was snapped with six seconds left, Williams changed the play and threw the deep ball toward Odunze.

Eberflus said he was trying to preserve the final timeout to set up a potential game-winning field goal after a final play.

“I like what we did there,” Eberflus said. “Again, once it’s under seven (seconds), you’re going to take a timeout there – actually under 12, and then you really have no choice because it’s from third (down) to fourth, you have to throw it. “ then into the end zone.

“For me it’s like this – I think we handled it right. I do believe that you just restart the game, put it in bounds and call for a timeout, and that’s why we held it and it didn’t work out the way we wanted. “Too.”

Chicago has lost six one-score games in 2024, putting Eberflus’ career record in one-score games at 5-19. This is the worst record by a coach with at least 20 such games in NFL history.

Eberflus compiled a 14-32 record in nearly three seasons after being hired on January 27, 2022, two days after general manager Ryan Poles was hired. Eberflus’ winning percentage of .304 in 46 games is the third-worst in franchise history, behind John Fox (.292) and Abe Gibron (.274). He is the first head coach in team history to be fired during the season.

Heading into the 2024 offseason, the Bears opted to retain Eberflus despite him going 10-24 in his first two seasons. The Poles who made this decision did so because of the coach’s “leadership” and “stability”.

“I really believe that the head coach needs to be able to run the ship when the seas are rough or when the seas are stormy and really make sure everything is taken care of,” Poles said in January. “When you go through tough times and he can hold everyone together, that’s the crucial part for me.”

There were many storms to endure, especially among the coaching staff. Eberflus fired offensive coordinator Shane Waldron before Week 11 and replaced him with Thomas Brown. Waldron was the second offensive coordinator Eberflus fired in the same year, after Luke Getsy and four offensive coaches were fired in January.

In two seasons, Eberflus fired eight coaches.

Eberflus, 54, was hired by the Bears after four seasons as the Indianapolis Colts’ defensive coordinator, where his defense ranked in the top 10 in scoring three times, including ninth in 2021 with 21.5 points per game. He took over a team that was 6-11 in 2021 before his arrival. Chicago has missed the postseason in 12 of its last 14 seasons.

After taking over the Bears’ defensive playcalling duties two games into the 2023 season due to the sudden resignation of former defensive coordinator Alan Williams, Eberflus’ unit became one of the best in Chicago during Chicago’s 7-10 finish last season the NFL. The Bears had the NFL’s best run defense and ranked 12th in total yards. Chicago tied for first with the San Francisco 49ers with 22 interceptions.

But since Chicago’s losing streak began in Week 8, the Bears’ defense has taken a significant step backwards. The unit ranks 30th in yards per rush allowed (5.1) and rushing yards allowed per game (158.2), 31st in yards allowed per game (397.0), 30th. Ranked 26th in explosive plays allowed per game (8.3) and 26th in total opponent QBR