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NFL Winners and Losers
Bears move on from coach Matt Eberflus after horrendous last-second loss toLions
Before this season, the Chicago Bears had never fired a coach during a season, a fact they were proud of.
They’ve also never experienced some of the late-game coaching fiascos they’ve had this season, especially what happened on Thanksgiving with everyone watching.
Eberflus will take a final timeout from the Detroit Lions loss into his next job. A final-minute debacle, in which the Bears let about 25 seconds run off the clock instead of calling a timeout in a 23-20 loss to the Lions, was the end of the Bears’ patience. Eberflus met the media Friday morning and was fired shortly after. It’s the first time the Bears have fired a head coach during a season.
Offensive coordinator Thomas Brown will take over the remainder of the season.
The Bears had some losses that were punctuated by weird coaching decisions, including the Lions loss and a Hail Mary loss to the Washington Commanders. First overall pick Caleb Williams struggled for most of his rookie season before offensive coordinator Shane Waldron was fired and the Bears were quickly out of playoff contention. Brown was the passing game coordinator prior to Waldron’s firing.
The Bears will move on, and their fans’ final memory of Eberflus will be how his team blew yet another game in the final seconds.
Matt Eberflus had a rough tenure with Bears
Eberflus’ first season ended with a 3-14 record, but Eberflus kept his job. The following season started just as bad, with a 2-7 record. But Eberflus rallied to win five of their last eight games, which saved his job. It was a fun stretch but ultimately a damaging one, because it meant Eberflus kept his job another season.
The 2024 season didn’t start that poorly. They were 4-2 at the bye, though some weak opponents helped. After the bye it got ugly. Williams started to regress. The Bears lost to the Washington Commanders on a Hail Mary, which came after the Bears gave up just enough yards to get Washington in range for the long throw, a decision that Eberflus said “doesn’t really matter.” A couple weeks later the Bears were in position to beat the Green Bay Packers but settled for a 46-yard field goal attempt that was blocked. The Packers said they knew kicker Cairo Santos had a low trajectory on his kicks, which gave them a shot at blocking the last attempt. Eberflus stood by that decision to not try and get closer. An overtime loss to the Minnesota Vikings made it seem like perhaps the Bears were getting a little better, but the embarrassing loss to the Lions erased that thought.
