Bears fans may want the head coach gone, but we realize we have The Quarterback.
The Chicago Bears may be on a five-game losing streak, and there are calls for head coach Matt Eberflus to be fired, but our fandom is in a strange place because our confidence in the franchise is growing.
That can all be attributed to rookie quarterback Caleb Williams. He’s already set several team records, he has a few more in his sights, plus he’s in striking distance of some league records.
It’s been a bumpy 2024 for him, but the highs far outweigh the lows, and in his last two games, he’s delivered in late-game situations. The comebacks against the Packers and Vikings each deserved a fairy tale ending, as did the game in Washington, but it’s a team game, and the Bears fell short.
However, Caleb’s performance has 87% of us believing in Willams as the long-term quarterback the franchise has desperately searched for. I can get on board with the 9% that need to see more, but those 4% are trying too hard to find reasons to nitpick.
We’re up to a 50% confidence level now, which is the highest this season since week nine. It had been on a downward spiral since hitting 97% at the bye. The loss to Washington dropped it to 51%. The Disaster in the Desert saw it fall to 34%. That putrid performance against the Pats dropped it to 11%. There was a small uptick following the heartbreaker against Green Bay to 25%, but that was also the first game Thomas Brown took over as playcaller. It was also a solid all-around game from Caleb, so we started to see the bigger picture.
And now half of us are feeling pretty good about the franchise’s direction because of the quarterback.
That said, it’s doubtful the Bears can pull off the upset on Thanksgiving. Only 27% of fans — and this survey wasn’t just Chicago fans, but fans from all 32 teams — think the Bears can cover the 10.5 points against the Detroit Lions. The line opened at 10.5 earlier this week, according to FanDuel, and it’s dropped a bit to 9.5.
I’m expecting a shootout in the game, but for the Bears to lose.
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