The incoherent ramblings of a belligerent Bears fan.
What else is there to say?
Caleb Williams played like a superhero. He brought the Bears back, he guided the Chicago Bears to 400 yards of offense and 27 points against a strong Minnesota Vikings defense. He brought the Bears to overtime despite the Bears’ defense having another game where the opposing offense largely had their way with them.
But it was a game that was within a score, so what does that mean? It means Matt Eberflus was going to lose the game. Eberflus fell to 5-18 in one-score games, the worst in the league by far.
We’ve talked about how Matt Eberflus doesn’t understand how to utilize his challenges. He challenged Jordan Addison’s 69-yard catch because “it was an explosive so we wanted to make sure.” Does he understand the value of a timeout? Just to make sure? Really? Really?
We can look at the end of the first half when Matt Eberflus coached scared. The Bears had the ball with over 3 minutes to go from their own 20. They had all three of their timeouts and the two minute warning to work with. They had plenty of time to try to come down and score a touchdown and tie the game, especially knowing that the Vikings would have the ball to start the third quarter.
Matt Eberflus was too concerned they would give the ball back to the Vikings rather than coach to win. He ran two plays, and bled the clock down to the two minute warning. The Bears got the first down and advanced the ball to the 33. They didn’t run the next play until there were 90 seconds remaining in the half.
Eberflus played for the field goal. He played scared. He played conservatively. He played not to lose.
Why is Matt Eberflus 5-18 in one-score games? These decisions right here. He evaporated a great performance by Caleb Williams with his own decisions despite Williams trying to offset those conservative decisions.
Now the Lions are coming on Thursday. It could get ugly, but even if it doesn’t and the Bears lose a close game, should that change Ryan Poles’ opinion? Should it change Kevin Warren’s? Why continue to delay a decision that if Halas Hall has any idea what they are doing, that decision has been made?
If the Bears lose on Thursday. Check that, when the Bears lose on Thursday, whether it’s by 3 or by 17, what’s the difference? The trigger should be pulled on Friday.
If somehow they do it, give Thomas Brown a chance to be the interim head coach. The idea seems crazy. He was a passing game coordinator three weeks ago. He’s only been the interim offensive coordinator for three games, why would you elevate him to head coach?
Simple. Thomas Brown may not be able to handle the job. If he does, you have your answer of whether or not he can do the job. If Eberflus is gone, the Bears would almost certainly give Thomas Brown an interview at the end of the season, so if that’s the case, you have a unique opportunity to actually see if the candidate can handle the job.
Brown can still call plays. Elevate Kerry Joseph to OC. It may not work. It probably won’t work. It may be too much for Brown to handle. But if you interview him for the head coaching job, you should take the opportunity to see if he can do the job.
Will the Bears do any of it? Of course not. I’m sure a week from now, I’ll be writing a column complaining about more decisions of Matt Eberflus.
Quick Hits
- Caleb Williams is 37 yards away from passing Jim McMahon’s career-high in passing yards
- Caleb Williams is 207 yards away from passing Justin Fields’ career-high in passing yards
- Caleb Williams is 357 yards away from passing Sid Luckman’s career-high in passing yards
- Caleb Williams is 868 yards away from passing Mitch Trubisky’s career-high in passing yards
- Caleb Williams is 1,457 yards away from passing Jay Cutler’s career-high in passing yards
- Caleb Williams is 1,483 yards away from passing Erik Kramer for the most passing yards in Chicago Bears history
- Caleb Williams is 1,644 yards away from becoming the first quarterback in Chicago Bears history to pass for 4,000 yards
- Stay tuned to see where Caleb ends up this year