The Bears are moving on from coach Matt Eberflus after a horrible last-second loss to the Lions

Before this season, the Chicago Bears had never fired a coach during a season, which they were proud of.

They’ve also never experienced some of the late coaching failures they’ve had this season, especially what happened on Thanksgiving with everyone watching.

Eberflus will take one last time out from the Detroit Lions loss for his next job. A last-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, according to multiple reports. It is the first time the Bears have fired a head coach during a season.

Offensive coordinator Thomas Brown will take over for the rest of the season, according to multiple reports.

The Bears had some losses that were marred by strange 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 the playoffs. Brown was the passing game coordinator before Waldron’s firing.

The Bears will move on, and their fans’ last memory of Eberflus will be how his team blew another game in the final seconds.

Matt Eberflus had a rough tenure with the Bears

Eberflus’ first season ended with a 3-14 record, but Eberflus kept his job. The following season started just as poorly with a 2-7 record. But Eberflus rallied to win five of their last eight games, saving his job. It was a fun stretch, but ultimately a damaging one because it meant Eberflus kept his job for another season.

The 2024 season didn’t start too badly. They were 4-2 at the bye, although some weak opponents helped. After goodbye it got ugly. Williams began to fall back. The Bears lost to the Washington Commanders on a Hail Mary that came after the Bears gave up just enough yards to get Washington in range for the long throw, a decision Eberflus said “doesn’t really matter.” A few 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 one low trajectory on his kickwhich gave them a chance to block the last attempt. Eberflus stood by that decision not to try to get any closer. An overtime loss to the Minnesota Vikings made it seem like the Bears might be getting a little better, but the embarrassing loss to the Lions erased that thought.

On Thanksgiving, the Bears battled back from a 16-0 halftime deficit and trailed 23-20 in the final minute. A sack with about 30 seconds left put the Bears back, and then chaos ensued. Williams looked like a confused rookie trying to get the team lined up. The snap didn’t come until there were six seconds left. Williams threw deep and incomplete after the clock expired. The Bears had a timeout left, but didn’t use it.

You won’t find many NFL teams that blow the end of a game as bad as that.

Who will coach the Bears?

The Bears’ situation is not bad. The bar for success is low. Chicago has missed the playoffs 12 of the past 14 seasons. They have not won a playoff game since the end of the 2010 season. But the guard is pretty good, and Williams showed enough that a good coaching candidate can see the benefits of working with him.

After the Bears made the wrong decision to go with a defensive-minded coach in Eberflus when the rest of the league hired offensive heads, it seems like a good bet that the Bears’ next coach will have an offensive background.

There are reasons to believe the Bears have brighter days ahead, which would be nice for a franchise that hasn’t won a Super Bowl in nearly four decades. Eberflus wasn’t the right fit, and it took the Bears an extra year to admit it.

In a spotlight game on Thanksgiving, Eberflus ran out of time.