Bears fire Eberflus amid 6-game skid, name Brown interim coach

CHICAGO – The Bears fired head coach Matt Eberflus on Friday, opting to go in a “different direction” a day after a 23-20 loss to the Detroit Lions that ended the Bears’ furious comeback attempt fell short be incorrect control of the clock.

“This morning, after meeting with (Chairman George H. McCaskey) and (President and CEO Kevin Warren), we informed Matt of our decision to move in a different direction with the management of our football team and the head coaching position.” Bears general manager Ryan Poles said in a statement released Friday afternoon. “I thank Matt for his hard work, professionalism and dedication to our organization. We express our gratitude for his commitment to the Chicago Bears and wish him and his family the best going forward.”

“I support Ryan and the decision made this morning. We understand how critical the head coaching role is to building and maintaining a championship-caliber team, leading our players and our organization,” Warren added in the team’s statement. “Our fans have stood by us and persevered through every challenge and they deserve better results. Our organizational and operational structure is strong, focused, aligned and energized for the future.”

Thomas Brown, who was recently named Chicago’s interim offensive coordinator, will assume Chicago’s interim head coaching duties as the team prepares for next week’s matchup with the San Francisco 49ers.

Eberflus held a press conference via Zoom on Friday morning and said he felt confident he would lead the Bears going forward, but hours later he was informed of the team’s decision.

Eberflus’ tenure ended amid a six-game losing streak that featured a number of last-second losses, including:

• An 18-15 road loss to the Washington Commanders in Week 8 that culminated in a tipped 52-yard Hail Mary pass. In an embarrassing twist, Bears cornerback Tyrique Stevenson had his back to receivers running down the field while facing and taunting fans on the final play before running into coverage.

• A 20-19 loss to the Green Bay Packers in Week 11 that featured a blocked 46-yard field goal that would have lifted the Bears to victory. It was Cairo Santos’ league-leading third blocked field goal attempt of the season, and it came after the Bears decided not to run an extra play to try to make it a shorter attempt.

• A 30-27 overtime loss to the Minnesota Vikings in Week 12 negated a furious fourth-quarter rally.

• Thursday’s loss, which 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 the 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 by a rookie in NFL history. He has thrown five touchdowns without a pick over the past two weeks, and the next coach will be charged with continuing the development of this year’s No. 1-choice.

Eberflus defended his watch management on Sunday. Williams was sacked with 32 seconds left and the Bears trailing by three points, and 26 seconds ticked off the clock before the Bears ran their final play.

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

Eberflus said he tried to preserve the final timeout to set up a potential game-tying field goal after running one final play.

“I like what we did there,” Eberflus said. “Again, when it’s under seven (seconds), you want to call a timeout there — actually under 12, and then you really don’t have an option because it’s third (down) to fourth, you have to throw it into the end zone so .

“To me, it’s — I think we handled it the right way, I believe you just resume the play, get it in bounds and call timeout, and that’s why we held it and it didn’t work, as we wanted it to.”

Chicago has lost six games by one score in 2024, bringing Eberflus’ career record in one-score games to 5-19. That is the worst record of any 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’ .304 hitting percentage 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 this season.

At the start of the 2024 offseason, the Bears elected to retain Eberflus despite going 10–24 in his first two seasons. Polakker, who made the decision, said he did so because of the coach’s leadership and stability.

“I really think the head coach has to be able to captain the ship when the sea is stormy or when the sea has storms and really keep everything in place,” Poles said in January. “When you go through tough times and he can hold everybody together, that to me is like the critical piece.”

There were plenty of storms to weather, especially with the coaching staff. Eberflus fired offensive coordinator Shane Waldron prior to 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 let go in January.

In two seasons, Eberflus fired eight coaches.

Eberflus, 54, was hired by the Bears after four seasons as the defensive coordinator for the Indianapolis Colts, where his defense finished in the top 10 in scoring three times, including being ninth in 2021 at 21.5 points per game. match. He took over a team that went 6-11 in 2021 prior to his arrival. Chicago has missed the postseason in 12 of the past 14 seasons.

After taking over the Bears’ defensive playcalling duties two games into the 2023 season due to the abrupt dismissal of former defensive coordinator Alan Williams, Eberflus’ unit became one of the best in the NFL during Chicago’s 7-10 finish last season season. The Bears boasted the NFL’s no. 1 run defense and ranked 12th in total yards. Chicago tied for first with the 49ers with 22 interceptions.

But since the start of Chicago’s losing streak in Week 8, the Bears’ defense has taken a significant step back. The unit ranks as no. 30 in yards per rush allowed (5.1) and rushing yards allowed per game (158.2), 31st in yards per game games allowed (397.0), 30th in explosive plays allowed per game (8.3) and 26th in opponent Total QBR