CHICAGO — The Bears fired head coach Matt Eberflus on Friday, choosing to go in a “different direction” one day after a 23-20 loss to the Detroit Lions that ended with the Bears’ furious comeback attempt falling short thanks to clock mismanagement.
“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 leadership 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 extend our gratitude for his commitment to the Chicago Bears and wish him and his family the best moving forward.”
“I support Ryan and the decision that was made this morning. We understand how imperative the head-coaching role is for 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 gears up for next week’s matchup with the San Francisco 49ers.
Eberflus held a news conference via Zoom on Friday morning, saying he felt “confident” he would be leading 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 an array of last-second losses, including:
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An 18-15 road loss to the Washington Commanders in Week 8 that culminated with a tipped 52-yard Hail Mary pass. In an embarrassing twist, Bears cornerback Tyrique Stevenson had his back to receivers running downfield as he faced and taunted fans on the final play before racing over into coverage.
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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.
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A 30-27 overtime loss to the Minnesota Vikings in Week 12 that negated a furious fourth-quarter rally.
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Sunday’s loss, which ended with the Bears having the ball on 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 dramatic improvement by Williams, who has thrown 232 passes without an interception, the longest streak for 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 draft choice.
Eberflus defended his clock management Sunday. Once Williams was sacked with 32 seconds remaining and the Bears trailing by three points, 26 seconds ticked off the clock before the Bears ran their final play.
Realizing that Chicago would not have time to run another play after the ball was snapped with six seconds remaining, Williams changed the play and threw the deep ball toward Odunze.
Eberflus said he was trying to preserve the final timeout to set up a potential game-tying field goal after running a final play.
“I like what we did there,” Eberflus said. “Again, once it’s under seven [seconds], you’re going to call a timeout there — actually under 12 and then really you don’t have an option because it’s third [down] to fourth, you have to throw it into the end zone then.
“To me it’s — I think we handled it the right way, I do believe that you just rerack the play, get it in bounds and call timeout, and that’s why we held it and didn’t work out the way we wanted it to.”
Chicago has lost six one-score games in 2024, which brings Eberflus’ career record in one-score games to 5-19. That is the worst record by 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 win 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 in-season.
At the beginning of the 2024 offseason, the Bears chose to retain Eberflus despite going 10-24 in his first two seasons. Poles, who made the decision, did so because of the coach’s “leadership” and “stability.”
“I really think that the head coach needs to be able to captain the ship when the seas are stormy or when the seas have storms, and really keep everything settled,” Poles said in January. “When you go through hard times and he can keep everyone together, to me, that’s like the critical piece.”
There were plenty of storms to endure, especially with the coaching staff. Eberflus fired offensive coordinator Shane Waldron ahead of 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 of the Indianapolis Colts where his defenses finished in the top 10 in scoring three times, including being tied for ninth in 2021 at 21.5 points per game. He took over a team that went 6-11 in 2021 prior to his arrival. Chicago has missed the postseason in 12 of its past 14 seasons.
After taking over the Bears’ defensive playcalling duties two games into the 2023 season because of the abrupt resignation of former defensive coordinator Alan Williams, Eberflus’ unit became one of the best in the NFL during Chicago’s 7-10 finish last season. The Bears boasted the NFL’s No. 1 run defense and ranked 12th in total yards. Chicago finished tied for first with the San Francisco 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 30th in yards per rush allowed (5.1) and rushing yards allowed per game (158.2), 31st in yards per game allowed (397.0), 30th in explosive plays allowed per game (8.3) and 26th in opponent Total QBR
