Matt Eberflus Just Finished The Marc Trestman Bingo Card
Marc Trestman remains the only head coach of the Super Bowl era fired by the Chicago Bears after only two seasons. How it happened felt like something out of a nightmare. His defense sank to one of the worst in franchise history. His offensive coordinator spouted off about quarterback Jay Cutler not being the guy, leading to a fractured locker room. What really did him in, though, was how lifeless his team became, leading to multiple blowouts where opponents easily hung 50+ points on them. A 55-14 loss in Green Bay and then a 51-23 loss in New England. That was the final straw. Well, somehow, it appears Matt Eberflus is duplicating that playbook.
He has the worst defense in the NFL by a wide margin. His quarterback called out the offensive coordinator and his staff for overcoaching him. The defensive coordinator resigned over “inappropriate” conduct. The only thing left was losing in epic fashion against a top team. Enter the Kansas City Chiefs. True to form, the defending champs utterly humiliated the Bears at Arrowhead Stadium, leading them 34-0 at halftime alone. It ultimately ended 41-10. All ten points came after Kansas City had pulled Patrick Mahomes from the game. There was zero fight from Chicago. Nothing they tried worked. Players looked defeated.
For all the talk about the H.I.T.S principle, it’s beyond clear that Eberflus has lost control of this team just like Trestman did nine years ago.
Matt Eberflus is another in a long line of failures.
He felt he could be the next Lovie Smith, having seen what the former coach did in Chicago for several years. It turns out he’s closer to his mentor Rod Marinelli, who had the first-ever 0-16 regular season as head coach of the Detroit Lions in 2008. Forget the playoffs or even an improved record. The Bears may have to fight to even win one game this season. That is how bad they look. Not all of it is Eberflus’ fault. The team isn’t well-constructed and has obvious quarterback issues. Still, the head coach and his staff haven’t been up to the job.
There is a strong likelihood that he will be fired at season’s end. There is zero argument for keeping Matt Eberflus at this point. Chicago actually looks worse than they were last season. He can’t build a competent staff, and the one thing he’s good at has now surrendered 25 or more points in 13 straight games. He has to go. Fields has to go. The only uncertain question is whether Poles should go too. Considering he was the one who hired Eberflus in the first place, that alone should be a strong enough case.
Nobody can justify keeping their job after a shitshow like this.