Have Matt Eberflus, Luke Getsy, and Justin Fields saved their jobs?

One day after a statement win over those same Lions, the Bears are in an awkward position regarding their future. Have the coaches, Matt Eberflus and Luke Getsy, done enough to save their jobs? Has Justin Fields done enough to make GM Ryan Poles pass on a loaded quarterback class despite potentially having the first overall pick again? With the glimmer of hope emanating from the team now, one has to wonder if we've been ready to jump ship too early.

Let’s review each of their cases.

Matt Eberflus

As a head coach, it’s hard enough to convince your boss that you should keep your job when your team keeps losing. It’s even harder when your team keeps losing, and you’re among the league’s worst on the side of the ball in which you’re allegedly an expert. This was the state of things for Eberflus a few weeks ago.

But the defense has pulled off a remarkable turnaround in the last five weeks. They’ve gone from the 30th-ranked defense in Weeks 1-8 (before trading for Montez Sweat) to the fifth-ranked defense since the trade. They have more takeaways (11) than any other team in that same period, including the teams that have played an extra game since then (the Bears had their bye in Week 13).

Many more stats like these tell the same story: Matt Eberflus’ defense is finally taking shape.

On top of the defense, what has to be considered is his control of the locker room. Many losing teams see an outright mutiny against the coaches, but that has not happened in Chicago, not even amid a franchise-record 14-game losing streak. Players were frustrated and spoke about losing, but nothing seemed to be a direct shot at the coaches. Fields’ comments about being overcoached leading up to the Chiefs game were as close as we got to something like a public rebuff, and even that was taken wildly out of context.

Somehow, someway, Eberflus has a team that still believes in him and is buying in.

There are still four games left to be played this year, and a lot can happen. 2023 could be for the Bears what 2022 was for the Lions when they came roaring back from a bad start to fall just short of the playoffs but come away with confidence that they have their coach of the future.

Luke Getsy

Currently, Getsy seems to be sitting on the hottest seat. He was tasked with unlocking Justin Fields and helping him become an elite quarterback. That has not happened. His playcalling has often been baffling and too often, downright inexcusable. In Week 2, with the game on the line, he infamously called three screens in a row, which was partly to blame for the game-ending interception.

But it’s not all bad for Getsy. He’s also called some good games. In Week 6 against the Raiders, with undrafted rookie quarterback Tyson Bagent making his debut, Getsy's gameplan was fantastic, and the Bears executed it perfectly. Against the Washington Commanders, Getsy seemingly had the right play for every situation.

This week against Detroit, Getsy called a good game overall and had plenty of receivers schemed open, but it wasn’t perfect. That terrible fourth-and-1 play call, the ‘fake tush-push,’ should be scrapped, burned, and buried. Let’s never see that again. But for the rest of the game, Gety's calls were fine.

Maybe that’s enough to save his job, but maybe not. His fate is yet to be decided.

Justin Fields

It’s been a rollercoaster year for Justin Fields. Week 1 against the Green Bay Packers was supposed to be his arrival party, a chance to show the world that things in Chicago had finally changed. We all know how that went. Two more unacceptably bad performances followed it.

In Weeks 4 and 5, Fields seemed to be turning things around. He had some bad giveaways in Week 4 that ultimately cost the team the game, but he was cooking. He was having another dud against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 6 before a right thumb injury sidelined him for four weeks.

Since returning from that injury, Fields has had a decent game against Detroit, another dud against Minnesota, followed up with a good-not-great game against Detroit. Where does that leave us with Justin Fields? I have no idea.

The flashes are there. The promise is there. You can isolate certain plays or sequences of plays and see how he could be a top quarterback in the NFL. But the flaws on his college scouting report are still there, too, and that can't be ignored. He still holds the ball too long and takes terrible sacks. He’s still late on some throws, waiting for a guy to actually come open instead of throwing them open, which all too often leads to interceptions in the NFL.

It almost happened again on Sunday. The throw to Darnell Mooney that went for 28 yards was nearly picked off because Fields was late on the throw. He should have taken the snap, set his feet, and fired the ball to where Mooney would be. Instead, he took the snap, waited a second for Mooney to get to his spot, then threw the ball, which gave the defensive back time to get back and nearly pick off the pass.

While fans have already been sharing that clip on social media as a highlight throw, I guarantee coaches will show it to Fields in their film review session and tell him how lucky he is that that wasn’t yet another backbreaking turnover. It was a flawed process that ended in a good result.

Verdict

Let’s make one thing clear first. Ryan Poles is the only person who knows what the Bears' plans are this offseason, and he might not even be certain yet. All we can do for now is speculate.

If the plan is to keep Fields, I don’t see any reason to change the coaches, not even Getsy. First, you’d be hard-pressed to find a quality offensive coordinator to take that job under a lame-duck coach. Second, I don’t want Fields to have to learn a new playbook and operate with another play-caller, which would be his fourth in four years.

As for Eberflus, I’m leaning much more favorably towards him now than I was just a few weeks ago. This defense is looking like the 2018 Bears, and that’s exciting. I don’t think you’d want to risk breaking that up to make a coaching change, especially not if the players are still bought in.

It all boils down to one question: will the Bears keep Justin Fields? It’s becoming a tough decision for GM Ryan Poles. Fields has shown so much potential these last three years, especially lately, but the Bears can’t afford to ignore his obvious shortcomings. And Carolina is all but sure to be the first overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft for the Bears, the scales tip against Fields, fair or not.

Poles will likely have the top overall pick in a draft featuring some of the most highly touted quarterbacks since at least 2021 with a chance to reset the rookie quarterback contract window. That’s a powerful temptation for any GM. So, it’s not enough for Fields to look like a quarterback the Bears can win with, he has to be the quarterback you win because of if he wants to fend off electric newcomers like Caleb Williams.

Fields has four more games to plead his case. I could see Poles keeping him and retaining the entire coaching staff if he keeps playing well. But he'll seal his fate if he puts up one more stinker. And if the Bears are going to make a quarterback change, I would hope they also at least make a change at offensive coordinator. Getsy already had his chance with Fields, I wouldn't want him getting a shot with a rookie.

But not Matt Eberflus. Keep the head coach around. His seat has cooled off considerably since the resurgence of this defense, and that should be enough to save his job... for now.