In 104 years of Chicago Bears football, the head coach of the team had never been fired in the middle of a season. What it finally took to break that precedent after so many years was back-to-back-to-back losses to each division rival. And not just regular losses. Heartbreaking defeats that came down to the closing moments, largely due to inexcusably poor coaching decisions.
Down by one against Green Bay and holding a timeout with half a minute remaining, Matt Eberflus chose not to run another play to try to get further inside Cairo Santos' kicking range. The field goal was blocked. Against Minnesota, Caleb Williams broke out the Patrick Mahomes magic and got the Bears into overtime where Matt Eberflus did not call a single blitz. His soft defensive calls allowed Sam Darnold to march his team down the field for the win, picking up multiple third-and-longs along the way.
A bridge too far in Detroit.
The final straw came on Thanksgiving at the 11:30 slot, the most watched game of the holiday. In front of a national audience, the Bears had the chance to pull off an incredible comeback victory over 10-1 Detroit. Instead, Eberflus failed to communicate swiftly with his coaches as they faced a third and long with 34 seconds remaining and one timeout left.
It took over half that amount of time just to get a play-call in to Williams, who needed to check out of the play at the line, and the clock eventually ran out on an incomplete pass. Yes, that's right. The Bears carried a timeout into this loss like it would rollover into the next one.
Some people blame Caleb for not snapping the ball quicker, and maybe he should have! But he's a rookie dealing with an intense scenario on the road on a short week. As the head coach, once Eberflus saw the clear confusion among his offense, he should have called a timeout, even if he had been hoping to save it. Instead, he inexplicably allowed the clock to run out.
And that proved too much for the McCaskey family. They've endured a lot of losing in their lifetimes but didn't fire the head coach midseason. Even Marc Trestman, who infamously allowed the Patriots and Packers to drop over 50 points on him in back-to-back games, survived the season.
But three consecutive last-second losses to division rivals, all of which can be largely and fairly blamed on baffling head coaching decisions, was the last straw.
Will Chicago finally get the right guy?
While Bears fans can and should be happy at this turn of events, it does mean that Williams' rookie year will, in fact, be considered a wasted season. He's already proven himself capable of being a franchise quarterback, but you would have liked to see him earn the success he deserves in his rookie year.
Now Bears fans must hope that GM Ryan Poles and President Kevin Warren finally hire the right head coach. Lucky for them, the pool of likely candidates is deep with talent. Make no mistake: this will be the most important coaching decision in franchise history. If Poles and Warren hire the right guy to mentor and develop Williams into the elite quarterback he's capable of being, the Bears will be in title contention for a long time.
Most importantly, the NFC North is an absolute juggernaut. The Lions, Vikings, and Packers all have excellent head coaches and rosters that are stuffed with talent. All three teams have 9 or more wins. The Bears are one again on the outside looking in for this season, a very small fish swimming with sharks, but that can all change in 2025 if Poles and Warren finally hire the right head coach.
No pressure, gentlemen.