It was reported that the Chicago Bears players finally had enough of the Matt Eberflus era after the latest late-game bumbling. The locker room was a mess and the players openly snapped on the head coach.
The Chicago Bears faced a major setback in Week 13, leading to a revolt among the players within the locker room. The incident highlighted a game management snafu, which caused frustration and discontent among the team.
The fallout from this event continued the questioning about the leadership of head coach Matt Eberflus and general manager Ryan Poles, putting pressure on team owner George McCaskey and team CEO Kevin Warren to address the situation promptly.
The Chicago Bears suffered their sixth loss in a row on Thanksgiving. The last three have been to the best teams in the NFC and their division rivals. Each game came down to the final play. Also, each game ended up with head coach Matt Eberflus mishandling game management late in the games.
Apparently the Chicago Bears players had enough of Eberflus. Ownership has never fired a head coach in the middle of the season, but the players wanted to change all of that. They were tired of putting their blood, sweat, and tears into the game, only to have an Eberflus blunder ruin everything in the end.
© David Reginek-Imagn Images
At the end of the Detroit Lions game this week the Bears had 32 seconds remaining after quarterback Caleb Williams was sacked. They still had one timeout remaining but Eberflus did not use it.
The offense took too long to get ready and set so as a result the play, a deep pass to wide receiver Rome Odunze, ended up being the final one. Confusion reigned as the pass was incomplete. Players and coaches, including those on the Lions sideline, looked perplexed as they were unsure of what transpired.
What is being reported now is a locker room in turmoil afterward. After the game, Eberflus tried to give his usual “we have to stick together” speech. The players, cornerback Jaylon Johnson in particular, were not having it. Johnson reportedly went after Eberflus in a yelling match and other players joined in demanding why they lost with a timeout still in hand.
The Athletic’s Adam Jahn reported what happened. He noted that it was so bad that Eberflus had to leave the locker room.
Multiple sources added that the emotions were so high between the players and their head coach that Eberflus left the locker room immediately after his speech and the exchange with players. There was nothing left to say. It was a moment for this Bears team that would inevitably force chairman George McCaskey into something the franchise had never done before.
© Troy Taormina-Imagn Images
The players were sick and tired of the same old talking points without any changes made. They did not feel Eberflus took responsibility for his blunders. Even at the end, in his final press conference the day after the loss, Eberflus appeared to put blame for the snafu an Williams, the rookie quarterback.
The Chicago Bears are 4-8 this season. They easily should have won all six games of the losing streak. Additionally, the other two losses in the season, Week 2 against the Houston Texans and Week 3 against the Indianapolis Colts, were one-score losses that had coaching mistakes involved as well.
We should not forget management’s involvement in this fiasco. The powers that be decided to give Eberflus another opportunity this season even though there were blunders made previously. Another offensive coordinator, Luke Getsy, was fired, along with nearly the entire offensive staff.
Many felt that Eberflus should have been fired alongside Getsy but it did not happen. Despite overhauling the offense and adding to the defense, the Chicago Bears have played the same losing football they have for the better part of the last two decades.
A once hopeful season has deteriorated to one in which the players revolted first against their offensive coordinator, Shane Waldron, then their head coach. Weeks before, some veterans went to Ebeflus and Chicago Bears management about wanting a change in the struggling offense under Waldron. Now both Waldron and Eberflus are out of a job.
Thomas Brown takes over as interim head coach. With all the rancor surrounding the team, Brown has had a head-spinning progression in his coaching career. He was the Chicago Bears’ passing game coordinator. The team promoted him to offensive coordinator.
Brown found a way to unlock the offense. the Chicago Bears scored 66 points and 1,090 total yards of offense. In the previous three games during the losing streak they scored 27 total points and 690 total yards of offense.
Now Brown is elevated to head coach. He will have a five-game audition to show if he deserves to have the interim tag taken off. One thing is for sure, the players certainly like him. They are Type-A personalities so they need someone who can keep them in place and show who is in charge.
The players have said that they love that in Brown. He is no-nonsense and demands a lot from his players. Perhaps being a former player himself earned him some respect from the current players. It worked in his first three games as OC. Let’s see what happens now that he is the head coach.
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