While the Chicago Bears are reeling in a six-game losing streak and having just fired their head coach, the San Francisco 49ers are also struggling with injuries. Chicago could pull off a surprise victory.
A once-hopeful season has deteriorated into another frustrating waste for the Chicago Bears and their fans. The team is reeling, in the midst of a six-game losing streak, the seventh longest in franchise history. Two more losses and it will become the second-longest.
Additionally, the Bears fired head coach Matt Eberflus. It was the first time in team history they fired a head coach during the season. That is not the end, however. Offensive coordinator Thomas Brown, who took over after Shane Waldron was fired, is now the head coach. He announced that Chris Beatty will take over as OC. That means Beatty is the third OC this season.
Make that the fourth in just 14 games if you include Luke Getsy, who was fired after the end of last season.
Now the Chicago Bears have to put all that negativity aside and end the losing streak. Doing that gives the team some hope for the rest of the season and positive vibes for the fans going into the offseason.
© Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
This week the Chicago Bears face the San Francisco 49ers on the road. On paper it might seem that this should be another loss added to the streak. The Niners are the defending NFC Champions. They are supposed to have a very good offense and a very good head coach in Kyle Shanahan.
Things are not working out for San Francisco, though. They are reeling as well. Their record is 5-7 and are on a three-game losing streak. That is just one game better than the Bears. Additionally, they are suffering through injuries to key players.
The Niners have 10 players on injured reserve, including starters like running back Christian McCaffrey, wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, offensive lineman Jon Feliciano, and punter Mitch Wishnowsky. Jordan Mason. McCaffrey’s replacement during his absence, was also just placed on injured reserve, which means San Francisco is on their third-string running back for the game.
San Francisco also had 15 other players on the injury list last week. One of the top defensive ends in the NFL, Nick Bosa, has missed the last two games. They are the walking wounded right now.
While the Chicago Bears have their problems, they have not played badly. Most of the losses they have had this season were close battles. It usually came down to execution down the stretch of those games. Of course, coach’s decisions at the end of those games also had a big impact.
In the last three games, the Bears went toe-to-toe with three very good teams in the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, and Detroit Lions. Those teams have a combined record of 30-6. Each team’s defense is also ranked in the top ten. Despite all that, the Bears were in position to win each game.
The Chicago Bears have dealt with plenty of injuries themselves. They have had all of the offensive linemen (and some backups) suffer through injuries that kept them out of games. This week, running back Roschon Johnson likely won’t play due to a concussion.
© Matt Marton-Imagn Images
Additionally, the Bears lost Andrew Billings for the season and safety Jaquan Brisker has not played since Week 5. However, the Chicago Bears have played pretty good football. They just have not been able to finish games. They are averaging 22 points per game and 363.3 yards of offense in the past three games.
© Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
The Chicago Bears could also get a boost with a new head coach. Brown already has the respect of the players. They will play hard for him, especially right out of the gate. In the past 10 seasons, interim head coaches have a winning percentage of .364 after taking over. While that number is not very high, the coaches they replaced had a winning percentage of .263 at the time of the firings.
Last season, the Las Vegas Raiders made Antonio Pierce an interim head coach. He went 5-4 (.556) after the Raiders were 3-5 (.375) when they made the change. he was rewarded with the job after the season.
Brown is hoping for the same. He needs to show that he is ready to take the helm. He could take a big step towards proving that by beating the 49ers and ending the losing streak this week. That looks a lot more promising now than it did just a few weeks ago.
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