Analysts point to Matt Eberflus as Bears offensive woes continue
Head coach Matt Eberflus and the Chicago Bears coaching staff remain under fire after the team’s week 10 loss to the New England Patriots, its second straight loss without scoring a touchdown. This was also the first time since 1993 that the Bears have allowed six or more sacks in back-to-back games, as the Patriots defense got home to Caleb Williams nine times total in he 19-3 loss.
After more than a week of rumors that Coach Matt Eberflus has lost the locker room, the failures of the Bears coaching staff are further exacerbated as we watch rookie quarterbacks such as Jayden Daniels and Bo Nix develop week-to-week, as pointed out in posts by analysts Todd McShay and Mike Greenberg on ‘X’ with their criticism of Matt Eberflus.
It’s hard to watch what’s going on in Chicago with Caleb. It’s even harder when you’re also watching Jayden’s success in Washington and the development of Bo Nix from Week 1 to now. And even some incremental improvements in Maye. Bears organization needs to get the next hire…
— Todd McShay (@McShay13) November 10, 2024
Caleb Williams was drafted ahead of Daniels, Maye and Nix because of his talent.
He is playing worse than any of them because of his coaching.
The #Bears are doing it again to another young quarterback. So predictable, so frustrating.
— Mike Greenberg (@Espngreeny) November 10, 2024
Dan Orlovsky dives even deeper with a film breakdown of Offensive Coordinator Shane Waldron’s concepts that have not made sense and have negatively impacted Caleb Williams’ development.
These pass concepts don’t make sense
You can’t play QB in this or this way. You can’t operate as a pass game like this @ChicagoBears pic.twitter.com/A4InslreJ6
— Dan Orlovsky (@danorlovsky7) November 5, 2024
Orlovsky summed it up best by stating:
“In Chicago, they’re calling plays. They’re not sequencing events. There is not a rhyme and/or reason to what they are doing. They’re just taking good football plays, more often than not, and calling them. But there’s no reason. The quarterback doesn’t understand the “why” right now, why we’re calling these plays and why we’re trying to get this person the football. That’s on the playcaller.”
This negative sentiment is shared by many Chicago Bears fans, and the players seem to have echoed a similar tone against Eberflus and company during their press conferences after the previous two losses to the Washington Commanders and Arizona Cardinals.
We didn’t need to wait for the press conference this week to understand how the players feel. Fox broadcast cameras caught Caleb Williams sitting next to a grinning Shane Waldron in the third quarter, Sunday. As Waldron turned back towards his tablet, Williams displayed an unamused shake of his head and wipe of his brow.
While it is easy to pile blame on the coaching staff, it is important to ponder the possibility that Williams is going through a normal learning curve experienced by most NFL rookie quarterbacks. His timing can still use improvement, though his receivers bear some responsibility on that front as well.
Williams has also gotten away from check-downs that had proved successful earlier in the year. Through nine games this season, Caleb Williams’ best performances came in wins against the Panthers and the Jaguars. While both teams are considered defensively subpar, he was able to go through his reads and was not afraid of the available check-down option in the wins.
However, in light of their recent struggles, including fifteen sacks allowed in the last two weeks, the Bears’ offensive approach has been denounced as ineffective at best. Questions continue to mount about whether or not Matt Eberflus and Waldron can effectively develop Caleb Williams and the offense as a whole. Simply put, they have not yet found what works.
Bottom line
Coach and player development can be an extreme balancing act, but if Chicago staff does not soon address their glaring faults, they will not be able to capitalize on the potential that Caleb Williams offers. Ryan Poles and Matt Eberflus must make necessary and immediate changes to the coaching strategies in order for the needed trajectory correction to take its course.
After beginning the season 4-2, the Bears have dropped three straight. They will look to get back in the win column on November 17th as the rival Green Bay Packers head to Chicago for a 1:00 p.m. ET NFC North showdown. And if he doesn’t win, things will get worse for Matt Eberflus.
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