Patrick Mahomes Hasn’t Enjoyed Facing Matt Eberflus In The Past
Matt Eberflus has endured one of the craziest weeks in Chicago Bears history. Losing in Tampa Bay on Sunday was bad enough. Things got way worse when he lost his left tackle to IR, his quarterback mouthed off about the coaches, and his defensive coordinator resigned all in the space of two hours on Wednesday. The Bears were already a national embarrassment, losing their last 12 games in a row. This has made them a punchline for every news outlet in the country. To top it off, they get to face Patrick Mahomes on Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium.
Everybody expects the Bears to get boat-raced in this game. That is fair. They’ve lost by double digits in each of their first two outings this season. The Kansas City Chiefs are the defending Super Bowl champions with the best quarterback on the planet. It is hard to find any hope that the Bears will even keep it close, let alone win. Still, there might be one source to look towards. That is Eberflus himself and the fact he’s now fully in charge of the defense. There were signs of improvement under his watch last week in Tampa. He also has evidence that he knows how to slow down the mighty Mahomes.
Patrick Mahomes can’t afford to look past Eberflus.
The last time they met, it didn’t go great for the Chiefs offense. It took place at Arrowhead in primetime four years ago. Kansas City was 4-0 and had scored at least 28 points in each of those games. That ended against Eberflus’ defense. They stymied the Chiefs’ rushing attack to just 36. This forced Mahomes to throw the ball most of the night. While he did eclipse 300 yards with a touchdown, he only completed 56.41% of his passes. Indianapolis ran the ball well, controlled the clock, and ground out a 19-13 victory.
Can Matt Eberflus replicate that gameplan? He will likely try. The Bears aren’t quite as talented as that Colts team was, but then again, this Chiefs team isn’t as talented as that one from 2019. That said, you could argue Patrick Mahomes is a better quarterback now than he was then. It will take a solid plan and a 60-minute effort from the defense to prevent him from putting up his usual crazy stats. Eberflus desperately needs a victory. Pulling one off in Kansas City could be season-altering.