Why Matt Eberflus’ Fate Is Already Sealed In Chicago

The Chicago Bears are 5-9. While they don’t have the record they probably hoped for, the team still has a chance to finish strong. Winning out would put them at 8-9, a significant improvement over their 3-14 campaign last season. That would almost certainly secure another season for Matt Eberflus as head coach, right? As always, nothing is ever that simple. Eberflus has turned around the Bears’ defense. However, he also has only eight wins in 31 games, and three of his most recent losses involved 4th quarter collapses when the Bears held double-digit leads.

No organization wants to employ a choker. Yet there is one significant problem Eberflus can’t avoid. His last game of the season comes against the Green Bay Packers. You’re fooling yourself if you think that game won’t matter in his overall evaluation. Eberflus is 0-3 against the Packers in his coaching tenure. Two of those three games were blowout losses. The other was…wait for it…a 4th quarter collapse. The McCaskey family has always weighed performance against Green Bay heavily. That record won’t sit well with them.

So imagine the impact on Eberflus if their last image of the 2023 season is another loss to the Packers at Lambeau Field in the season finale.

Matt Eberflus has too many things working against him.

The 4th quarter collapses are alarming. Having one during a season is understandable. They happen sometimes. But three in the space of two months? That is a trend. It signals the head coach doesn’t know how to teach his players how to finish. Part of that comes from Eberflus’ poor in-game management and overall conservative style. Couple that with his winless streak against the team’s most hated rival, and you have the recipe for somebody getting fired after only two seasons.

The arrival of Kevin Warren as team president plays a part in this as well. He didn’t hire Matt Eberflus. Reports from multiple insiders have indicated that Warren may want to shake up the football operations, bringing in some of his own people. That could include the head coaching position. While the evaluation isn’t yet complete, it’s not looking good. If Eberflus loses two of the last three games, with one of those losses being to the Packers, there is a strong belief he won’t be back in 2024.