Has Matt Eberflus lost the Bears locker room? |
No one wants to hear anyone say this, but it has to be said: "I hate to say it, but I told you so." That is what the entire NFL world is saying to the Chicago Bears right now about Head Coach Matt Eberflus, as many of them thought the Bears should've moved on from him last season.
If you look at his track record as a head coach, in year one, he went 3-14 and ended the season on a franchise-worst 11-game losing streak. He then brings back the same coaching staff for year two and starts the season 2-8 before finishing 5-2 to finish 7-10. A lot of those wins came against really bad teams, which may have helped him keep his job a bit longer. Heading into this season, he was already on the hot seat, but after a 4-2 start, things were looking up. It's amazing how fast things can change in the NFL. The Bears are falling back to 4-4, and now there are some questions about whether Eberflus has lost the locker room. With him being 0-17 on Sunday road games and his only road coming on Thursday or Monday nights, you have to wonder what is going through the mind of Ryan Poles as Chicago is wasting another season. Everyone knows that the McCaskey family has never fired a coach mid-season, and barring a miracle or an absolute failure, it doesn't appear that will ever be the case. If there were ever a time to fire a coach mid-season midseason, now would be the time, as the Bears need a shot of life injected into their franchise. However, if recent reports are accurate, things aren't getting better anytime soon, as several media outlets wonder if Eberflus has lost the locker room. According to Bears star WR DJ Moore, who has taken on his share of criticism this season, he spoke on the Berstein and Holmes show by saying he wants to say Eberflus has yet to lose the locker room, but never officially said he didn't. It was more of a wishy-washy answer from a player who wanted to say the right thing but knew the truth, which was different from what he had just said. it’s been brought to my attention that maybe he says “i wanna say no” not sure, here’s the clip pic.twitter.com/4MHhL32EES No one is going to stir the pot on this, but if there is a chance that Eberflus has lost the locker room, that is a toxic situation for any organization, and it needs to be handled now, not months down the line. The longer it goes on, the worse things will get, and that is when things go even farther south than they already have. It's to say what the team is thinking, especially when you're not at Halas Hall 24/7, but it does appear that it is playoff or bust at this point for Eberflus and that his days in Chicago are numbered. After watching how the Bears lost to Washington and then watching how they played against Arizona, there is some rift going on as the players flat-out quit on Eberflus last Sunday. They showed up, fell behind, and just gave up after that. Losing a game is one thing, but quitting on your coach, your team, and your fans is unacceptable and needs to be addressed. The Bears did their best to address the Tyrique Stevenson situation, but there have been times when it looked like Moore had quit on a play, and yet nothing has happened to him. Unless the punishments are equal, that is a great way to lose the locker room, which does seem to be partly true right now. Although no one will openly admit that their coach has lost the team, it does appear that some players have turned their backs on the coach, and you can see that based on how they play. Every week you have a group of guys who want to win and go out and give it their all. You also have players who just seem to be there and not care as Nate Davis comes to mind. Whatever is happening in Chicago right now, it's not a good look for this team and it will only continue to get worse before it gets better. The only chance Eberflus has to save his job at this point is to make the playoffs, and even that may not be enough if there is already a locker room divide.
