It is now or never for Eberflus and his staff |
Over the past few weeks, one of the hottest trends in the NFL is which head coach would be first in line to be fired. Several names popped up on that list, but only one made sense at the time in Matt Eberflus. Going on his second season as head coach, Eberflus has compiled a putrid 3-18 record and is riding an NFL-worst 14-game losing streak heading into this week.
He was always viewed as someone on the hot seat when the season started, but his seat is officially burning up as we speak, as he has now become the most likely candidate to be the first coach fired. Obviously, his team's play is a big reason for that, but several other factors come into play, and most of them are not very good. You can start with the current Chase Claypool situation and how the Beras handled it. It is no secret that Claypool has been a head case since coming to Chicago and hasn't done much of anything during his time here. He did manage to pick up his first Bears TD in week two, but after being a healthy scratch in week 3, it appears he will not be traveling to Washington and is now on the trade block in Chicago. Needless to say, there are tensions between him and the coaching staff, but is it fair to punish him when others have said the same thing? Claypool went on record to say the coaching staff isn't using him right, which is one reason he struggles to produce. Right or not, you can't make those comments, but he isn't alone. DJ Moore was micd up during the Bucs game, and when Shaq Barrett said the same thing, Moore acknowledged that he knows. Justin Fields has also said the coaching may be to blame for some of his struggles, yet Claypool is the only one getting punished for it. Why is that is a whole different question, as this sends the wrong message to the team. This means that certain players will be treated differently for doing the same things, and that can't happen if you want to keep the locker room together. Another thing that Eberflus is hanging on his head right now is the struggling defense that looks even worse than it did a season ago. After Alan Williams was let go due to personal issues, Eberflus insisted that he would be taking off the defensive playcalling duties, which isn't necessarily bad. After all, he was the defensive coordinator with the Colts before getting the Bears job and had that defense ranked in the top 12 every year. Yet, for whatever reason, the defense looks lost, and you could make the case that they are playing worse under him than they did for Williams despite having the same scheme. If those two things are not enough to have you fired, losing the locker room and not knowing what to do may be the final straw. Although no one will admit with the entire team backing Eberflus and his staff, it is becoming apparent each week that this team doesn't trust or believe in his scheme. Anytime that happens to a team, it will be hard to build that trust back up, and this team is at its end with Eberflus running the show. As far as having no idea what he is doing, or at the very least being in over his head, all you have to do is watch his press conferences and listen to how he talks about certain things. People can ask him the simplest of questions, like the Claypool situation, and he jumps around the answer if he is confused about what to say. Some coaches are not made to be head coaches, and Eberflus seems to be one of those guys who is better as a coordinator than calling the shots. The McCaskey family has never fired a coach mid-season, and that may remain the same this year, no matter how bad this team is the rest of the way. However, if there were a situation to do it and send a message, this would be it. Chicago has another winnable game on Thursday and several other games down the road. If things don't change for the better heading into their bye week, there may be some history in Chicago as Eberflus may not make it through year 2.
