After the Chicago Bears finally fired Matt Eberflus the day after Thanksgiving and anointed Thomas Brown as the head coach, it couldn't be as bad as Eberflus, right?
Yet the Bears suffered their seventh straight loss following a lowly 38-13 loss to the San Francisco 49ers. Now the issues with the Bears look much deeper than the coaching.
Just how bad were they? The Bears had more punts(5) than offensive yards(4) in the first half. They finally showed some life in the second half with two touchdowns from Caleb Williams to Rome Oduzne. But the defense could not cover tight end George Kittle all game in their zone coverage and gave up multiple explosive plays of 20+ yards. As for the offense, they reverted back to the same offense when Shane Waldron was calling and went three and out the first three drives, all ending with Williams getting sacked. New head coach, same old results.
The Bears players talk a good game but they failed to back it up against the 49ers
Brown was lauded by many people for the work he did with Williams the last three games after taking over from Waldron. He was considered a legitimate candidate as head coach. Instead of showing up and playing with more enthusiasm and determination for Brown, we witnessed a total blowout from start to finish and players showed no effort and no heart.
The 49ers were missing All-Pro tackle Trent Williams, defensive end Nick Bosa, both running back Christian McCafferty and Jordan Mason, and linebacker Dre Greenlaw etc. Imagine how bad this game would have been if all of them were available.
Brown's audition went so bad that his candidacy ended halftime. Brown failed badly as both a head coach and calling offense today. It is safe to say Brown probably should have remained an offensive coordinator to focus on working with Williams for the rest of the season.
This team is full of players who talk a lot, and they got what they wanted with the firing of Eberflus. But the players' lack of effort throughout the game was truly worrisome. The regression shown by players today poses significant problems for general manager Ryan Poles. Does he deserve to stay and find the right head coach for the development of Williams but change the culture of the team?
But the problems with the Bears run a lot deeper and Brown alone cannot fix them. And Sunday's result proved that.