What a week, huh? (Eberflus, it's Wednesday.)
Things have gotten Extremely Real for Matt Eberflus recently, and not in the fun, exciting way. The Bears coach has long been an easy target for agitated fans who don't really love his particular brand of ... whatever his particular brand is. Despite a significantly improved roster this season, the Bears have found a way to continue playing below their level of competition, and even starting 4-3 hasn't been received well by Chicagoland as a whole.
Things have reached a new level this week, after a series of poor coaching decisions – followed by one extremely poor player's decision – resulted in maybe the worst loss of the NFL season. All of Eberflus' worst tendencies showed up in the final minutes of the Bears' Week 8 loss, and the expectation was that, in some way, shape, or form, he'd address some of those mistake – and maybe take accountability for them – this week.
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Expectations are a funny thing, though. Eberflus was asked a bunch about the last week during his Wednesday press conference, and if you can believe it, a Bears head coach gave a bunch of counfounding answers that made everyone angrier. They're so back.
Matt Eberflus is sealing his fate one weird Bears press conference at at time
“The game didn’t finish the way we wanted it too. That starts with me.” - #Bears HC Matt Eberflus on the loss to the Commanders.
— Zack Pearson (@Zack_Pearson) October 30, 2024
“In the building we hold people accountable, it’s about our circle” - Flus on the perception he doesn’t hold players or coaches accountable
— 79th & Halas Podcast (@79thAndHalas) October 30, 2024
In his defense, I absolutely love (and only in a slightly-ironic way) Eberflus' answer in the second tweet. "Yes I do" is the only acceptable answer to "No you don't." Yes Matt! Don't beat around the bush! Keep giving nothing! That game didn't finish the way you wanted it to. Some tremendous insight into the mind of an NFL coach is on display here.
If you want more examples of just how poorly today's press conference went, spend literally 45 seconds on Bears Twitter. If you type in 'Matt Eberflus accountability' you will be bombarded with so many negative tweets, you'd almost forget there's a presidential election next week. Eberflus wouldn't give an answer on whether Tyrique Stevenson will start in this week's game against the Cardinals, which is smart because you never know when opposing team scouts are watching, in hopes of learning the status of CB3. No better time to lean into vague statements of gamesmanship than when everyone in your city is pretty convinced you don't know what you're doing.
If this is what going down with the ship looks like, it's way less interesting than I expected it to be. Maybe that's fitting for the Eberflus era.