The hidden reasons for the Chicago Bears failures in 2023
The Chicago Bears still lack a decent 3-technique
Another reason the Eberflus hire was not the best possible hire is this. The Cover-2 needs an exceptionally talented 3-technique defensive tackle to create a very good to great defense. However, acquiring a very good to great 3-technique is the NFL's version of looking for a unicorn. These guys need to be big, very strong, have a very quick initial burst off the ball, and have a big-time motor.
It also is a big plus if they are tall. Tall is important for this reason. Tall is a big help in making the four-man rush work. Being tall makes it more likely for the 3-T to be in a position to knock down passes. The Bears' defensive line has played quite poorly since Eberflus has been their head coach. It is not a stretch to imagine their defense would be much better at this point if it was not so very dependent on having a very good 3-technique.
There is little doubt that there were candidates available to the Bears who had proven their value as head coaches more than anything Matt Eberflus had proven to anyone when the Bears hired him. Byron Leftwich was my choice for a number of reasons. When the Bears were hiring a head coach, Justin Fields was a talented quarterback with one year of experience who needed to improve in a number of areas.
Logic dictated the Bears should hire a head coach from offense with a proven successful track record in the NFL. A big part of the reason to hire a head coach from offense is that once a young quarterback learns a system, there is not a concern that a hot offensive coordinator leaves the Bears and a young QB has to learn a new system.
Leftwich was the backup QB on the Steelers Super Bowl winner of the 2008 season. Bruce Arians was the offensive coordinator of this team. Leftwich was the offensive coordinator for the Bucs when they won the Super Bowl of the 2020 season. Bruce Arians was the head coach of this team. On that Bucs team, Leftwich worked with two of the best offensive minds in the NFL.
One of course was Bruce Arians the other was Tom Brady. Arians's offense also would have been a great fit for Justin Fields' skill set as Arians was a gusty play caller who loved the long ball. On top of this, the Bears have been starved for a quality QB since Jim McMahon. Finally, the Bears had a QB on their roster with the potential to be a very good if not great quarterback. So, it made the most sense to maximize this QB opportunity by hiring a proven commodity for head coach with a good track record working with quarterbacks.