Week 2 confirmed a harsh truth for Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus
Matt Eberflus and the Chicago Bears offense underwent dramatic transformations in the offseason. But both were exposed badly against the Houston Texans on Sunday night, as they lost 19-13.
As you can imagine, the offensive line was the biggest culprit through the first two games. Not one player on that line played well Sunday night. Nate Davis, who is now the new public enemy for all the Bears fans, whiffed blocks and even tripped over his teammates on the Bears' only touchdown game just before halftime.
Last week, the Bear's interior line was exposed by Titans' Jeffrey Simmons and the rookie T'Vondre Sweat. This time, it was the edge rushers Will Anderson and Danielle Hunter, who had tormented the Bears his entire career with the Minnesota Vikings before leaving to join the Texans this off-season.
Because the offensive line is struggling badly, the Bears run game has been nonexistent. We have seen D'Andre Swift getting tackled 3-4 yards behind the line of scrimmage too many times already.
The players were visibly showing their frustrations on the sidelines against the Texans. Criticism is mounting toward offensive coordinator Shane Waldron and now offensive line coach Chris Morgan, who is also their run game coordinator, for poor offensive line play, both internally and externally.
But no one had a more rougher night than head coach Matt Eberflus. He botched not one but two challenges. The first challenge was a pass caught by Texans wide receiver Nico Collins where he had two feet in while he held onto the ball in the second quarter.
The next challenge was an interception that Kyler Gordon could not hold onto as it clearly touched the ground in the third quarter. But Gordon was yelling to challenge the play, which everyone knew was incomplete. The Bear went with a challenge and promptly lost. The next day, Eberflus went on radio shows boasting his challenge record while defending his decision and the process involved.
The new look cannot mask head coach Matt Eberflus's terrible coaching
On the only touchdown the Bears allowed in the entire game, Montez Sweat was not on the field. We witnessed too many soft zone coverages, in which the Texans connected on multiple occasions for big yardage for first downs. Granted, the Bears hung tough against the Texans and gave up only three points in the second half.
But the lack of awareness, and the things that many fans were frustrated with Eberflus last season were on full display on national television.
The Bears have so much work ahead of them to fix the offense which looks pedestrian despite all the changes they made this off-season. It starts this Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts, who gave up 261 rushing yards against the Packers last week. If the Bears have a hard time running against them, who will likely be without star defensive tackle DeForest Buckner, the entire Bears coaching staff needs to put on the hot seat.
The Colts' game is a homecoming for Eberflus, who was a defensive coordinator with the Colts before joining the Bears. His record in his first two years is only 10-24. His defense has kept the Bears in the game despite slow starts. It is the offense that must catch up quickly. Otherwise, the call for his firing will only intensify moving forward.