The Bears' firing of Matt Eberflus was as painful on the inside as it was on the outside.
ESPN's scathing report Detailing the moments after the embarrassing ending sequence In the Bears' loss to the Lions on Thanksgiving Day, the now-fired coach only consoled his team for “a few seconds” before chaos erupted.
One team official told the website that the postgame scene was a “show.”
A volatile locker room led by second-team All-Pro cornerback Jaylon Johnson punctuated Everflus' tone-deaf postgame speech about falling just short.
“There was some frustration,” Johnson said Monday on Chicago's WSCR radio. “There were words that I uttered from myself, expressing my frustration at losing.''
After Johnson's interruption, Eberflus reportedly cut his message short and left.
“That's all I want to hear,” tight end Cole Kmet said. “Coach is going to say what he wants to say.”
Chicago took the ball down the field to the Detroit 25 with 56 seconds left, poised to at least kick the game-clinching field goal and possibly win the game outright by a touchdown.
A 10-yard penalty followed by a sack by rookie quarterback Caleb Williams pushed the team back to its 42-yard line.
There was one timeout with 32 seconds left on third down when Williams took the sack.
Eberflus strangely allowed time to run out, and play didn't start until there were five seconds left. A deep incompletion on Roma Odunze would end the game and seal the Bears' six-game losing streak.
After the game, general manager Ryan Pauls and team president Kevin Warren were stuck in the locker room, but they gave words of encouragement to the players before leaving.
The next day, Eberflus was allowed to speak to the media for his usual postgame media availability, where the Bears coach said he was not fired and that the end of the game was “handled the right way.” ' he expressed confidence. ”
ESPN added that Warren and team executives were simultaneously in a meeting to decide the coach's future, and that the Zoom call with the media had “nothing” to do with the firing.
“I've just learned throughout my career that it's important to at least try to get enough sleep. I don't think anyone did that on a Thursday night, but at least I felt more lucid. “Try to be respectful in order to make better decisions,” Warren said Monday about the timing of the decision.
Williams, the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, was also a big consideration after showing his potential despite a series of losses in his first season.
The Oklahoma and USC standout has played better in recent weeks, throwing five touchdowns and zero interceptions in the last three weeks since firing offensive coordinator Shane Waldron.
Chicago lost all of their final games against NFC North rivals the Packers, Vikings, and Lions.
They will face the 49ers, Vikings and Lions over the next three weeks as they look to rebuild their coaching staff this offseason.
Pauls told reporters after his firing that he expected the Bears' head coaching job to be the “most coveted” in the NFL and that he would be making the hire himself.
