The Chicago Bears immediately fired head coach Matt Eberflus after a blowout loss to the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving Day, but the postgame moments reveal why the team made this decision. could be explained.
Rookie quarterback Caleb Williams was sacked with 30 seconds left in Lions territory, necessitating a field goal to force overtime, but the clock ran out as the offense tried to line up and the ball was held until seconds left. It wasn't snapped.
Williams fired a pass to DJ Moore, but it fell onto the turf and the Lions won despite a late comeback by the Bears.
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Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus watches the Thanksgiving Day game between the Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears on Thursday, November 28, 2024 in Detroit, Michigan, USA. (Amy Lemus/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
What hurt my head is that while Eberflus had one timeout left in his pocket, he didn't use it, even though Williams clearly wasn't moving fast enough to start the play. It was the fact that
After the match, ESPN reported Kevin Warren, the team's president and CEO, was hanging around the locker room longer than usual.
“We need to be better,” Warren told his players.
Bears CEO admits he mishandled Matt Eberflus' firing: 'I'll be the first one to raise my hand'
But what was even more telling about Eberflus' future with the franchise was his postgame speech in the locker room, which one player said was “a show,” according to ESPN.
Eberflus began addressing the team after the game, but was interrupted by fellow Bears star cornerback Jaylon Johnson.
“There was some frustration,” Johnson said Monday on Chicago's WSCR radio. “There were words that I uttered out of my frustration at losing.
“Part of what I said after the game was that I've been losing for five years. High-level players like me lose games at some point and have been losing ever since. Like, someone feels like they have to express something.'' It was something that came to mind, so it went my way. ”
Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus was on the sideline during the second half of a game against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field. (David Rezinek Imagine Images)
According to ESPN, Eberflus spoke for just “a few seconds” before leaving the room. And the atmosphere in the room was classified as “argumentative.”
One player told ESPN that Eberflus' intentions were always good, but the message became repeated over and over that he fought hard and fell short.
“That's all I want to hear,” Cole Kmet said. “Coach is going to say what he wants to say.”
In the end, Eberflus became the first Bears head coach in franchise history to be fired midseason, but his record was 5-19 in one-score games, the worst record in NFL history with at least 20 games played. . That included a Hail Mary tip during a game against the Washington Commanders that landed in the hands of Noah Brown, and Bears cornerback Tyrik Stevenson taunting a fan in the stands during a play. It was
Eberflus' position became a hot topic at the time, and the bad ending of subsequent games ultimately led to his decision to leave the Bears.
Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus speaks to the media after an NFL football game against the Chicago Bears, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
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The Bears turned to Thomas Brown as interim head coach for the remainder of the season.
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