Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus has cost his team another game. They lost 23-20 to the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving and are now 4-8 on the season.
The Bears had a chance to tie the game with a field goal, but unfortunately, time ran out because the team did not use its final timeout. After the loss, Eberflus faced a lot of criticism from former NFL players and current analysts.
NFL World Blamed Matt Eberflus for Bears’ Loss
Many Bears fans wanted Eberflus fired a long time ago, but this loss to the Lions could be the boiling point. The head coach mismanaged the end-of-game situation and lost his team another game they should have won.
People, including Nick Wright, Stephen A. Smith, Shannon Sharpe, and Skip Bayless, called out the Bears head coach after the loss to the Lions. Here’s how they reacted:
Eberflus not realizing they didn’t have a timeout needs to be the final moment of his coaching career with the Bears.
— nick wright (@getnickwright) November 28, 2024
“Eberflus has to go,” said Skip Bayless after the game.
“WTF was that Bears? Use your final timeout after the sack. You still have 34 seconds left. Situational football by head coach is awful,” wrote Sharpe on X.
No timeout. Not spiking if the ball. You get off just one play in the final 26 seconds. Is there any more proof needed for the @ChicagoBears and their fans everywhere that a new coach is needed? That it’s time for a change?
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) November 28, 2024
“Man, I feel for you Bears fans. That was just brutal. Literal coaching malpractice,” said J.J. Watt about Chicago’s loss.
“There is absolutely no excuse for an #NFL coach to allow that to happen. Hell, there is no excuse for a high school coach. With a timeout in his pocket. Inexcusable. In a season filled with coaching blunders, this was a new low,” wrote ESPN’s Mike Greenberg.
You only get 17 NFL guaranteed nfl games a year.
Players practice, lift weights, abandon their family on national holidays and yet you undermine ALL OF THAT work because you can’t figure out how to work a clock. A freaking clock. I’m livid. #Bears https://t.co/swzvIVTCQO
— Emmanuel Acho (@EmmanuelAcho) November 28, 2024
Caleb Williams was sacked on the game’s penultimate play, but the Bears still had around 30 seconds on the clock. The team decided not to take a timeout, and the players could not run the next play quickly. As a result, Williams threw the last pass of the game with only two seconds on the clock, which he couldn’t convert.
The Bears played quite well in this game after trailing by 16-0 at halftime. Their rookie quarterback had a monster second half and finished the game with 256 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions, completing 51.2% of his throws and having a passer rating of 97.8.
Chicago’s offensive line again failed to protect the quarterback as Williams was sacked five times, and the fourth-quarter sack put the team in crisis mode as they scrambled to get lined up and run the next play.
Bears Have Lost 6 Straight Games
After starting the season 4-2, the Bears have now lost six straight games and are 4-8. During this six-game losing streak, Chicago has lost four one-possession games that they could have likely won with a better head coach.
There’s a high probability that Eberflus could get fired, if not this week, as the team has shown no signs of improvement and is finding silly ways to lose games.
The ending to Bears-Lions 😱
(via @NFL) pic.twitter.com/5fM15AKakW
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) November 28, 2024
Eberflus is in his third year as the team’s head coach, and he has a disappointing record of 14-32. Whether he’ll get fired this upcoming week or after the season remains to be seen, but the Bears franchise should prioritize getting an experienced head coach for next season to get the best out of their young quarterback.
MORE: Will the Bears Fire Matt Eberflus?
As the postgame show mentioned, this kind of meltdown is how a head coach loses the locker room and, ultimately, his job.
What makes this loss even more frustrating is that the Bears did an excellent job of fighting back and making this game interesting, scoring 20 points in the second half.
“I think we handled it the right way,” Eberflus shockingly said after the game.
“I feel like we did enough as players to win the game,” wide receiver Keenan Allen said.
Eberflus was already feeling the heat prior to this blunder, with many wondering if he would make it to the end of the season without being fired.
Chicago entered this season with playoff aspirations after taking quarterback Williams with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. But the Bears are now 4-8 and offensive coordinator Shane Waldron was already fired after an embarrassing Week 10 home loss to the New England Patriots.
All eyes will be on the Bears to see if they make a coaching change prior to Week 14 when they will face the San Francisco 49ers.