Abbreviated game preview for an abbreviated week.
Why Do I Like the Chicago Bears this Week?
I.
Always.
Like.
THE.
Chicago.
Bears.
Eberflus Era Effectively Ended.
Mike Francesa is a legend of sports radio, a national pioneer of the form, and a New York City icon. Much of how I think about the world of sports has been framed by Mike and his longtime partner, Chris “Mad Dog” Russo, as the pair provided the soundtrack of my youth, their voices blaring from an old beat-up radio as my brothers and I engaged in a series of intense Wiffle Ball battles in our driveway. Many of the phrases I fall back on as a sportswriter came directly from their mouths.
Mike does a podcast now, and during football season he reflects on each Jets and Giants game immediately after the games conclude. Late Sunday evening, he took a single detour from his commentary on the Jets loss to the Chiefs, to laugh at Matt Eberflus. Why? Because Matt Eberflus is now a national punchline.
When projecting the Bears to an 8-9 record this season, a campaign meant to be defined by progress, two assumptions were made. First, that the quarterback would elevate his game from a C+ to a B+ and provide the evidence required to end the endless search at the position. The second, far less ballyhooed, that the coach would be a stabilizing force within the organization; his program one that can produce a champion. The former is still a question to be debated. The latter is a question settled. Eberflus cannot be the head coach of the Chicago Bears in 2024. The question that remains is should he remain the head coach in 2023?
Eberflus is a defensive head coach, and the Bears have the second-worst defense in the league in his second year. We can criticize the talent on that side of the ball all we want but Flus had the assets required this off-season to build whatever defense he wanted. What is the point of having a defensive head coach in the modern NFL if that coach CAN’T DO MORE WITH LESS? If Flus requires stars at every level of the defense, he is no different than three dozen other defensive coaches around the league, most of whom carry titles like “Outside Linebackers Coach” (and the appropriate salary to accompany that title).
And his in-game management is shocking. He has no feel for his own players. He has no feel for the opposing players. He is a nightmare when it comes to clock management. And last Sunday, he quite simply cost his team a victory with decisions late that defied reason. It’s over for Eberflus. To quote the great Clifford Odets script for Sweet Smell of Success, “The cat’s in the bag and the bag’s in the river.”
If the Bears lose tonight, the organization needs to be strong and move on from Flus tomorrow.
My Favorite Washington D.C. Scene on Film
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSw9sjqYK_I?si=vxywskxkKD-8aw8B]
Game Prediction, in Three Parts
- Road teams, especially underdog road teams, struggle in these Thursday night windows. Expect the Bears to be an extreme case of that struggle because, well, scroll up.
- This game, for me, will be defined by the pass rush. Sam Howell has been sacked 24 times. Justin Fields has been sacked 17 times, with many of those not the fault of his OL. But the Washington Commanders have a solid defensive line and have 13 sacks to show for it. The Bears have two sacks. Two. Total.
- Commanders lost by 34 to the Bills, a team I believe is heading to the Super Bowl. Their other three games have been decided by a total of nine points. The battle for the sixth and seventh seeds in the NFC will be waged amongst about ten teams and Washington will almost certainly be one of them. But not if they lose this game. They won’t.
Commanders 30, Bears 20