Bears had never fired a coach during a season, but Matt Eberflus gave them no choice

The worst part of the Chicago Bears’ absolute tomfoolery at the end of their Thanksgiving loss might be that Matt Eberflus said afterward he liked what they did.

No matter the context, telling a fanbase that what everyone saw at the end of the Bears’ horrific final 30 seconds against the Detroit Lions actually wasn’t that bad was going to turn out poorly. And it did, with Eberflus being fired on Friday.

For anyone who missed it on the holiday, the Bears trailed 23-20 in the final minute. Caleb Williams was sacked just before 30 seconds remained in the game. And the clock kept ticking. The Bears had a timeout but didn’t call it. Williams looked like a confused rookie. Eberflus didn’t throw him a life preserver. The clock ticked down until six seconds, and when the ball was finally snapped Williams’ incomplete pass downfield was the final play of the game.

“I like what we did there,” Eberflus said after the game as part of his explanation.

The Bears had never fired a coach during a season before, a fact they made sure everyone was aware of on multiple occasions. They had to break that weird tradition for Eberflus, and it wasn’t just the Thanksgiving fiasco that led to it.

Matt Eberflus cost the Bears in close games

Part of a coach’s job is what he says after a loss. It’s not a big part of the job, but you also can’t tell a devoted fanbase that your mistakes were actually totally fine.

When the Washington Commanders beat the Bears on a Hail Mary, picking up an easy 13 yards on the second-to-last play when the Bears played way back to give Jayden Daniels a shot to throw it to the end zone, Eberflus said he wasn’t concerned about that 13-yard play. Meanwhile, Commanders coach Dan Quinn said the Commanders couldn’t have completed the Hail Mary without it.

Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus was fired on Friday. (Photo by Amy Lemus/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

In a loss to the Green Bay Packers, a last-second field goal was blocked. Eberflus said the team “felt good” about not…

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Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-11-29 19:33:00

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