Matt Eberflus isn’t too popular right now about Chicago Bears fans. Aside from having the worst winning percentage through 29 games in franchise history, they’ve been unimpressed with his operation as a whole. His in-game management, from the clock to challenges, is subpar. His team is in the top five for most penalties this season. There are even rumblings that many in the locker room don’t like him despite public reports of unity. It is hard to imagine the team giving him a third season at this rate.
Well, it’s not hard for one person. Former Bears defensive back Jerry Azumah follows the team weekly. His perspective on Eberflus differs.
His argument is straightforward. Since taking over playcalling in Week 3 after Alan Williams resigned, Eberflus has held opponents to 20 points or fewer five times. As to the idea Justin Fields has improved, the overall stats indicate as much. His passer rating this year is 92.3, up from 85.2 last season. He’s also averaging 198 yards passing per game, far higher than last year as well. However, there are some flaws in Azumah’s argument that he doesn’t consider.
Matt Eberflus has benefitted from an easy schedule.
We’ll start with the defensive improvement. Nobody can deny the unit has played much better lately, especially since Montez Sweat came over via trade from Washington. That said, the devil is in the details. Here is the list of quarterbacks Eberflus has faced since taking over play calling.
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- Patrick Mahomes
- Russell Wilson
- Sam Howell (First-year starter)
- Kirk Cousins
- Brian Hoyer (backup)
- Justin Herbert
- Derek Carr
- Bryce Young (rookie)
- Jared Goff
- Josh Dobbs (backup)
The trio of Mahomes, Wilson, and Herbert combined for 92 points against the Bears. In other words, whenever they ran into a credible quarterback, Matt Eberflus’ defense could do little to stop them. Even Goff still hung 31 on them despite multiple turnovers. Let’s not forget the unit has also blown a 4th quarter lead three times this year. So yeah, the numbers might appear impressive, but they’re misleading.
The same goes for Fields.
In two games this year, he threw for eight touchdowns and one interception. That is great. Unfortunately, in the other eight games, he’s thrown for four touchdowns and five interceptions. It feels like his burst of excellent play was a mirage more than a turning point. He remains a terrific threat as a runner. Sadly, that alone can’t be enough to justify Eberflus keeping his job.
Sorry, but Eberflus is a better DC than HC. But his D still folds in the 4th way too often. And Fields is NOT a “franchise QB.” Hea too inconsistent, too turnover prone, misses wide open receivers to run too often, and maybe most importantly…just look at his 2min & 4min offense stats, they’re atrocious. DEFINITELY not reminiscent of a “franchise QB,” let alone a long-term high quality NFL starting QB. I do like most of the new pieces Poles has brought in on both sides of the ball. Several current LEGIT blue chip players, AND newfound roster depth which… Read more »
Azumah, MF’ers!
I do like the sound of that. That’s my guy right there. Love that dude. He’s from my current neck of the woods and I’m happy to see him involved in the organization. I’m partial to Berrian and Rashied, too. They would be great #2 and #3 for us now.
I’ve said this before… 01/08/2024.. that is black Monday that is the day that will tell you what’s going on. If the Bears are smart, they will remove Blubberfluss and Getsy.
Funny. Everybody and their mama claims to know all the inner workings at Halas Hall now. Yeah, right.
I think its undecided if he stays or goes. The only reason i say that is if you guys watched the locker room speech Flus gave the last game you can see Poles nodding his head and it looked like Kevin Warren was “studying” him. Just the fact Warren was in there is telling me that hes the one that is gonna decide, not Poles.