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.
