If there is one person inside Halas Hall who faces a somewhat uncertain future beyond 2024, it is Matt Eberflus. The Chicago Bears head coach has done some good things during his first two years on the job. After taking over playcalling duties last year, he turned around the defense from a laughing stock to a top unit. He improved from a 3-14 finish in 2022 to a 7-10 finish in 2023. That is progress. However, he isn’t without his critics. The Bears suffered from serious 4th quarter issues. Some of it came from defensive lapses. Some of it was poor offensive execution, and Eberflus also can’t escape blame for some bad decisions.
There were three games last season where the Bears held a double-digit lead in the 4th quarter and lost all three. It isn’t a great reflection on the head coach when your team struggles to finish games. It is why some wonder if Eberflus might be on the hot seat. Failing to make the playoffs in his third season could compel team brass to seek a replacement. Some worry this isn’t a smart idea, especially after drafting Caleb Williams. The last thing they want is to saddle another young quarterback with a new coaching staff after his first year. It didn’t work out well for Mitch Trubisky or Justin Fields.
Here is where the story gets interesting.
According to Bill Zimmerman of Windy City Gridiron, there were rumblings in and around the building that Eberflus’ decision-making in the 4th quarter stemmed from his having zero faith in Fields as a passer.
There are plenty of people around the team (media and non-media) who believe that many of Eberflus’ questionable decisions were made because he didn’t trust Justin Fields to do the right thing with the football. On 3rd and 6 from the opponent’s 30, Eberflus was more comfortable running the football and settling for a field goal than risking a turnover on a pass or a bad sack that knocks them out of field goal range.
If that’s the case, we should see a big improvement in his fourth-quarter decision-making with a different quarterback under center. If we still see the conservative decisions because the Bears have a rookie QB, at some point, just believe people when they show you who they are. At that point, it would be safe to say that Eberflus is your typical conservative defensive head coach.
If true, it’s hard to blame Matt Eberflus.
For all the support Fields gets from many sections of Bears fandom, there is one thing they can’t defend. The former 1st round pick was terrible in the 4th quarter. In 2023 alone, he completed barely 51% of his passes for 552 yards, four touchdowns (1 rushing), and six interceptions. That doesn’t even include two fumbles he had. Think about that. Two-thirds of the interceptions Fields threw last season came in the 4th quarter, the most important 15 minutes of any football game. Want to take it a step further? Fields has thrown 16 interceptions in the 4th quarter of his career. That is more than the other three quarters combined.
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No wonder Matt Eberflus didn’t trust him. He wasn’t just battling the other team to win games. He was often battling his own quarterback. In hindsight, the decision to trade him to Pittsburgh probably wasn’t as difficult as the Bears insisted it was. At least it probably wasn’t for the head coach. One thing we know about Williams from his time in college is he avoids turnovers. On 1,099 career passes, he only threw 14 interceptions. If that trend holds in the NFL, Eberflus may receive vindication.
This ar\ticle is great and it points out yet another reason Justin Fields needed to go. Early on I noticed that Fields had no concept of how to consider the game situation during a play. Second and one, no problem. I’ll just take a 10 yard sack instead of throwing the ball away. In field goal range, no problem another sack and we won’t have to worry about those 3 points. I didn’t know the stuff about all his 4th quarter interceptions. I knew we were horrible at scoring in the 4th and in the 2 minute drill but seeing… Read more »
Also, So in those collapses, Eberflus’ called soft defenses that allowed the opposition to score because he was afraid the offense couldn’t. Pay attention, class. this article has nothing to do with the headline, In fact you won’t find reference to “job security” anywhere in it. Just another chance to take a shot at Fields who probably cost Erik a lot of bank at the betting window or something worse.
I saw the same thing, Mpbeezy91. I’ll give the blame to Fields on the first one but the 2 others, he had people IN HIS FACE at 2 seconds. Go back and freeze it, I’ll wait. It was quite routine. When people talk about the league average for release time being 2.** seconds, it ignores the fact that VERY often said release happens with Nobody within 5 yards of the quarterback.
Eberfluss is OK IMO – defense is good – leave 4th quarters up to Waldron and Williams
Just take a look at the clip Erik put in this article. Watch the OL on all the 3 plays in that 26 sec clip. On all 3 plays the OL completely caved in from the beginning of the snap lol. It’s not a joke, that OL was pitiful, couldn’t pick up a BLITZ to save there lives…it was hard to watch honestly. All came in key pivotal moments in the 4th qtrs. Yeah alot of it was on Fields no doubt, but let’s not just put the OL off to the side as if there pathetic ass wasn’t part… Read more »