The Chicago Bears were never going to fire Matt Eberflus in the middle of a season. It isn’t something they’ve ever done in franchise history, and there was no reason to expect that would change with the same ownership in charge. However, most wonder if they will finally pull the trigger in January after the season ends. Every sign points in that direction, but Halas Hall remains silent on the subject. This isn’t a surprise. The season isn’t over. They can’t be distracted by the head coach’s job status hanging over the locker room each week.
Even so, it appears the Bears may have dropped an inadvertent hint on their intentions. The social media team released a hype video for the upcoming matchup with the Minnesota Vikings. One would think it would have the head coach in there somewhere. Nope. Eberflus was completely absent. Not only that, but the voice-over used was offensive coordinator Thomas Brown, who is gaining a groundswell among fans as a possible replacement for head coach.
Coincidence?
Matt Eberflus is no longer at the forefront of the Bears’ image.
That feels telling. The quarterback and the head coach are usually the ones most prevalent in these videos. For the Bears social media team to leave him out feels conspicuous. They may want to phase out a man who won’t be around much long while perhaps gauging how people react to Brown’s influence. Maybe that is too much of a conspiracy theory, but recent events make it difficult to ignore. Go back to September and watch those exact same videos. Matt Eberflus was all over them. It is hard not to feel like the organization is working to hide the negatives with this team for the next guy. Harsh? Perhaps. Still, this is the latest piece of evidence, however small, that a change is coming.
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The littlest of things can matter or signal change as long as those things are factually, empirically true.