Entering Thursday’s game between the Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions, Bears head coach Matt Eberflus was already on the hot seat.
Now, after one of the worst end-of-game sequences in recent memory during the Bears’ 23-20 loss to the Lions, Eberflus’ seat is on fire. Let’s break down what happened toward the end of the Bears-Lions game and what this means for Eberflus’ future.
Matt Eberflus’ Late-Game Meltdown May Cost Him His Job
After Caleb Williams was sacked for a six-yard loss on second down, there were 33 seconds left in the game, and the Bears had one timeout remaining.
However, instead of spiking the ball or using their final timeout, Chicago let the clock run down to six seconds before snapping the ball on third down. Williams threw an incomplete pass and the game ended.
Here's the full sequence for the end of Lions-Bears. I can't believe this happened…….. pic.twitter.com/dFMgDL2CE9
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) November 28, 2024
It was some of the worst clock management in recent memory, and Jim Nantz and Tony Romo didn’t mince words right as time expired.
“The game is over! Completely botched at the end by the Bears!” Nantz said.
“I can’t believe they didn’t take a timeout,” Romo added.
After the game, former head coach Bill Cowher criticized Eberflus during the postgame show, saying he froze during the most important part of the game. CBS analyst and former NFL quarterback Matt Ryan was very critical of Eberflus as well.
“This is unacceptable from the head coach position,” Ryan added. “Your responsibility is to not panic in critical situations. To put your team in the best opportunity to win games. That’s a massive, massive fail by Matt Eberflus.”
"This is unacceptable from the head coach position. Your responsibility is to not panic in critical situations. To put your team in the best opportunity to win games. That's a massive, massive fail by Matt Eberflus" – CBS' Matt Ryan🔥 pic.twitter.com/z0TZ49IbkE
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 28, 2024
As the postgame show mentioned, this kind of meltdown is how a head coach loses the locker room and, ultimately, his job.
What makes this loss even more frustrating is that the Bears did an excellent job of fighting back and making this game interesting, scoring 20 points in the second half.
“I like what we did there. … I think we handled it the right way…” Eberflus said after the loss. “Didn’t work out the way we wanted it to.”
“I don’t know why we ain’t call a timeout,” wide receiver D.J. Moore said postgame.
“I feel like we did enough as players to win the game,” wide receiver Keenan Allen added.
Eberflus was already feeling the heat prior to this blunder, with many wondering if he would make it to the end of the season without being fired.
Chicago entered this season with playoff aspirations after taking quarterback Williams with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. But the Bears are now 4-8 and offensive coordinator Shane Waldron was already fired after an embarrassing Week 10 home loss to the New England Patriots.
All eyes will be on the Bears to see if they make a coaching change prior to Week 14 when they will face the San Francisco 49ers.