Should the Bears fire coach Matt Eberflus? Does it really matter?
For me to urge the dismissal of Matt Eberflus as coach of the Bears would be not only pointless but very like the popular piling on known as the "tush push," where huge bodies jump on each other for first downs and the like. We can all agree that somewhere under the weight of public rebuke is poor Matt, doomed as may be the other guy, Ryan somebody or other.
It is that time in the Bears season when reproach replaces frustration, and while the usual target is the Bears quarterback, Justin Fields lingers game to game free of fault, leaving those above and around him to take the blame.
Fields does more things right than he does wrong, encouraging the belief that he is (1) misused (2) misunderstood (3) mishandled (4) mismanaged (5) all those big misses, including misjudged, miscalculated and, the most obvious one, mistake.
So, then, if not Fields at fault, then who?
That would be Eberflus up front, with Luke Getsy and other assistants dangling (after two of Eberflus' coaches have already left or been fired), while Ryan somebody or other, the man responsible for all of it, waits for reassurance that he is as smart as he thinks he is.
To continue on as things are seems unlikely and irresponsible even if irresponsibility has been a familiar and strategic Bears' tactic for generations now. The appearance of progress stands in for real progress and that invariably means new curtains in the coach's office.
Agreement from the usual unreliable sources is that Eberflus is history; his chief job now is not winning but holding place in the draft lottery where Ryan somebody or other can replenish the roster.
In the meantime a case is mounted against poor Matt for being inadequate and uninspiring. Chief among his flaws is that he is befuddled in time of crises, or in other words, the fourth quarter. The Bears have lost five games they clearly could have won, maybe putting a mask on a pig snout, still ...
The Bears were within a touchdown in the fourth quarter against Tampa, leading by 21 against the Broncos, within a touchdown against the Vikings, tied with the Saints going into the fourth, and leading the Lions by 12 with four minutes to play.
All Eberflus' fault? Well, consider the Lions. On the sidelines during the Lions' comeback was newly acquired edge rusher Montez Sweat and dependable linebacker Tremaine Edmunds, vital stoppers at a crucial time.
Explanation? "When lead dogs are fresh," Eberflus said, "you put them back in. You got to do that because those guys are throwing their fastball every time."
Huh? Lead dogs with fastballs? Poor Matt ought to be fired just for mixing his metaphors.
On record, Eberflus is the worst Bears coach ever, a relief to the legacy of Abe Gibron, while in fact poor Matt is no worse than the last Matt, or the Fox before him or any of the assorted Jaurons and Trestmen, with only maybe Lovie Smith being genuine among the list since Mike Ditka.,
We see the ineffective Dave Wannstedt everywhere, passing along second guesses with the rest of us, counseling to give Eberflus another chance, like the mistake rooting for the eraser.
Who then replaces poor Matt? Jim Harbaugh is the most obvious, my choice if I had one, while a couple of Johnsons are in the gossip, offensive coordinators Brian of the Eagles and Ben of the Lions. Does it matter?
The truth is, the Bears seem to have no better luck with coaches than they do with quarterbacks and invariably the two are bound together like zip ties. Ironically if Fields costs poor Matt his job it will be because Eberflus has little to do with him.
Eberflus is a defensive coach - as was Bill Belichick, by the way - and defensive coaches generally are less easily forgiven when the offense flounders. There is no Tom Brady to prop up poor Matt, so he is a victim of his own resume.
Does that mean that offensive coordinator Getsy should be the next Bears' coach, the man with the plan? Sure, why not? Doesn't matter. Never has.