Bears 8.0: Matt Eberflus FIRED

[Betta Bulleavit]

Poles chose Flus out of the 3 choices. (Silvy says btw that at least 2 people on that search committee wanted Quinn). And Poles doubled down this offseason by retaining Eberflus, while we all knew Flus didn’t have the bones for the job. To try and shield Poles from his body of work, not for me. People are accountable. That’s healthy.

I think you’re missing the part that Poles chose between the 3 guys THAT WERE PROVIDED to him. I happen to find that part very important because it makes the idea that Flus was “Poles’ guy” only half true. The fact that Flus was retained was at least somewhat plausible at the time because the defense was playing well and it was largely believed they Getsy and Fields were the big problems.

[panthermark]

Things don’t always go according to plan. Even if there is a plan, which we don’t know either. Murphy’s law exists. That’s what timeouts are for. That’s why this is on the coach 100%.

The timeout was there to get the FG unit on the field and to allow a pass to be thrown anywhere on the field.

When I look at this clip, one of two thing needed to happen.
Either a Time-out at 32-31 seconds right after the sack. (Flus)
OR
That ball needed to be snapped at 11 seconds. (CW or maybe TB)

Watch on YouTube

Neither happened.

It is why I don't put 100% of the blame on Flus for this particular sequence. He still needed to go, but I think his strategy was sound. For whatever reason, that ball wasn't snapped until 6 seconds, and thrown towards the endzone at 4 seconds, which ended the game.

I was sitting on my couch next to my uncle, and we both could tell something wasn’t right with 15 seconds to go. Time. Out. You can’t just say we had a plan and nobody followed it. You can’t see it’s not going right? You got to call time out. But, you don’t. You fired. Bill Cower said that Eberflus froze. That’s exactly right.

No, it was too late. The TO had to be called right at the sack, or when the FG unit was going on the field.

If they call a TO with 15 seconds left, what was the next play?
Remember, it is 3rd and 26, so spiking the ball after a completion is not an option (unless you happen to pick up the first down, AND can get everyone lined up to spike the ball).

Any completion not out of bounds or in the endzone ends the game. An incompletion means either a really long FG for Santos, or a Hail Mary on 4th down.

You are left with either an endzone attempt, or an out, which are the two routes Detroit is sitting on.

Whatever went wrong at 15 seconds was the bad clock management part.

Picking up 6 or 7 yards across the middle and calling a TO with a few ticks on the clock was the right move IMO, but the execution (for whatever reason) was beyond awful. Too much time wasted.

[fleet]

Poles chose Flus out of the 3 choices. (Silvy says btw that at least 2 people on that search committee wanted Quinn). And Poles doubled down this offseason by retaining Eberflus, while we all knew Flus didn’t have the bones for the job. To try and shield Poles from his body of work, not for me. People are accountable. That’s healthy.

I think you’re missing the part that Poles chose between the 3 guys THAT WERE PROVIDED to him. I happen to find that part very important because it makes the idea that Flus was “Poles’ guy” only half true. The fact that Flus was retained was at least somewhat plausible at the time because the defense was playing well and it was largely believed they Getsy and Fields were the big problems.

Like I said, I want to believe George McCaskey wouldn’t let Poles hire a new coach. Otherwise I gotta believe Poles has bad judgment.

[nitetrain8603]

Poles chose Flus out of the 3 choices. (Silvy says btw that at least 2 people on that search committee wanted Quinn). And Poles doubled down this offseason by retaining Eberflus, while we all knew Flus didn’t have the bones for the job. To try and shield Poles from his body of work, not for me. People are accountable. That’s healthy.

I think you’re missing the part that Poles chose between the 3 guys THAT WERE PROVIDED to him. I happen to find that part very important because it makes the idea that Flus was “Poles’ guy” only half true. The fact that Flus was retained was at least somewhat plausible at the time because the defense was playing well and it was largely believed they Getsy and Fields were the big problems.

People are forgetting that last part. No one thought Eberflus was absolutely an issue last year. Some, wanted an upgrade but I didn't remember anyone blinking much of an eye last off-season because Getsy was gone and so was Fields.

Poles gets to do his search without anyone being pushed on him.

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[Betta Bulleavit]

Poles chose Flus out of the 3 choices. (Silvy says btw that at least 2 people on that search committee wanted Quinn). And Poles doubled down this offseason by retaining Eberflus, while we all knew Flus didn’t have the bones for the job. To try and shield Poles from his body of work, not for me. People are accountable. That’s healthy.

I think you’re missing the part that Poles chose between the 3 guys THAT WERE PROVIDED to him. I happen to find that part very important because it makes the idea that Flus was “Poles’ guy” only half true. The fact that Flus was retained was at least somewhat plausible at the time because the defense was playing well and it was largely believed they Getsy and Fields were the big problems.

Like I said, I want to believe George McCaskey wouldn’t let Poles hire a new coach. Otherwise I gotta believe Poles has bad judgment.

Either of those scenarios are possible. I also think that it’s possible that Bears leadership wanted to give Flus a chance with HIS guy at QB and decided to give him another season. As the season progressed, it became painfully obvious that Flus himself was just as big of a problem as Getsy and Fields and it was just time. Not a good look obviously. But it too is a possible scenario.

[dougthonus]

Peo9le are forgetting that last part. No one thought Eberflus was absolutely an issue last year. Some, wanted an upgrade but I dint remember anyone blinking much of an eye last off-season because Getsy was gone and so was Fields.

I don't know what the consensus opinion on Eberflus was last year, but many people wanted him gone before the season started and wanted to start with a clean slate and better coach with Caleb.

Poles gets to do his search without anyone being pushed on him.

This hire makes or breaks Poles.

[Betta Bulleavit]

Peo9le are forgetting that last part. No one thought Eberflus was absolutely an issue last year. Some, wanted an upgrade but I dint remember anyone blinking much of an eye last off-season because Getsy was gone and so was Fields.

I don't know what the consensus opinion on Eberflus was last year, but many people wanted him gone before the season started and wanted to start with a clean slate and better coach with Caleb.

Poles gets to do his search without anyone being pushed on him.

This hire makes or breaks Poles.

The consensus on Flus was that he “might” be an issue but that he wasn’t the biggest culprit. The Defense was playing well and the locker room hadn’t checked out on him. Therefore, it was possible-likely that he’d be retained, which he ultimately was. You’re right in that there were people that wanted him gone (I wasn’t dead serious one way or the other). But there was an even larger group that felt he would be retained and weren’t totally against it.

[biggestbullsfan]

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[fleet]

I think you’re missing the part that Poles chose between the 3 guys THAT WERE PROVIDED to him. I happen to find that part very important because it makes the idea that Flus was “Poles’ guy” only half true. The fact that Flus was retained was at least somewhat plausible at the time because the defense was playing well and it was largely believed they Getsy and Fields were the big problems.

Like I said, I want to believe George McCaskey wouldn’t let Poles hire a new coach. Otherwise I gotta believe Poles has bad judgment.

Either of those scenarios are possible. I also think that it’s possible that Bears leadership wanted to give Flus a chance with HIS guy at QB and decided to give him another season. As the season progressed, it became painfully obvious that Flus himself was just as big of a problem as Getsy and Fields and it was just time. Not a good look obviously. But it too is a possible scenario.

I mean, all the scapegoats are gone. They couldn’t even take the layup last night, and botched the firing this morning. Leave room to expand the accountability as far as it needs to go. Leave room for the possibility that nothing has changed with regard to upper management dysfunction and failure. The buck does not stop with the coach(s)/

[fleet]

.

Poles gets to do his search without anyone being pushed on him.

It’s anybody’s guess if he knows what he’s doing. Nothing apparent exists to the positive. To the contrary, the conga line of coaches hired and subsequently expelled.

[Howling Mad]

I'm gonna call it the McBotch of a situation.

This isn't on Mangement. Sure, Poles held on a little longer then he should cause he was handicapped by... tradition, lets call it cause that's the excuse we've gotten. Kevin Warren didn't want to overstep his boss and undermine his GM.

We all know where the real problems lie, something we're all too familiar with as Bulls fans.

[Howling Mad]

This hire makes or breaks Poles.

It wasn't looking good for Poles for awhile there. Caleb was showing flashes but didn't shine bright enough as he did the last few games. After they shifted Brown to OC and Caleb starting hitting stride and still the losses kept piling up, the pressure shifted to just Flus.

I agree, now its on Poles to turn this ship right or it's on him. Coming from one of Poles' big supporters.

[Dresden]

I good poles hire Ben johnson or Joe Brady they are the best fits for Caleb would be nice if they bring back thomas brown to continue his development with Caleb that continuity is good for a young qb but still their choice to pick their own team

For all the talk about Ben Johnson, he let the Bears back in that game, completely abandoned the run game the 2nd half when they were running it down the Bears throats.

It was very Waldron esque.

Didn't Joe Brady get fired from Buffalo or was he the replacement for Ken Dorsey? Either way, he strongly believes it running the ball which would be great if you had Saquon. I don't know that Swift could be counted on as a workhorse back.

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Yes, good point. For whatever reason, the Bears suddenly were able to hold the best offense in the NFL to just 7 second half points. And I think it was in part because he abandoned the run, and the Bears starting blitzing more, and Goff became pretty ordinary.

[panthermark]

I really hope TB works out.
I cannot believe how jacked up of a situation this is.
But maybe we will get lucky and this will all work-out for the best in the end.

Not sure what this means for the coaching search next year. You either want TB to go 4-2 or 0-6.

[panthermark]

I missed the very start of the game, was RoJo hurt? I don't remember him in the game at all. I was a bit surprised by that.

[Dresden]

The whole thing is a mess that stems from NOT letting Flus go when CW was drafted.

This isn't great for TB or the Bears unless he is truly a diamond in the rough, but it is a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation.

Flus could not stay.

TB should not have gone from assistant to OC to HC in a 3 weeks.

We don't want to short cut to coaching search, nor do we want to boot a young coaching prospect to soon...but that is the position this team is in now.

Poles was supposed to break the cycle. You know who went through this last year? The Panthers.
Bryce Young had two HC's and two OC's in his rookie year. One of his OC's was a temporary Thomas Brown.

I ask this question - what does TB need to do to be brought next year as OC? What would it take from Bears fans to not burn it completely down?

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For one thing, he has to win over the players. When Poles speaks to them at the end of the year, and they all say how they'd love playing for Brown next season, that will go a long way. Second, he has to show the ability to manage games at a high level. And third, that has to carry through the the team's performance. Doesn't mean winning games necessarily, but do they look prepared? Are some of the dumb mental errors like jumping offsides becoming fewer and fewer?

And then they'll take all that, and weight it against hiring someone like Ben Johnson or whoever. It could be they don't consider him a candidate to take over permanently at all. But if he does all of the above, and perhaps wins some games, I think they'll at least consider him.

But as someone else said, the better timeline for him would be to stick around for another 3-4 years as OC or something, with the idea of having a chance to be the next HC. Although that comes with it's own risks- that he'll get snapped up by someone else, and whoever does become HC will feel like his replacement is already there, and just waiting for him to fail.

[biggestbullsfan]

I missed the very start of the game, was RoJo hurt? I don't remember him in the game at all. I was a bit surprised by that.

He got pulled for a concussion concern but idk if he ever came back in.

[panthermark]

I missed the very start of the game, was RoJo hurt? I don't remember him in the game at all. I was a bit surprised by that.

He got pulled for a concussion concern but idk if he ever came back in.

Ok, thanks.
I hope he is OK, but that actually makes me feel better. I thought TB was pulling and Waldron and decided to not use RoJo for those tough yardage runs.

[Dresden]

I mean, Kevin Warren is just another stiff. He still oversees dysfunction in his FO on the day they fired a coach because the coach was dysfunctional. They definitely need to clean house. But if Poles isn’t let go later today or tomorrow, then Kevin Warren is the wrong guy to be doing it down the line. The only way that what we saw today makes sense for Warren’s supposed legacy as the competency guy is if Poles is next, later today.

That doesn't make any sense to me. I remember too many bad GM's the Bears have had over the years to want to try starting over with someone new when the guy they have now, Poles, seems pretty good. He's made a few bad decisions, but overall he's got the team in a better place talent wise than it has been in a long time. And he's building it in a way that they have a chance to be good for a long time. So no thanks to blowing it all up now and starting over.

[Dresden]

And?
None of that mattered in the final 46 seconds.
Flus gets plenty of blame (and got the axe), but that final 46 seconds was mostly on the players.

Without question, it was a collective failure to end the game. You have detailed how the players did not execute. Many people have detailed how Flus failed.

There isn't a lot of ways for Flus to impact a game. Games are usually won and loss by the players. But Flus was put in a position to impact the game, overcome his players' shortcomings and still keep the team in a position to succeed. You know what he did when that opportunity arose? He did nothing.

I agree that the players lack of execution to end the game was the large reason for the loss. Flus doing nothing has no excuse. I personally cannot look at the players shortcomings and wonder why it's happening when I see who the head coach is.

EDIT: But hey, if we're gonna do a deep dive, I've got to put a spotlight on or new head coach.

Caleb changing Rome's route...Caleb says he did this because he knew this was the final play of the game and it was endzone or bust. When the sack happens and the communication channel opens back up between the OC and the QB, is the OC not communicating to his rookie qb - "we need positive yardage...anywhere on the field...doesn't matter...gain yards and then we call a timeout." Or something to that effect? Was our rookie qb unaware there was 1 time-out remaining?

I'm not saying Flus should not be fired. He should have been fired in the off-season when CW was drafted. He should have been fired for hiring weak-ass OC's to protect his own neck instead of getting the best OC's available. But I think he is catching too much heat on this one. The clock management went from amazing (1st and 10 on the 25 with TWO time-outs and 46 seconds on the clock) to a bizarre loss on 3rd and 26 with a time-out still in his pocket, in a heartbeat. And like you, I want to know what went wrong. I heard that the plan was to snap the ball around 18 seconds and throw an out route....but that clearly didn't happen. I don't know how much of this was CW vs TB vs Flus....but a lot of things went wrong at once.

I somewhat agree. The game was likely lost anyway, even if we call a timeout and get off one more play. It was 3rd and 26 or something like that. We needed to pick up at least 8 yards on 3rd down, and then hope Santos makes a 50 yarder. And then we still have to beat them in OT. Pretty slim chances all those things happen.

OTH, as HC you can't just let the clock run out like that with a TO still in your pocket. That was his ONE job right there- to manage the clock, and he failed egregiously. We've seen all the media reaction from former coaches and players commenting on how bad that was. He didn't even give the players the opportunity to win it.