Matt Eberflus has a case for being the worst head coach in Chicago Bears history. Sure, others like Abe Gibron and John Fox had worse win-loss ratios, but those guys also had mostly atrocious rosters and/or quarterbacks. Eberflus had two 1st round picks at quarterback to work with and a roster that included a solid defense and some capable weapons on offense. Even average head coaches would’ve at least been able to produce one winning season. Not Eberflus. That is why he became the first head coach in Bears history to get fired midseason. Ben Johnson arrived a few months later to replace him.
Nothing could sum up this transition better than what happened last Sunday. Johnson helped engineer a 4th quarter comeback to topple the Raiders in Las Vegas. While it was ugly, the win put Chicago at 2-2 at the bye week, giving them a chance to build momentum. What many didn’t realize about that game is what it represented. That was the first time since December 26th of 2021 that the Bears had won a Sunday game on the road. Johnson had done that in a month. Eberflus had failed to achieve the same in three entire seasons.
Ben Johnson already has the team pointed in a better direction.
Eberflus was bad all around in his time with Chicago, but nothing sums up his tenure better than his 4-23 record on the road. There was not a safer bet on the planet than picking the Bears to lose when they were away from Soldier Field. That is the sign of a mentally weak football team. Those 4th quarter collapses were just the signs that drew headlines. Anybody who’d paid closer attention would’ve seen the problem far earlier. Watching Ben Johnson lead this team, made up of mostly the same players, to a go-ahead TD drive and then a field goal block to win it felt surreal. Having seen that movie end so many times with heartbreak under Eberflus, fans weren’t sure how to feel.
The win itself doesn’t drastically change their fate, but it signals how much better the franchise is without Eberflus on the sidelines anymore.
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