The Chicago Bears finally won a football game, defeating the Washington Commanders, 40-20, on Thursday Night Football. It ended a 14-game losing streak that was starting to weigh heavily on the organization.
Head coach Matt Eberflus, offensive coordinator Luke Getsy and general manager Ryan Poles all find themselves on the hot seat, in some regard, following what’s been a brutal two seasons.
Buy Bears TicketsSince the new regime has taken over at the start of the 2022 season, the Bears have gone 4-18 and finally ended a franchise-worse 14-game losing streak.
But there is some optimism heading into Week 6, as the team is entering a favorable portion of their schedule, quarterback Justin Fields is starting to put things together, DJ Moore is flashing and they’re getting back some key players from injury.
Whether Eberflus, Getsy and/or Poles last through the entire season, one month, two weeks or one game remains to be seen. But we’ll be following along the entire way.
On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being the coolest and 10 the hottest seat, here’s a look at where Eberflus, Getsy and Poles’ seats stand heading into Week 6.
HC Matt Eberflus
Week 6 heat meter:
There’s no one who needed this win as much as Eberflus — except maybe quarterback Justin Fields. It was evident in Eberflus’ aggressive mindset in Thursday night’s game against the Commanders, as well as on his face in the third quarter when the Bears started to bend. But, you have to give credit where it’s due: Eberflus had a great game, and the team showed up for him. It was a dominant first-half performance by his team, and they were able to hold on after a lackluster start to the third quarter.
With that said, Eberflus still remains on the hot seat through the first quarter of the season. While Chicago is coming off an impressive win where Eberflus was aggressive and made some good decisions, it’s just one game. His solid outing against Washington doesn’t excuse him of the past mistakes he’s made, especially as he’s looked like the worst head coach in the league. There are still 12 games left on the schedule for Eberflus to prove he can be the guy to lead this team forward. We’ll see if he’s able to rise to the occasion.
OC Luke Getsy
Week 6 heat meter:
Don’t look now, but Getsy is on a roll. Following a solid game plan against the Broncos, Getsy had another strong outing countering what opposing defenses are doing. He continued to do what fans have been begging for since Week 1: Get DJ Moore involved. Moore had a career game against the Commanders with eight catches for 230 yards and three touchdowns. He was unstoppable, and his connection with Fields was on full display.
Speaking of Fields, the third-year quarterback had another impressive outing. Fields threw for 282 yards and four touchdowns, three of which went to Moore. Getsy continued to sprinkle in designed QB runs to get Fields on the move to the tune of 57 yards on 11 carries. It finally seems like Getsy and Fields are on the same page, and it should only mean good things for Chicago’s offense.
The offense has strung together back-to-back impressive outings — both from an execution and game plan standpoint — and the hope is that continues heading into a Week 6 matchup against the Vikings.
GM Ryan Poles
Week 6 heat meter:
When looking at the contributions from Thursday night’s big win, there were a number of contributors that Poles added to the roster who had big outings. That starts with Moore, who went off for 230 yards and three touchdowns. The Bears are finally seeing the addition of Moore paying dividends for the offense. Outside of Moore, there were a number of players who played big roles in the win, including rookies Terell Smith and Gervon Dexter, Greg Stroman Jr., Andrew Billings and DeMarcus Walker.
Then, of course, there’s Fields, who Poles opted to stick with this season. Fields is finally starting to put things together. In the last two weeks, Fields has completed 67 percent of his passes for 617 yards with eight touchdowns and one interception. He’s tied for the second-most touchdown passes (11) among quarterbacks through the first five games.
There’s still the trickle-down effect of Poles being the one who hired Eberflus, who hired Getsy, and this could ultimately blow up in his face at the end of the season. But, right now, things are trending up for Poles and the future of the Bears. Especially when you factor in how trading the 2023 No. 1 pick to the Panthers has Chicago in firm control of the top selection for next year’s draft.
