The questions about Bears coach Matt Eberflus’ job haven’t stopped. They’ve only paused.
Given the turbulence throughout the 0-4 start, beating the Commanders and getting a break from that heat was no small feat. But one win against a bad team doesn’t negate what happened in the first four games.
Eberflus is still 4-18, the defense is still suspect and quarterback Justin Fields still has to show these last two games truly signal a new trajectory. All the skepticism will engulf the Bears again if they can’t beat the 1-4 Vikings on Sunday.
“It would suck to get that one win and come out here and not let it continue,” cornerback Jaylon Johnson said. “If we don’t start a win streak, that’ll be more of a letdown than anything.”
Eberflus and his staff spent the weekend in self-scrutiny with an eye on adjustments, and that evaluation included a hard look at their own work.
Offensive coordinator Luke Getsy saw his side of the ball put up just 47 points over the first three games — then 68 in the next two — and got very public feedback from Fields that over-coaching was clouding his mind. The defense has allowed the third-most points in the NFL, and last week was the first time it held an opponent under 25 in almost a year.
Eberflus stuck to the positives Wednesday, saying, “We got better,” and, “We improved over the last two weeks.”
He’s been saying that throughout his tenure. This is the first time he could back it up with on-field evidence. Before that, he hoped everyone would take his word for it even though the games told a different story.
The Bears are way past the point of intangible growth and “building championship habits” meaning something if they don’t lead to actual wins, and it’s a mountainous climb from 1-4.
Eberflus also credited himself and his staff for staying steady through “adversity,” but external adversity like injuries differs from adversity that could’ve been avoided with better preparation and play.
“We did a good job of holding together through adversity ... which is gonna make us stronger in the long run,” Eberflus said.
There’s only a long run for him if he minimizes the controllable adversity.
For all the frustration, Eberflus now has a shining opportunity to improve his public approval rating. He got a win, the Chase Claypool drama is over and the upcoming schedule is favorable — if that’s possible to say for a 1-4 team.
Eberflus said he’s looking at the next five games, a stretch that leads into another 10-day break between games, as a group. That was his directive to the staff over the weekend: Think about what kind of team the Bears want to be for the next five weeks.
So what’s the goal? How many of those games do they have to win for it to be a success? The benchmark can’t be merely more amorphous progress.
“I don’t think you can think that way,” Eberflus said. “As a coach you really have to be right here, right now.”
Fine, but everyone else is free to view it in terms of concrete results.
The Bears host the Vikings and Raiders the next two weeks, followed by games at the Chargers and Saints, then a Thursday home game against the Panthers. Those opponents have a combined 8-16 record, and while a case could be made that any of them except the Panthers are better than the Bears, it’s fair to demand Eberflus go no worse than 3-2.
That would put the Bears at least 4-6 going into their next reset, with a bye week shortly after that, and give them a chance to make a run in the final seven games. That sounds beyond lofty given how the season started, but that was the standard going into it and that shouldn’t change.
