Matt Eberflus can adapt.
That was apparent when he and the Bears staff held a “mini-bye” conclave to fix what was wrong with his team. Led by offensive coordinator Luke Getsy, the Bears fine-turned their offense further around Justin Fields. The Bears averaged 15.5 points in six games before the weekend meetings and 31 — exactly double — in the four games since.
That flexibility applies to Sundays, too. The Bears average 7.64 yards per play in the third quarter, the most of any team in the NFL and almost a half-yard better than the runner-up Chiefs. No team has a better passer rating than the Bears’ 134.2 in the third frame, and only three average more yards per rush than the Bears’ 6.1.
That runs counter to Matt Nagy’s stubborn offensive scheme in the three years after the Bears’ 12-4 season. The Bears’ 4.77 yards per play in the third quarter ranked last in 2020, and their 5.3 was 12th-worst last season..
Even Eberflus’ undermanned defense is changing, too. The Bears, whose defensive line has struggled all season, blitzed six times in Sunday’s loss to the Lions. The first two weeks of the seasons, they blitzed once, total.
No one would dare defend Eberflus’ 3-7 record, but his adaptability is one of the most encouraging signs about his first season as a head coach at any level.
Eberflus seems to have found his quarterback in Fields. He’s allowed his staff to be creative in looking for answers everywhere else.
That’s a winning formula, even if the Bears aren’t winning.
“We really take pride in all our adjustments,” safety Eddie Jackson said.
It happens quickly at halftime.
“When you’re pretty specific with your plan, it doesn’t make you feel like you have to go off the rail or come up with something crazy. … ” Getsy said. “Our staff does a great job of just like being supportive with each other and getting the guys prepared. By the time we hit Saturday, the guys feel like they’re in a really good place.”
Personnel-wise, Eberflus was dealt the worst hand in the NFL. The Bears are spending almost as much money on players who aren’t on Eberflus’ roster as they are on ones who are.
They owe $103.5 million to players on their active roster, per Spotrac.com. They’ve got $90.3 million in dead cap space, though. The list of those players is more impressive than anyone taking the field for them on Sundays. The Bears are paying a $24 million dead cap hit just for defensive end Khalil Mack, whom they traded to the Chargers in March. They swallowed the contracts of defensive end Robert Quinn and linebacker Roquan Smith when they traded them last month, costing the Bears another $25.5 million in dead cap space. Others on their dead cap charge include, among others, Tarik Cohen and Charles Leno, who last played for them in 2020.
No one in the NFL pays more in dead cap charges than the Bears. The Falcons — their opponent Sunday — rank second with $79.5 million, with more than half going to Colts quarterback Matt Ryan.
Next year, the Bears won’t have such a burden.
They will have Eberflus, who’s shown an adaptability that could pair well with an improved roster.
“I feel like Coach ‘Flus is going to have a long, successful career,” Jackson said. “When you’ve been around coaches — and Nagy was a good coach as well — it’s just, ‘Flus, his mindset and the things he’s focused on and the way he’s going about it, you can tell he really has a plan.”
