As Matt Eberflus is painfully finding out, there are some things that Frank Reich can’t teach you in NFL head-coaching school.
Eberflus’ old-school sensibilities are failing him four weeks into his second season as the Bears’ head coach. Revealing as little information as possible and grinding your way out of on-field football issues by staying later and practicing harder and believing in under-performing players not only isn’t working, but seems to be getting Eberflus deeper and deeper into a muck that he already appears unable to ever extract himself from.
Eberflus’ plight was in full view again Monday as he tried to answer literally 20 questions about Chase Claypool being sent into time out with the same response: “We just feel that’s best for the team.”
As Eberflus should have learned when he saw Reich go from Andrew Luck to Jacoby Brissett to Philip Rivers to Carson Wentz in his four seasons as Reich’s defensive coordinator, you need Tom Brady or Drew Brees leading your team to get away with that schtick. He has Justin Fields backed by Tyson Bagent.
After a rookie season where all he had to do was keep Fields standing and lose with honor, Eberflus’ second season has been one challenging episode after another that has exposed any manager’s fatal flaw: a failure to communicate.
From Nate Davis’ absence to Alan Williams resignation and now Claypool’s implosion, Eberflus has left Bears fans and reporters wondering — not only what’s going on, but why are the Bears always making things more difficult than they have to be. And now, with the Bears 0-4 and Eberflus unsuccessfully dodging potholes, they’re wondering about Eberflus more than anyone.
This job looks tougher than he ever imagined. Eberflus might be managing his team well — players still go out of their way to express faith in him, as safety Jaquan Brisker did after Sunday’s loss. But coaching in the NFL is a bigger job than managing 53 players and Eberflus isn’t managing the total job very well. Every episode has exposed this weakness a little more, and it’s quickly adding up.
And the job doesn’t get any easier. The Bears are 0-4 after losing a 28-7 lead in a 31-28 loss to the previously winless Broncos on Sunday at Soldier Field. Eberflus is still dealing with the fall-out of Claypool’s tacit suspension. And he has a short week of preparation before traveling to Washington, D.C. for a Thursday night game against the Commanders, who didn’t allow 70 points last week and don’t have the worst defense in the NFL. Chances are, his pre-game chat with Ron Rivera will be about NFL coaching survival. Or should be. NFL coaching school is always in session.
The Claypool taffy pull with reporters Monday was such that a question about Eberflus’ ill-fated decision to go for a first down on fourth-and-one at the Broncos’ 18-yard line instead of kicking a tie-breaking field goal with 2:57 left in the fourth quarter was almost a breather instead of the inquisition that kind of thing has been for coaches before him.
“At that time, we said, ‘We’re going for it. We’re going to seal the game,’” Eberflus said. “We’re going to trust our offense. The way they have been playing all day, that’s an important factor. That was the decision we made.”
Would he do it again? “Based on the scenario that was there, yes,” Eberflus said.
Some think Eberflus should have kicked the field goal. Others say he should have run a better play than a shotgun handoff. But right now, Matt Eberflus has bigger problems than that. He has to grow into a job he suddenly doesn’t look prepared to handle.
