The Bears’ Season Is in Shambles
The Chicago Bears got embarrassed by the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.
They weren’t ready to play and were still hung up on the Hail Mary loss to Washington.
Now, the Bears are 4-4 and are approaching the most challenging stretch of their schedule.
Matt Eberflus is on the hot seat, injuries are starting to pile up, and the offense has gone stagnant.
While half of the season is still left to be played, the Bears’ could be over real soon.
Lame Duck Leadership
PHOTO: Michael Chow/The Republic/USA TODAY NETWORK/Imagn Images
After a 7-10 finish to last season and multiple blown leads, most Bears’ fans were ready to fire Eberflus. But the Bears decided to stick with him and pair Caleb Williams, a rookie quarterback, with a head coach whose job security was in question. Now that the Bears have dropped a few winnable games and Flus has continued to struggle in late-game situations, it’s safe to say that the head coach is on the hot seat.
If the Bears were to part ways with Eberflus and Waldron, Caleb would be going into year two with a brand new coaching staff and offensive system. Whether the new head coach is great or not, this stints Caleb’s development. He’ll have to re-learn everything, and it’ll probably take him a year to adjust. This is a bad process by the Bears’ organization, and it’s one they’ve grown accustomed to.
Players Don’t Want to Play for Flus?
Another facet of having a coach on the hot seat is that the players might not respect him or want to play hard for him. There were plenty of instances in Arizona where some Bears players lacked effort, intensity, and discipline.
DJ Moore was asked on 670 The Score if he believes Matt Eberflus has lost the locker room, and he said, “I wanna say no, but…” DJ’s comments confirm what many fans believed to be true: the players have lost faith in the head coach. When a head coach loses the trust of players and fans, it’s only a matter of time before the front office makes a change.
New Personnel, Same Offense
With the additions of Caleb Williams, Rome Odunze, Keenan Allen, and D’Andre Swift, this offense was supposed to improve. But frankly, they’ve been awful. They played well against the Rams, Panthers, and Jaguars, but those are some of the worst defenses in the NFL.
I expected the offense to produce much more than the Bears have in the past, but they’ve been underwhelming. They are currently 23rd in the league in rushing yards per game and 29th in passing yards per game. Shane Waldron has to turn things around quickly, or else he could be looking for a new job next season.
Poor Protection
The most important goal of this season is the development of Caleb Williams. Right now, it’s impossible to play quarterback behind this offensive line.
He’s on pace to be sacked 62 times this season, which would be the sixth most in NFL history. Caleb will not be able to develop properly if he isn’t protected in the pocket.
Injury Riddled
The Bears have been relatively lucky with injuries this season. But for the past few weeks, they’ve started piling up.
- Andrew Billings – Torn Pectoral Muscle (Out for the season)
- Jaquan Brisker – Concussion (Suffered in Week 5 and will be out against the Patriots)
- Darnell Wright – Knee (Has not practiced this week)
- Braxton Jones – Knee (Limited in practice on Thursday)
- Jaylon Jones – Shoulder (Placed on IR)
- Kyler Gordon – Hamstring (Logged limited practices on Wednesday and Thursday)
- Montez Sweat – Shin (Full participant in practice on Thursday)
- Terell Smith – Ankle (Logged limited practices on Wednesday and Thursday)
- Kiran Amegadjie – Calf (Has not practiced this week)
The Bears’ run defense has already struggled this season, so losing Andrew Billings will be difficult to overcome. Second-year DT Zacch Pickens will have to step up in his absence. The offensive line is beginning to fall apart; with both tackles hurt, Tevin Jenkins still banged up, and they are currently starting a backup at right guard (Matt Pryor). Jaquan Brisker’s injury is a scary one. He’s been in concussion protocol for about five weeks now, and he’s experienced head injuries in the past.
The Bears roster isn’t good enough to win key games without multiple starters.
Upcoming Gauntlet
Going into Week 10, the Bears are 4-4 and have a tough road up ahead. After they play the Patriots on Sunday, they have to play all six divisional games: the 49ers and the Seahawks. There won’t be any easy wins from weeks 11 through 18. Realistically, the Bears needed to be 6-3 or 7-2 to give themselves a chance at making the playoffs. At best, they’ll be 5-4, needing to win over half of their remaining games to have a fighting chance.
The Bears playoff hopes are likely dead. Fans will have to wait another year to see Chicago in the postseason.
The Chicago Bears entered this season with immense hype but haven’t met expectations.
Everything is spiraling out of control, and fans are beginning to lose patience.
PHOTO: Michael Chow/The Republic/USA TODAY NETWORK/Imagn Images
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Categorized:Bears