Whether it’s Matt Eberflus or Thomas Brown, the root of the head coach’s impact is the same. It’s not enough to like him. You have to believe in him. You have to play for him.
That sure seemed to be the undoing of Eberflus. He was generally like and respected by his players. But when it came time to play for him, they faltered.
The Bears had one of those moments following the devastating Hail Mary loss to the Commanders on Oct. 27 at Northwest Stadium. The Bears acknowledged the magnitude of that loss — safety Kevin Byard said the cliche “24-hour rule” of celebrating a victory or lamenting a defeat might have to be extended to 36 or 48 hours after that game. But they vowed to get off the mat, re-focus and show they could take the hit.
“We’re not about to just lay down,” Byard said in the locker room after the Hail Mary. “Obviously it’s a game we needed to have. But it is what it is. Lick your wounds and let’s get back to work.”
That they did, and the results — especially in retrospect — were telling. The Bears were flat in a 29-9 loss to the Cardinals at State Farm Stadium, with the offense producing three field goals and the usually efficient defense allowing a season-high 29 points.
A week after allowing the Hail Mary, the defense that was focused on atoning for an embarrassing lapse had yet another embarrassing lapse — Emari Demercado’s 53-yard touchdown with four seconds left in the first half.
The Bears never recovered from that play. And with an opportunity again to respond the next week against the 2-7 Patriots at Soldier Field, they were even worse in a 19-3 loss that made it more clear than ever that Eberflus was losing his grip on his team.
As their coach’s job status became more tenuous, the players’ words of support were more perfunctory than heartfelt, and their actions were speaking much louder.
It came to a head in the confounding finish to the Lions game that sank Eberflus and his team to a new low — after losing on a preventable Hail Mary, allowing a 53-yard touchdown in the final 12 seconds of a half and losing on a blocked field goal as time expired — in a span of four games — they had made the unbelievable believable.
The Lions game was the breaking point, and when Eberflus was fired, the response from many players was as telling as Jaylon Johnson’s post-game outburst at his own head coach — they weren’t taking the blame.
Days after Caleb Williams and the offense took 26 of the final 32 seconds to run one play — where a better response to the urgency of the moment could have bailed out their head coach — there was little or none of the almost perfunctory regret that the players let down their coach.
On the contrary, wide receiver Keenan Allen reiterated that Eberflus was the source of their frustration and demise. “I think the accountability and the way games were ending,” Allen said. “Like I said after the game, I feel like we’ve been making a lot of plays to be able to win the game.”
For the most part, there was more disappointment — and relief — than remorse.
“The human aspect of it weighs on you a little bit,” Williams said, “especially this being my first year, this being my first head coach that drafted me. … It’s tough. But you’ve got to move on, get to get going with these guys and San Fran and focus on coming out with the win.”
As was the case against the Cardinals and the 49ers, actions will speak the loudest. The final five games — and the 49ers game in particular — will be a referendum on not only Thomas Brown, but Matt Eberflus. Allen said he doesn’t know if change is good. We’re about to find out.