Former NFL head coach Rex Ryan says that despite suffering yet another devastating loss, the Chicago Bears’ Week 11 loss was a great thing for them.
Another week, another frustrating loss for the Chicago Bears. Three weeks after losing on a last-second Hail Mary, and two straight blowout losses to supposedly weak teams, they suffered a loss when Cairo Santos, the dependable kicker, had his game-winning field goal attempt blocked.
It was just par for the course for the Bears. Under Matt Eberflus, they suffered five losses late in games in which they had a 90 percent or higher odds of winning the game. Also, the fourth straight loss continues the trend under his leadership. The Chicago Bears have had losing streaks of two (twice), three, four, and, of course, 14.
That means that 25 of his 30 losses as head coach have been part of streaks. With the Chicago Bears ownership policy of not firing head coaches in the middle of the season, things could get much worse before they get better.
Was this last loss really a bad thing, however?
© Daniel Bartel-Imagn Images
Rex Ryan, co-host of ESPN’s Get Up series, and former head coach of the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills, feels that the Chicago Bears’ latest loss was a good thing. In fact, he said that it could have been the best thing to happen to the team.
To me, moving forward, this is great… Chicago Bears, the best thing happened to you. Why? Your quarterback looked really good, which means he’s a superstar. And you know what else? You lost the game! That’s fantastic because you’re going to get a new coach in there and… you’re going to have a better draft spot.
This ain’t your year anyway, and it’s unfortunate… You should be in the playoffs with this kind of talent…You got a guy that I don’t understand; he should never do a press conference, ever. Just say, ‘I’ll take the fine…’
To Ryan, the loss was the best of both worlds. Williams, who struggled during the previous three losses, did look much better against the Green Bay Packers. Despite not throwing a touchdown, he was able to move the ball and get the Chicago Bears into scoring position. He also drove the Bears downfield and in position to win the game on the final series.
Eberflus is squarely in the hot seat now. He survived this offseason’s purge by General Manager Ryan Poles. However, Eberflus’ pick for offensive coordinator, Shane Waldron, could not last through his first season. Additionally, former defensive coordinator Allan Williams and running backs coach Davis Walker were fired for off the field issues.
There are many who want the Chicago Bears ownership to change their policy and fire Eberflus as soon as possible. The 2024 season seems to be lost so why not see what someone else can do with this talented, underachieving group?
Ryan also alluded to Eberflus’ press conferences. Eberflus has gotten into trouble trying to explain things. When last year’s starting quarterback Justin Fields was injured, Eberflus bent himself into a pretzel and confusing people each week on whether or not he would play. He even said at one point that Fields was out but would throw before a game to see if he would play.
Eberflus also got criticized after the Packers loss in trying to explain why the offense just stopped trying to gain yards and settle for a long Santos field goal attempt. There was still plenty of time left for them to move closer. Additionally, Santos likes to kick from the right hash mark but the ball was run on the left one.
Eberflus tried to defend those moves and that just irritated fans even more. While he expects accountability from the players, there does not seem to be any coming from Eberflus. That rubs fans the wrong way. It likely rubs the players as well.
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Caleb Williams‘ development is of the utmost importance. He has shown flashes of how good he could be. The priority is to unlock his abilities so he could be consistently good. New offensive coordinator Thomas Brown had a good first game with Williams considering he only had a few days to work with him.
Ryan could be right about this latest loss. The fans are clamoring for Eberflus’ firing. They also want to see Williams’ “generational talent” to be on display more. Even if we have to wait until the end of the season, both things could happen. Let’s just hope that the overall evidence of Eberflus’ tenure outweighs whatever positive occurs between now and the end of the season.
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