The 2024 season’s seen every major side suffer injuries that have driven them to change things up. The teams that have succeeded have been those that have adapted despite these injuries. The Chiefs are the biggest example, still unbeaten in the league despite suffering as many injuries as any other side. That kind of perseverance is admirable, but if you’ve got to copy something about them, copy the perseverance, not the injuries! It seems Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus didn’t get the memo. If you’re a Bears fan, you already know what we’re talking about.

Caleb Williams was an incredibly exciting prospect for the team, a #1 overall draft pick. And what have they done with that? Not only did they squander his potential to a measly 4-4 in week 9, they practically set him up to be injured. Williams had suffered a left ankle tweak against the Cardinals, and with little more than 2 minutes left in the game, the Bears had already lost. Well, Eberflus kept him on the field, and next thing you know, Williams was limping off the field. But he’d had a bad game already by then. Dan Orlovsky points out that Williams had 9 off-target throws that game, and 58 this season, more than any other quarterback in the league.

Of course, Williams is talented, but that doesn’t excuse his shortcomings on the field. But he’s a rookie, the responsibility can’t be entirely on his head. The coach and the team share responsibility, and yes, they share the blame. It seems like the rest of the offense has given up as well half the time. The Bears rank 30th in the league in terms of yards-per-play, a humiliatingly low rank.

Williams is always looking for the deep field passes, and that’s just not always played out. He holds on to the ball too long, ignores open players, and then ditches the ball when he’s rushed. Despite that, he’s the third most sacked quarterback this season, at 29 sacks. The run game has been unexceptional, and the wide receivers just can’t give Williams what he wants. It’s been a disaster of a rookie season for him, but his team let him down just as much as he let them down. None so much as coach Matt Eberflus, who seems like $4.5 million worth of weight at the moment, for what he’s costing the Bears.

Fans clamor for the removal of Matt Eberflus as Bears head coach

Regardless of Caleb Williams’ underperformance, Chicago Bears fans have not been okay with his decision last Sunday. “fire eberflus. leaving your rookie QB in to get killed in a meaningless snap of a blowout is malfeasance. done with this staff,” one fan said in a post on X. And it really was meaningless, the Arizona Cardinals were 29-9 up at that point with 2:15 on the clock. Their “star” quarterback was worried about his ankle, but Eberflus wrote that off. Back to the pitch, and that’s right into an ankle injury for young Williams.

Another fan set his sights even wider, saying, “Fire Matt Eberflus. Fire Shane Waldron. I’ve seen enough.” Waldron, of course, is the offensive coordinator for the Bears and is perceived by many as being partially responsible for this mess. The Bears’ defense has actually been holding up relatively well, in contrast, it is the 12th bet in the league for restricting yards gained. Eric Washington, serving in his first year as defensive coordinator for the Bears, is to thank for that.

Another fan addressed the reason the franchise might still be holding on to Eberflus and then dismissed it, saying, “You have to fire the first ever coach mid-season and hope whoever takes over can right these guys in the proper direction. This is unacceptable on all levels. Quite literally every single sign is on the wall.” Yep, that’s right, the Bears have never, in its 104-year history, fired a coach mid-season. But Eberflus has been unimpressive since 2022 when he was hired. Further, his disregard for his quarterback’s safety is appalling.

After all, the general plan when you draft a first pick is to develop them as a talent for your team. Some fans have lost hope in that idea by now, one of them saying, “Jayden Daniels being so much better than Caleb Williams is really taking its toll on Bears fans. But, don’t quit on him yet, maybe he can eventually develop into another Tyrod Taylor.” Taylor’s had famously bad luck trying to get time on the field. At 35 years old, in his 14 years, he’s started in 4.1 games per season on average.

Are the Bears cooked? Well, Williams’ ankle injury apparently isn’t too severe. And we don’t know if the Bears will break with tradition and ditch Eberflus, but fans have certainly had enough of him. A 4-4 season isn’t unrecoverable, but it’s only getting tougher from here. Let’s see how things play out.