Nov 10, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Bears head Coach Matt Eberflus during the third quarter against the New England Patriots at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Mike Dinovo-Imagn Images

Falcons interview Matt Eberflus for DC position

The Atlanta Falcons completed a virtual interview with Matt Eberflus for their defensive coordinator position, the team announced Saturday.

Eberflus, 54, most recently served as head coach of the Chicago Bears for two-plus seasons. He was fired the day after a Thanksgiving loss to the Detroit Lions, finishing his tenure with a 14-32 record.

The Falcons fired defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake last weekend after one season with the team. Atlanta dropped its final two games to miss the playoffs, giving up a combined 74 points in back-to-back overtime defeats against the Washington Commanders and Carolina Panthers.

Before coaching the Bears, Eberflus was the defensive coordinator of the Indianapolis Colts from 2018-21. He was an assistant coach with the Dallas Cowboys from 2011-17 and the linebackers coach for the Cleveland Browns from 2009-10.

–Field Level Media

Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus on the sidelines during the second half against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: David Reginek-Imagn Images

Back to work, Bears coach Matt Eberflus ‘getting ready’ for 49ers

Matt Eberflus survived Black Monday and appears to be safe as the Chicago Bears head coach on Black Friday, too.

Less than 24 hours after Eberflus experienced a six straight defeat and third consecutive loss decided on the final play, the third-year coach conveyed plans to conduct business as usual before a Friday afternoon meeting with team president Kevin Warren and general manager Ryan Poles.

“The operation has been normal,” Eberflus said of his plans for Friday in the office with players home for the long weekend before returning to practice Monday.

The Bears have never fired a coach in-season and Eberflus indicated he doesn’t expect to be the first.

“I’m confident that I’ll be working on to San Francisco and getting ready for that game,” Eberflus said, pointing to the Week 14 matchup with the 49ers. He won his coaching debut with the Bears, 19-10, in 2022 but is 13-32 since.

On Thursday, Chicago lost 23-20 at Detroit, rallying from a dormant first half and had the ball in field-goal range when quarterback Caleb Williams was sacked. In a sequence that began with 32 seconds on the game clock, the Bears had options. They could have spiked the ball to stop the clock, attempting what would have been around a 60-yard field goal or going for a first down with plenty of time to “clock” the ball.

Another option Eberflus chose not to use was calling a timeout.

Instead, the ball was snapped 28 seconds later and Williams heaved an incompletion down the right sideline as time expired.

Media members repeatedly have questioned Eberflus in press conference settings about taking personal accountability. But on Friday he said the Bears handled the final sequence appropriately and “the operation wasn’t fast enough.”

Wide receiver Keenan Allen said Thursday afternoon that “we did enough as players to win the game.”

Williams said the timeout call wasn’t his to make.

“We can call a timeout there or we cannot,” he said. “I’m not going to say I was surprised. My job is just to go out there and make plays. I let the coaches and everybody make that decision – it is their call. Maybe in the later years of my career, it will be my call.”

Poles paid a personal visit to Williams in the locker room for a discussion, and Warren stood watch to take in the wide-lens scene of the locker room packing to return to Chicago with an 0-3 record in the NFC North. The Bears had chances to beat all three division opponents but the Packers blocked a game-winning FG attempt by Cairo Santos, the Vikings escaped Chicago with a 30-27 overtime win and the Lions wriggled away Thanksgiving Day with Chicago more than threatening in the final minute.

When Poles and Warren meet with Eberflus, and Bears chairman George McCaskey joins the discussion as he did in January with support for Eberflus to return, they will likely incorporate what they’ve heard from players in the locker room. It’s also fair to presume they’re listening to open discussion from Eberflus’ peers on the late-game braincramp.

New England Patriots first-year coach Jerod Mayo stepped away from the final minute of the Bears’ loss on CBS Thursday to talk to his coaches and support staff about the time management elements in play and how they would navigate the situation.

“I probably would’ve handled it a little bit differently,” Mayo said.

–Field Level Media

Nov 17, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Bears kicker Cairo Santos (8) looks on after his game winning field goal attempt is blocked by Green Bay Packers defensive tackle Karl Brooks (not pictured) during the fourth quarter at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Bartel-Imagn Images

Matt Eberflus, Bears cry foul to NFL on game-deciding FG block

Pictures and video point to a clear penalty on the Packers’ game-deciding blocked field goal on Sunday, Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus said the day after Green Bay escaped with a 20-19 win.

Eberflus said the Bears are sending a report and video of Chicago’s field-goal try as time expired to the NFL to repeat the complaint he shared with officials in real time on Karl Brooks’ block of Cairo Santos try for a game-winning 46-yarder.

“(The Packers) were on our longsnapper,” Eberflus said Monday, a violation of the NFL rule that defenses must leave the snapper “uncovered” on placement kicks.

The result of the play was Green Bay holding on for a 20-19 victory extending the Packers’ streak of wins over the Bears to 11 under head coach Matt LaFleur. Eberflus is 0-5 against the Packers and the Bears are 4-6 after starting the season 4-2.

Brooks said he only got his middle finger on the ball and was concerned upon contact that he didn’t slow the ball down enough. The play was the focus of special teams coach Rich Bisaccia in last week’s practices according to LaFleur. LaFleur said Bisaccia told the team he “wouldn’t understand” if they didn’t come out of the Week 11 game at Soldier Field with a blocked kick because of Santos’ penchant for lower, line-drive angles on longer kicks.

“We were going to block it,” Green Bay defensive lineman Kenny Clark said of what the Packers discussed on the final play. “We talked about TJ (Slaton) or KB (Brooks) blocking the kick all week. They’ve got holes in their field goal protection and a couple of them they got close. So we’ve been talking about that all week. It was a problem, so, coach Rich has been telling them all week and we ended up getting one.”

Eberflus repeated Monday that he didn’t regret not running another play to shorten the length of the field goal try on second down. Santos has never missed a field goal from 40 yards or closer, making all 71 of his tries from that distance with the Bears.

“We didn’t want to risk a fumble or a holding penalty. We felt good about where we were at on the field to kick the field goal,” Eberflus said Monday.

–Field Level Media

Aug 10, 2024; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams (18) throws a pass in warm ups with head coach Matt Eberflus looking on before a pre-season game against the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

Bears coach Matt Eberflus outlines decision to fire OC

Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus declined to describe the process he followed before firing Shane Waldron, but said he dismissed the first-year offensive coordinator on Tuesday morning and promoted passing game coordinator Thomas Brown to the position.

“It’s obviously a big decision. It’s not taken lightly. We’re still running the same type of verbiage,” Eberflus said Wednesday. “My decision, I’ve always used council — meeting with (GM) Ryan (Poles) on Wednesday. But my decision.”

When asked about any assurances he received about job security in the meeting with Poles and chairman George McCaskey, Eberflus said, “You know what? We weren’t talking about that. We were talking about solutions going forward.”

With a 14-29 overall record and 0-4 mark against this week’s opponent, the Green Bay Packers, Eberflus clearly felt the urgency of the situation one week after saying no change was coming at offensive coordinator.

Eberflus said players told him they want to “do more” as a group and individually and shared their frustration with him before he shared his decision to fire Waldron on Tuesday morning. Waldron spent the previous three seasons with the Seattle Seahawks and was hired to replace Luke Getsy, who was fired by the Bears at the end of the 2023 regular season.

Saying it was because the offense “struggled the last three weeks,” Eberflus said there was no choice but to find a way to get better. He said getting playmakers in the open field was a persistent problem and credited quarterback Caleb Williams for making plays, but called on the rookie to become more consistent.

Williams hasn’t thrown a TD pass during the current three-game losing streak and the Bears have allowed 15 sacks while scoring 12 points in the past two games.

To get there, Eberflus said there is only one path for Williams’ improvement: live reps.

“Caleb has been confident throughout this whole process. You have to have confidence in your abilities,” Eberflus said. “You have to have confidence in what you can do. I think that’s important.”

Brown failed to spark confidence or generate points with his last rookie No. 1 pick at the position, Bryce Young, when he was promoted to the play-caller role in 2023 with the Carolina Panthers.

But Eberflus said Brown was the best option “in the building,” noting the change at coordinator was too significant to look outside Halas Hall.

“We want efficient, effective offense. The run game, the screen game, play-action pass, dropback pass, A to Z,” Eberflus said. “What I’m looking for in the offense is creativity. Getting the guys open, it takes creativity. It takes everybody working together to find answers.”

–Field Level Media

Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams (18) reacts with head coach 
Matt Eberflus following the game against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Sliding Bears vow ‘changes, adjustments’ but back QB Caleb Williams

For a third consecutive week, Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus showed up at Halas Hall on a Monday with a tone of frustration or plans for changes to spark the offense.

But Eberflus maintained on Monday that moving rookie No. 1 pick Caleb Williams out of the starting lineup is not one of the many changes he’s considering as the Bears shift their attention to the Green Bay Packers.

“Caleb is our starter,” Eberflus said, but declared an evaluation of the process of almost everything the team does offensively would be evaluated on Monday.

“There’s got to be a change and adjustment,” Eberflus said. “There’s also the sight that we’re 4-5, we haven’t played our division yet. … We’re in the process of getting (that evaluation) done. There will be changes and adjustments being made.”

Williams and the Bears were dominated by the New England Patriots (3-7) on Sunday, Chicago’s third consecutive loss, and head into Week 11 with a run of 23 consecutive possessions without a touchdown. The Bears scored three points against the Patriots, one week after putting up nine points at Arizona, and were held under 17 points for the fifth time this season. New England sacked Williams nine times one week after the Cardinals posted six sacks against Chicago.

Offensive coordinator Shane Waldron received a vote of confidence coming out of the loss to Arizona. But Eberflus didn’t guarantee Waldron would be calling plays when the Bears host the Packers (6-3) this Sunday.

“The process of that, we’re going through that right now. All those adjustments and changes and things that we’re gonna do, we’re still in the evaluation phase of that,” Eberflus said.

Eberflus, 14-29 since he was hired in 2022, is 0-4 against the Packers. His only win against the NFC North to date was 12-10 at Minnesota last season.

Williams threw four touchdown passes in a Week 6 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in London and none in the three games since the bye week. He’s on pace to be sacked more than 70 times, and the Bears were 1 of 14 on third down against the Patriots, producing 142 total yards and 2.4 yards per play. Williams had 69 net passing yards when the 51 yards lost on New England’s quarterback sacks were eliminated.

Multiple questions were directed to Eberflus on Monday about whether Waldron would call plays and even remain on his coaching staff. Waldron was selected from a pool of candidates to replace Luke Getsy as offensive coordinator. He was previously with the Seattle Seahawks from 2021-23.

“It’s important that we’re using all the people in the building on the coaching staff, getting all the input, putting our minds together to come up with the best answer,” Eberflus said. “That’s where we are right now. We’ve got to look at that this afternoon as well.”

–Field Level Media

Oct 13, 2024; London, United Kingdom; Chicago Bears offensive coordinator Shane Waldron watches from the sidelines against the Jacksonville Jaguars in the second half during an NFL International Series game at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Bears stand behind OC Shane Waldron

With 24 points in a pair of losses since the bye week, Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus expected to field questions about his offensive play-caller.

But the Bears (4-4) are not planning a change at offensive coordinator or taking any responsibility from first-year play-caller Shane Waldron.

“Changes we’re going to make is we’re going to look inward and make sure we do a good job of utilizing our talents and our skill and really just general, basic execution of our plan,” Eberflus said Monday. “And we have to make sure we’re doing that going forward, and we’ll put that plan into place here in the next 48 hours.”

Waldron was offensive coordinator of the Seattle Seahawks last season and was hired from a pool of candidates that included current Washington Commanders play-caller Kliff Kingsbury. Waldron replaced fired coordinator Luke Getsy in Chicago; Getsy was fired by the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday.

The Bears scored five touchdowns in their win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in London before the bye week. After going scoreless in the first half at Washington, the Bears had three scoreless quarters and didn’t reach the end zone on Sunday at Arizona in a 29-9 loss.

Eberflus said rookie quarterback Caleb Williams was still in that game in the final minute because his team is always going to fight to the end. Williams suffered an ankle injury and was sacked six times.

“We’re sitting at 4-4. Right now that’s where we are and it’s important that we focus on this week. That’s all we can control and doing a better job of putting our guys in position as coaches to be successful, and that’s ultimately my job and the coordinator’s job secondly,” Eberflus said. “So it’s important that we do a great job of that with the position coaches, partnering up with players and putting those guys in position to succeed.”

–Field Level Media

Oct 27, 2024; Landover, Maryland, USA; Washington Commanders tight end Zach Ertz (86) attempts to catch a touchdown pass as Chicago Bears cornerback Tyrique Stevenson (29) defends during the second quarter at Northwest Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

Bears CB Tyrique Stevenson apologizes for gaffe, loss to Commanders

Bears cornerback Tyrique Stevenson was responsible for covering Commanders wide receiver Noah Brown on the completed game-ending Hail Mary on Sunday.

Head coach Matt Eberflus said Stevenson took accountability for his mistake and addressed the entire team a day after Jayden Daniels connected on the 52-yard walk-off TD with Brown, who caught a tipped pass in the end zone for an 18-15 win with no time left on the clock.

“I let the moment get too big and it’s something that can’t ever happen again and won’t ever again,” Stevenson said Monday of what he told teammates in the day-after meeting.

The NFL’s All-22 game film offers a vantage point that exposes the extent of the failure on the final play, which came after a 13-yard completion to Terry McLaurin that made the long fling from Daniels possible.

On the last play, Stevenson is facing the end zone and motioning toward the stands behind the Washington sideline before and after Daniels receives the snap. At that point more than 40 yards from the line of scrimmage, Stevenson sprints toward the middle of the field. Because of his pre-snap position and angle to the ball, he never reached his assignment, Brown.

“The play was, I was supposed to box out 85 (Noah Brown),” Stevenson said Monday. “Just cheering with some Bears fans, wasn’t taunting no fans. Cheering with some Bears fans. The Washington fans reacted how they want to. My job was to box out 85. I was trying to make a play on the ball, not trying to make an interception at that point in the game.”

Stevenson, a second-round draft pick in 2023, got a hand on the ball, but it was deflected over the nearest defenders and receivers to Brown standing all alone in the end zone.

“Tyrique’s got to do a good job of putting a body on 85 and boxing him out,” Eberflus said. “(Safety Kevin Byard) KB was the guy that was going to knock the ball down. We’ve got to do a better job in that moment.”

The Bears practice defense of the Hail Mary “a couple of times per week,” according to Eberflus.

Eberflus said he told the Bears the teaching moment underscores the need to remain balanced for players that thrive when displaying a high level of emotion. Any discipline for failed execution on the final play will be kept in-house, the coach said.

Stevenson said his biggest regret from Sunday will stick with him for a while.

“Just letting my teammates down in a situation that we pretty much know how to handle on any day,” he said.

–Field Level Media

Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams (18) throws a pass in warm ups with head coach Matt Eberflus looking on before a preseason game against the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

Bears back rookie QB, expect more from stingy defense

Bears coach Matt Eberflus dismissed any flaws evident in evaluating the NFL debut of No. 1 draft pick Caleb Williams in Chicago’s 24-17 win over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.

“My evaluation was he took care of the football. I know he had two sacks, but he really took care of the football,” Eberflus said Monday.

Williams said he celebrated with teammates in the locker room and doesn’t care what the statistics indicated about his play on Sunday, when he went 14-for-29 passing for 93 yards and a 55.7 QB rating.

Eberflus credited Williams with knowing where not to throw the ball based on coverage reads to assist the rally from a 17-0 deficit with 24 unanswered points.

“That was a difference in the game,” Eberflus said.

The Bears had 11 total first downs and didn’t score an offensive touchdown.

Chicago’s defense is helping change the narrative around the Bears, who now have a six-game home winning streak. Sunday’s victory was the seventh consecutive game dating to last season the Bears held their opponent to 20 or fewer points. Their record in that span is 5-2.

“It was one of those dirty wins that we really needed,” safety Kevin Byard said Monday. He said no one in the locker room was surprised by the defensive showing or the playmakers who helped flip the game in the second half.

The Bears pack their bags this week for their first primetime appearance at Houston to face the 2023 No. 2 pick, C.J. Stroud, and the Texans (1-0).

As defensive coordinator of the Colts, Eberflus turned down a request from the Texans to interview for the head-coaching opening in January 2021. Days later, the Texans hired Nick Caserio from the Patriots to run the front office.

Eberflus, who interviewed with the Chargers and Jets that offseason, was hired by general manager Ryan Poles in January 2022.

–Field Level Media

Aug 10, 2024; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Chicago Bears wide receiver Rome Odunze (15) warms up prior to the game against the Chicago Bears at Highmark Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

Bears rookie WR Rome Odunze to have MRI on knee

Chicago Bears rookie receiver Rome Odunze is awaiting MRI results on his knee, coach Matt Eberflus confirmed Monday.

Eberflus said the injury occurred while Odunze was engaged in a blocking assignment.

“We’ll see,” the coach told reporters. “I don’t have enough information yet.”

Odunze, the ninth overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, caught one pass for 11 yards on Sunday in Chicago’s season-opening 24-17 win against the Tennessee Titans.

His second-quarter reception was one for the highlight reel, as Odunze leaped to snag a ball that had bounced off a defender’s helmet. Odunze fumbled after the reception but it was recovered by teammate Teven Jenkins, setting up a Cairo Santos field goal for a 17-3 halftime lead.

Odunze, 22, caught 92 passes for 1,640 yards and 13 touchdowns in 15 games in his final season at the University of Washington in 2023.

–Field Level Media

Nov 19, 2023; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus on the sidelines against the Detroit Lions in the fourth quarter at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Lon Horwedel-USA TODAY Sports

Reports: Bears retain Matt Eberflus, fire OC Luke Getsy

Head coach Matt Eberflus was retained for the 2024 season but his offensive coaching staff is getting a facelift, per multiple reports Wednesday.

Eberflus, 10-24 since being hired to replace Matt Nagy, parted with offensive coordinator Luke Getsy and quarterbacks coach Andrew Janocko. He’s also been operating without a defensive coordinator since Alan Williams resigned in September.

Hiring coordinators could be tricky for Eberflus because he has only two years remaining on his original four-year contract.

Eberflus called defensive plays for the balance of the season and Chicago ranked in the top six in most major categories over the final 10 games of the season.

Under Getsy, the Bears finished 28th in total offense in 2022 and 20th in 2023.

The change also factors into the quarterback situation. Justin Fields would be learning yet another offense in what sets up as a possible make-or-break year.

Speculation about Fields’ future is rampant. The Bears have the No. 1 pick in the 2024 draft and general manager Ryan Poles said before last year’s draft, when he swapped the No. 1 pick to the Carolina Panthers for two first-rounders and wide receiver DJ Moore, that this year’s first-round pick was important in the trade because it could be used on a franchise quarterback.

–Field Level Media