The Chicago Bears have doubled their win total from last year. It feels like they’re trending in the right direction. The roster is younger, faster, and stronger than it’s been in years. One would think Matt Eberflus would be excited about this. Yet the head coach continues fielding questions about his job security. This stems from the Bears’ constant inability to close out games. Five times the Bears have gone into the 4th quarter tied or with the lead. They are 1-4 in those games, including losing three double-digit leads. This doesn’t mention almost losing to the hapless Carolina Panthers and Josh Dobbs-led Minnesota Vikings.
Part of the problem is such games is the offense’s tendency to go ice-cold down the stretch or not show up at all. In three of those losses, they scored 17 points or less. In the others, they failed to even manage a field goal in the entire 4th quarter (Denver) and they committed two ugly turnovers in the 4th quarter (Detroit). After a rough outing against Cleveland and another cold spell against Arizona, frustration appears to be mounting with offensive coordinator Luke Getsy. He runs the show, organizing everything and calling the plays. Even Eberflus has shown glimpses of losing patience with the embattled assistant.
His latest critique involved the team’s ongoing inability in short-yardage situations.
“We have to do a better job with short yardage. There’s no question about that. You have to have a staple, something that you go to. It’s usually the sneak or the wedge or the rugby, whatever you’re calling that, the Philadelphia play. We’ve done that a couple times, but we need to be more effective at that. We’re looking to be more effective at that, because you need something like that where you can always go to that, and then you need some stuff that hits the perimeter, because teams will load up inside there on you, pack everybody inside and leave themselves vulnerable on the outside. I do think you need that. We certainly have that in our arsenal, too. But it just comes down to execution. It comes down to the guys executing the push play better and also the perimeter plays better.”
Matt Eberflus has an identity in mind for the Bears.
The problem is Getsy doesn’t always adhere to it. Eberflus wants a physical football team that runs the football well and is willing to take shots down the field. All of those things work to the strengths of quarterback Justin Fields. Yet Getsy falls in love with screens too much and too often seems reluctant to attack down the field despite having a quarterback capable of doing so. More than anything, it’s his lack of ability to adjust when opponents are able to shut down what he’s doing that is the biggest problem.
Whenever the Bears’ offense loses rhythm during a game, he is unable to get it back almost every time. That speaks to a coach who is in over his head. Matt Eberflus has tried to remain patient, understanding that building a cohesive system can take time. Yet the results haven’t been there. Aside from a handful of solid performances against bad opponents, it’s been mostly mediocre-to-bad from Getsy. These recent comments by Eberflus suggest he’s slowly trying to distance himself from the young coordinator. A tried-and-true tactic of survival.
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