Plenty of people continue to make arguments that Justin Fields and Matt Eberflus aren’t out of a job yet. Five games remain in the season for the Chicago Bears. While the team is 4-8, they’re 4-4 in their last eight games. They should be 5-3 if not for that painful 4th quarter collapse in Detroit. Yet that is the harsh reality facing these two. Failing to finish games is a persistent feature of their time together. Fields’ worst stats over the past two seasons have come in the 4th quarter. Eberflus’ defense ranks 26th in 4th quarter points allowed.
Yet that isn’t the primary reason why both men are more likely than not to end up unemployed once the season is over in January. This may sound narrow-minded, but it will come down to their record against the Green Bay Packers. Of all the negative things that can be said about this pairing, no cloud hangs over them more than their failure to beat the Bears’ biggest rival.
Fields is 0-5 against Green Bay, dating back to 2021. Not only that, but his 72.8 passer rating against them is by far the worst of any divisional opponent. Eberflus is 0-3 as a coach against them, and none of those games were particularly close, either. Chicago has lost by an average of 14.67 points against the Packers with him as head coach. People can talk about Detroit, Cleveland, or Atlanta. Those games mean nothing.
If the Bears again fail to beat Green Bay in the season finale, Fields and Eberflus will be gone.
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Matt Eberflus and Justin Fields don’t have favorable odds.
Green Bay is one of the hottest teams in the NFC right now. They’ve won four of their last five games. It will be at Lambeau Field, and they’ll likely be contending for a playoff spot. Unless the Bears manage to win the four games leading up to that encounter, they won’t have anything to play for except pride. Keep in mind this team has never won back-to-back games under Eberflus. So let’s say they go 2-2 in those four games to reach 6-10. Does anybody think the organization will keep both men around for another year if the last glimpse of them is another loss to Green Bay?
Unlikely. People can talk about Matt Eberflus and Justin Fields having to reach a certain win threshold to get another season together. The ice-cold truth is different. Little of what they do will matter if they can’t beat the Packers. It won’t matter how much better Eberflus’ defense is playing. It won’t matter how much more efficient Fields is being. None of it is good enough to win the one game that means the most to fans and, more importantly, ownership.
@Richard Daley – where did I ever say I wanted Fields to throw in 2.5 seconds? I posted a few weeks ago that it takes 3.5 seconds for a deep route tree to develop, but we don’t run many deep routes. Is that what you’re referencing? BTW – my post below is tongue -in -cheek. I’m pointing out how silly it is to say Eberflus and Fields are gone no matter what happens. And that tomorrow there will be a new article saying they will stay even if they go 0-5. I’m pointing out how many conflicting articles we get… Read more »
Even though it is clear Fields is getting better you all want him gone. How many of you will be happy to see Fields in the Superbowl while Williams is still in rookie contract
@Tred don’t you mean 4-13 they play more than 5 games this year. You watch the game with your eyes closed. Open them only when you see bad things happening. They said they wanted more pocket presence and quick throws. But when he did exactly what you want against the Vikings you said you want deep passes it takes the fastest runner 4 seconds to run 40 yrds. But you want Fields to throw the ball in 2.5 seconds. I promise you every 40 yrd pass will be inc. or int. Thrown in 2.5 seconds
You want Fields gone so much you want Bagent to replace him. But look at who he beat Carolina but the chargers are mediocre team at best and they made Bagent look like freshman year in college. This is who you want to lead this team
So, the Bears win the next 4 games. They go into Lambeau and lose the game in OT by a FG, while facing the hottest team in the NFC. And the next day Kevin Warren calls Poles in and tells him, “OK, either you’re firing Eberflus and ditching Fields, or I’m firing you…”
Sure. That’s what will happen. No question.
And now we wait for the article that says Eberflus and Fields are safe even if they go 0-5 to end the season – right?