Chicago Bears

Chicago Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson reportedly had enough of former head coach Matt Eberflus and let him know about it in the locker room following the team's 23-20 loss to the Detroit Lions on Thursday.

"Immediately Jaylon Johnson, their Pro Bowl cornerback, interrupts him and starts speaking in very colorful language," Fox Sports' Jay Glazer reported Sunday. "… It went on for about 10 or 15 minutes, I was told. That's the last Eberflus talked. It was Jaylon Johnson after that. That moment, those players knew, the organization knew, that's it for Matt Eberflus. He's gone."

Glazer's update comes after Adam Jahns and Dianna Russini of The Athletic reported on the exchange in the locker room and cited one player who said, "Jaylon went crazy. He was very emotional and pissed but rightfully so. He's been here longer than most."

Another said the cornerback was "going off more so at [Eberflus]."

According to Jahns and Russini, things got so ugly between Bears players and Eberflus that the head coach, who has since been fired, ended up leaving the locker room.

That Chicago fired him Friday was particularly notable because the franchise has never fired a head coach during an ongoing season. Yet Eberflus did such a poor job, the front office had little choice after the reported exchange.

It wasn't supposed to be this way for the Bears, who drafted Caleb Williams No. 1 overall and surrounded him with plenty of talent in an offense that features DJ Moore, Keenan Allen, Rome Odunze, Cole Kmet and D'Andre Swift.

And things likely wouldn't be this way for the 4-8 team that is still plus-one in point differential if it had better coaching in some of the most important moments of close games. In fact, Thursday's loss to the Lions was the fourth time this season that Chicago lost on the final play of a game.

Many of those losses on the last play can be largely traced back to coaching.

One came against the Washington Commanders when the Bears didn't guard the sidelines on the penultimate play and allowed the NFC East team to move into Hail Mary range. They also didn't bring any pressure on the Hail Mary, and Jayden Daniels and his wide receivers had plenty of time to execute the low-percentage play for the win.

Another came against the Green Bay Packers when Williams moved the offense into game-winning field goal range but Eberflus chose not to run any plays with a timeout in the final 30 seconds and settled for a 46-yard field goal that was, naturally, blocked.

Thursday's loss again came down to poor timeout usage, as Williams took a sack with 32 seconds left to knock Chicago out of field-goal range. Rather than call a timeout to settle things down and draw something up, the Bears struggled to get into the correct formation at the line of scrimmage as time ticked away.

All Williams could do from there was throw up a desperation pass to the end zone, which was incomplete.

It was yet another stunning result for a team that has been so close to breaking through, and Johnson and other players were angry with Eberflus. They no longer have to worry about dealing with him, though, after Friday's firing.

Peter Schrager of Fox Sports noted that the Chicago Bears coaching search would likely knock on the doors of several expected candidates, including former Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel, Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury.

But he also floated a more surprising possibility.

"Another name that you haven't heard anywhere else that I would keep your eye on—Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman," he said. "Kevin Warren, former Big Ten commissioner, is now running the Bears as the president. Familiar with the college game. They're looking for a 'leader of men' type coach. Freeman a name to watch early on in that process."

Jay Glazer of Fox Sports outlined a number of other potential candidates for the position:

Freeman, 38, has gone 30-9 as the head coach at Notre Dame and has the Fighting Irish almost assuredly into the College Football Playoff this season.

He does not have any experience at the NFL level, however, outside of a brief playing career. He was drafted by the Bears in the fifth round of the 2009 NFL draft but was released that September. He then caught on with both the Buffalo Bills and Houston Texans that season before retiring in 2010 due to an enlarged heart valve in his left ventricle.

As for the Bears, the team's firing of Matt Eberflus was long expected, and perhaps long overdue. Despite high expectations heading into the 2024 campaign after an exciting offseason, Chicago is just 4-8 on the season, and the team has become something of a leading expert on how to lose close games.

There was the Hail Mary from the Washington Commanders. The blocked field-goal attempt against the Green Bay Packers. The overtime loss to the Minnesota Vikings after Chicago's furious comeback. The horrific clock management on the final drive in Thursday's loss to the Detroit Lions, allowing time to run out without managing even a game-tying field-goal attempt.

A once promising 4-2 season was marred by a six-game losing streak, four of them in heartbreakingly close fashion, and it had become a pattern—Eberflus went 5-17 in games decided by seven points or less during his tenure.

For the time being, interim offensive coordinator Thomas Brown will serve as interim head coach. But the Bears will conduct a search for a new head coach in the offseason, and Freeman is reportedly a name to watch.

Kliff Kingsbury was a senior offensive analyst for USC during the 2023 season when Caleb Williams was leading the Trojans, and he reportedly could be reunited with the quarterback on the Chicago Bears.

After Chicago fired head coach Matt Eberflus on Friday, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport provided an update on Sunday and noted the team will consider interim coach Thomas Brown, as well as top candidates Ben Johnson, Mike Vrabel and Aaron Glenn.

However, he also called Kingsbury, who is now the offensive coordinator for the Washington Commanders, "an interesting name to watch" in the Bears' search.

While Williams won the Heisman Trophy during the 2022 season at USC, he also thrived in 2023 while working with Kingsbury.

He completed 68.6 percent of his passes for 3,633 yards, 30 touchdowns and five interceptions while adding 142 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground as a runner. USC was just 8-5 on the campaign, but a poor defense was responsible for many of the losses while Williams played well enough to be the No. 1 overall pick of the 2024 NFL draft.

LSU's Jayden Daniels was the No. 2 pick of that draft, and he has the Commanders in playoff position at 7-5 while working with Kingsbury.

He is also playing like the potential Offensive Rookie of the Year while completing 68.4 percent of his passes for 2,613 yards, 12 touchdowns and five interceptions to go with 556 yards and five touchdowns on the ground.

Daniels' most notable moment of the season also came against Williams' Bears when he completed a Hail Mary on the final play to win their Week 8 matchup in dramatic fashion.

As for Chicago, the most important thing for the rest of the season and the offseason is creating an ideal environment for Williams to thrive. The NFC North team has been searching for a franchise quarterback for nearly its entire existence, and the hope is the USC product becomes just that as he develops in his career.

If that means partnering him back up with Kingsbury, that might be the direction the front office takes.

After all, the No. 1 pick living up to expectations is the only realistic way the Bears will eventually compete in a strong division that also includes the Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings.

Kingsbury has helped Daniels find early success, and Chicago and others will likely continue to evaluate him by how the Commanders finish their season.

Matt Eberflus sent a statement of gratitude to the Chicago Bears organization as well as the team's fanbase after he was fired as head coach on Friday.

"I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to the players for all of their effort, dedication and resilience," Eberflus said as part of the statement, via CBS Sports' Jonathan Jones. "In every situation - practice, games and especially in the face of adversity, you stayed together and gave great effort for your team and each other."

The Bears suffered a narrow 23-20 loss to the Detroit Lions on the day before Eberflus was fired, dropping them to 4-8 on the season as a whole after winning four of their first six games.

After the third-year head coach was relieved of his duties, general manager Ryan Poles thanked him for his time in Chicago with a statement of his own.

"I thank Matt for his hard work, professionalism and dedication to our organization," Poles said, per the team's official website. "We extend our gratitude for his commitment to the Chicago Bears and wish him and his family the best moving forward."

Eberflus became the first head coach to ever be fired by Chicago in the middle of the season.

In a corresponding move, the Bears elevated former offensive coordinator Thomas Brown to interim head coach. Brown opened the 2024 season as Chicago's passing game coordinator, but was promoted due to the firing of Shane Waldron on Nov. 12.

Eberflus finished with a record of 14-32 with the Bears. The team appeared to be trending in a positive direction after improving from 3-14 in 2022 to 7-10 in 2023, but several close defeats kept Chicago from building upon its strong start with rookie Caleb Williams under center.

The Bears lost due to a Hail Mary by the Washington Commanders in Week 8 and had a last-second field goal blocked during a one-point loss to the Green Bay Packers in Week 11.

On Thursday, Chicago entered field goal range late in the fourth quarter but the team was pushed back by a penalty and a sack.

Eberflus chose not to call a timeout with the time running out and the Bears' offense scrambling to get to the line of scrimmage before the clock expired on the ensuing play.

Chicago will now attempt to end its current six-game losing streak under Brown.

Amid all of the recent coaching turnover for the Chicago Bears, one player thinks many of the problems started during the offseason with the hiring of Shane Waldron as offensive coordinator.

Speaking to The Athletic's Adam Jahns and Dianna Russini, one unnamed Bears player said the team "messed up" by adding Waldron to the coaching staff "to begin with."

"He just didn't demand things properly," the player said of Waldron.

Even though the Bears decided to retain Matt Eberflus as their head coach after last season, their offensive coordinator job figured to be one of the most desirable openings in the NFL because of the opportunity to work with Caleb Williams, DJ Moore, Rome Odunze and Keenan Allen.

Waldron, who spent the previous three seasons as offensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks, was hired by the Bears in January. There were indications long before this season began that he may not be the right person for the job.

Appearing on the CHGO Podcast in February during Super Bowl week, Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba gave an awkward answer when asked if Waldron was the right person to get the offense headed in the right direction.

Even though Smith-Njigba tried to pass it off as a joke, it's hard to recover from five seconds of awkward silence and then the first thing you say is "good luck" to the Bears.

There were even some comparisons being made to Waldron and Luke Getsy, who was the offensive coordinator in Chicago in 2023, because they both had experience working in the Sean McVay system.

The Waldron experiment flamed out after just nine games. He was fired on Nov. 12, two days after the offense put up 142 total yards and Williams was sacked nine times in a 19-3 loss to the New England Patriots.

It marked the first time since 1970 that the Bears fired their offensive coordinator during the season. The results under new offensive coordinator Thomas Brown have led to immediate improvements.

Williams has thrown for 827 yards, five touchdowns and completed 64.1 percent of his attempts in three games with Brown calling plays. He threw for 468 yards, no touchdowns and completed 50.5 percent of his attempts in his final three games with Waldron.

The organization continued to break from tradition by making Matt Eberflus the first-ever head coach they fired during the season when they dismissed him on Friday after a 23-20 loss to the Detroit Lions.

This is a lot of turnaround for a franchise that's trying to develop a rookie quarterback, but it's probably better to pull off the Band-Aid now to get it over and know that you are going to rebuild the entire coaching staff in the offseason rather than try to drag things out simply because that's how they've always done things.

The time mismanagement at the end of Thursday's 23-20 loss to the Detroit Lions was the final straw for Matt Eberflus, but Chicago Bears players had tuned their now-former head coach out before that moment.

Per The Athletic's Adam Jahns and Dianna Russini, one Bears staff member said players were "furious" over the end of the Lions game because it was "an accumulation of this season."

Another staffer described the scene in the locker room as "ugly" with "a lot of yelling."

Even though the Bears did fire Eberflus on Friday, there was some confusion about the timing of their announcement.

Eberflus held his usual day-after press conference with the media on Friday after a usual debriefing session with Bears general manager Ryan Poles and CEO Kevin Warren earlier in the day. He said during the press conference he was "getting ready" to start preparations for the Week 14 game against the San Francisco 49ers.

ESPN's Courtney Cronin noted it was roughly two hours after the press conference that the Bears made the move to fire Eberflus.

Jahns and Russini noted Poles, Warren and chairman George McCaskey were meeting during Eberflus' scheduled press conference and no decision on his future had been made at that point, so they let him speak to the media as if nothing was happening.

There were certainly indications after the Lions game that players were very unhappy with how Eberflus handled the end-of-game situation. Wide receiver Keenan Allen told reporters he felt like "we did enough as players to win the game."

Caleb Williams said his approach in the moment was to let "coaches make that decision" on whether to call their final timeout or try to run a play.

The Bears were within field-goal range when they got to the Lions' 25-yard line with 45 seconds remaining. A penalty pushed them back 10 yards and a sack on second down moved them back to the 41-yard line with 33 seconds remaining.

Rather than call a timeout to set up a play that could at least move them closer to set up an easier field goal attempt for Cairo Santos, the offense tried to reset as the clock kept running and they didn't snap the ball until there were six seconds left to play.

Williams is certainly at some fault for taking his time in snapping the ball, but the entire situation was set up by Eberflus' decision to pocket his final timeout.

This was the latest in a series of late-game miscues for the Bears that reflects poorly on the head coach. They have lost six straight games since a 4-2 start, with four of the losses decided on the final play.

Those losses include the Washington Commanders completing a Hail Mary; the Green Bay Packers blocking a field goal attempt as time expired; and a game-winning field goal in overtime by the Minnesota Vikings after the Bears scored 10 points in the final 22 seconds of regulation to tie the score.

Thursday's loss proved to be too much for Eberflus to overcome. He finished his tenure in Chicago with a 14-32 record in three seasons.

As Thomas Brown prepares to lead the Chicago Bears as their interim head coach for the rest of this season, he could also be auditioning to get the full-time job in 2025.

Per ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, Brown will get a "real look" from the Bears in the offseason when they conduct a full search for a new head coach.

Chicago fired Matt Eberflus on Friday amid a six-game losing streak, including a 23-20 loss to the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving Day.

Brown has had a rapid ascent up the coaching ladder in Chicago. He was hired in January to be the passing game coordinator, then got bumped up to offensive coordinator when Shane Waldron was fired on Nov. 12.

The biggest feather in Brown's cap is Caleb Williams' improved play since he started calling plays for the offense.

In nine games under Waldron, Williams averaged 198.3 passing yards and 26.3 rushing yards. He threw nine touchdown passes, five interceptions and completed 60.5 percent of his attempts

Since Brown took over as offensive coordinator, Williams is averaging 275.7 passing yards, 47.3 rushing yards with five touchdown passes and no interceptions in three games.

Brown has extensive experience as a coach, though this interim stint with the Bears will mark his first time as a head coach. He spent nine years in the college ranks from 2011 to '19 before being hired to Sean McVay's staff with the Los Angeles Rams as running backs coach in 2020.

After three seasons with the Rams, Brown spent the 2023 season with the Carolina Panthers as their offensive coordinator.

The top priority for any candidate the Bears interview this offseason should be hearing their plan to develop Williams into becoming the star player they expect him to be after selecting him No. 1 overall in the 2024 NFL draft.

Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson will likely be the top candidate for several teams. It's unclear if this will be the offseason in which he decides to become a head coach after withdrawing his name from consideration for jobs in each of the past two years.

Brown's direct relationship with Williams can't hurt his chances, but the Bears owe it to themselves to cast a wide net in their search. The history of interim head coaches getting the full-time job with the same organization is not very strong.

Since 2000, there have been 12 interim coaches who got the permanent job. Leslie Frazier (Minnesota Vikings), Jason Garrett (Dallas Cowboys) and Doug Marrone (Jacksonville Jaguars) are the only coaches from that group who made it through at least three full seasons with the team that hired them.

The Bears have fallen to 4-8 amid their six-game losing streak after winning four of their first six games. Four losses during this skid have come by three points or fewer. They are one loss away from clinching their fourth straight losing season.

The Chicago Bears will officially enter a different era in 2025 with a new head coach who can work with Caleb Williams.

Following Thursday's 23-20 loss to the Detroit Lions that featured some of the worst clock management in a crucial situation you will ever see, NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported on Friday that Matt Eberflus has been fired.

Per ESPN's Adam Schefter, offensive coordinator Thomas Brown will finish out the season as Chicago's interim head coach.

Brown's ascent to interim head coach after starting the season as passing game coordinator makes sense.

Williams has looked much more comfortable in the three games since Brown replaced Shane Waldron as offensive coordinator. The rookie quarterback has thrown for 827 yards with five touchdown passes and run for 142 yards since Week 11.

Even before factoring in his stats against the Lions, Williams has been the eighth-best fantasy quarterback from Weeks 11-12 in PPR leagues. His three passing touchdowns against the Lions were his second-most in a game all season (four vs. Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 6).

Other encouraging signs for fantasy managers has been the increased production from Bears wide receivers since Brown took over the offense. D.J. Moore had his second-highest scoring fantasy performance of the season against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 12 and has more than 20 points in each of the past two games.

Moore had just one game with at least 20 fantasy points in his first 10 games. Keenan Allen has 18 receptions on 31 targets in the past three weeks. He has caught more touchdowns in the past two games (three) than he did in the first eight games combined (two).

The Bears receiver duo were the No. 4 and 5 fantasy wideouts in Week 12. Rome Odunze had double-digit targets in Weeks 11 and 12, but he has yet to translate that into production. He only has 129 yards in the past three games. His lone touchdown came in Week 3.

Given the trajectory for Williams, Moore and Allen with Brown coaching the offense, they should remain must-starts for your fantasy team going forward. Cole Kmet isn't lighting up the stat sheet, but tight end remains a shallow position that he's worth a starting spot going forward.

Even despite having one game with more than 50 receiving yards since Week 8, Kmet entered this week as the No. 12 tight end in fantasy. It's borderline starter production, but there isn't likely to be someone better on the waiver wire at this point in the season.

The Bears' schedule of opposing defenses will be difficult for the fantasy playoffs. They play the Vikings, Lions and Seattle Seahawks from Weeks 15-17, but they have already put up big numbers against the Vikings and Lions in their past two games.

The late-game clock mismanagement in a 23-20 loss to the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving proved to be the final straw for Matt Eberflus as head coach of the Chicago Bears.

The Bears fired Eberflus on Friday, while promoting offensive coordinator Thomas Brown to the interim role. Brown will continue to call offensive plays in his new role, according to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler.

NFL Network's Tom Pelissero first reported the firing. He also revealed why the Bears still had Eberflus speak with the media a few hours before firing him:

Chicago has lost six straight games overall after starting the season 4-2. Each of the last three losses have come by a total of seven points and were decided on the final play of the game.

The Bears lost to the Green Bay Packers in Week 11 when Cairo Santos' game-winning field goal attempt was blocked. They lost 30-27 in overtime to the Minnesota Vikings after scoring 10 points in the final 22 seconds of regulation to tie the game.

Thursday's loss saw the Bears nearly overcome a 16-point deficit to the Lions. They got into field goal range in the final minute of the fourth quarter, but a Caleb Williams sack on second down with 33 seconds remaining pushed them right outside of Santos' range.

As the Bears tried to get lined up on third down to run a play that would allow them to pick up a few yards to make a kick easier, they wasted 27 seconds of game time despite having a timeout before snapping the ball.

It's also worth noting that this losing streak started on Oct. 27 with an 18-15 loss to the Washington Commanders when Noah Brown caught a 52-yard Hail Mary from Jayden Daniels as time expired.

Brad Briggs of the Chicago Tribune reported on Nov. 6 that he was "led to believe" that Eberflus originally "signed a five-year deal that runs through the 2026 season," so he would've had two years remaining on his contract. He ends his tenure in Chicago with a 14-32 record and no playoff appearances.

The Bears had hired Eberflus following the 2021 season to replace Matt Nagy, who went 34-31 in four seasons with the team and made the playoffs twice. In Eberflus' first year at the helm, Chicago finished the 2022 campaign with a 3-14 record. The team lost a franchise-record 14 straight games between the end of 2022 and the beginning of the 2023 season.

However, the Bears showed a bit of promise toward the end of 2023 and finished the year with a 7-10 record. After selecting star quarterback Caleb Williams with the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NFL draft, Chicago had high hopes of turning things around this year.

Williams did not appear to develop as well as some of the other rookie quarterbacks in the 2024 draft class, though he has been better since Brown replaced Shane Waldron as offensive coordinator prior to Week 11.

All of that appears to have played into Friday's decision to part ways with Eberflus. Prior to coaching the Bears, he served as defensive coordinator of the Indianapolis Colts and was a member of coaching staffs with the Dallas Cowboys and Cleveland Browns.

The Bears will now begin their search for the right person to lead Williams and the rest of the franchise into a new era. Chicago has a talented roster, so it will be hoping to land one of the top coaching candidates on the market this offseason.