The Chicago Bears were one play away from being 5-2 on the season. Then Jayden Daniels connected on a Hail Mary that gave the Washington Commanders an unlikely win and sent Chicago’s season into a tailspin.
The Bears, now sitting at 4-5 on the season, fired offensive coordinator Shane Waldron on Tuesday morning. Chicago hasn’t scored a touchdown since being on the wrong end of the Hail Mary, and their subsequent losses to the Arizona Cardinals and New England Patriots were arguably even more embarrassing than the Commanders defeat.
The Bears appear to have quit head coach Matt Eberflus. This wasn’t the way Chicago’s season was supposed to go. The Bears entered the season with tons of optimism after drafting quarterback Caleb Williams with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. Williams was supposed to be the franchise QB the Bears have never had, but recently he’s been out-played by two rookie QBs drafted behind him in Daniels and Drake Maye.
As the finger pointing in the locker room peaked after Sunday’s Week 10 defeat to the lowly Patriots, some Bears players were advocating for Williams to be benched in favor of backup Tyson Bagent, according to reports.
After talking to a few people with knowledge of the situation, players went to Matt Eberflus & Ryan Poles asking them to make a change at offensive coordinator.
There have also been a few veteran players requesting Bagent starts. https://t.co/h3QSrhZjQ1— Silvy (@WaddleandSilvy) November 12, 2024
The Bears eventually announced they were sticking with Williams as their quarterback, and firing Waldon in an attempt to fix the offense. Thomas Brown — who spent last season as Bryce Young’s OC with the Carolina Panthers — is taking over playcalling for Chicago.
ESPN insider Adam Schefter reported that the Bears were considering benching Williams after the Patriots loss. The report above comes from long-time Chicago sports radio personality Marc Silverman, who has covered the team for so long that he should be considered a reliable source. Eberflus said changes were being evaluated during his Monday press conference. Waldron eventually became the fall guy, and Williams is slated to start on Sunday against the rival Green Bay Packers.
The speculation in Chicago is that star wide receiver D.J. Moore was among those advocating for Bagent to replace Williams. That is just speculation, and will likely never be confirmed. Moore had a career-year last season with QB Justin Fields. The Bears moved on from Fields to draft Williams, and so far Moore’s production is way down. Moore is on pace for less than half as many catches and nearly 4x fewer yards than last year.
Moore is not without blame. He’s been openly quitting on routes all season, and even walked off the field in the middle of a play vs. the Cardinals. Moore was advocating for the Bears to keep Fields in the offseason, which read at the time like a receiver standing up for his embattled teammate. It’s easy to think back to those comments now has Moore’s play has massively declined upon signing a new contract as the Bears made the switch to Williams.
Williams should be bust-proof. He was touted as a future No. 1 overall draft pick for two years at USC as he went on to win the Heisman Trophy. If any team can ruin a star QB prospect, though, it’s the Bears. Chicago is repeating the exact same mistake it made with former first-round picks Mitch Trubisky and Fields by keeping a bad head coach in place one year too long. Williams will now likely have to learn a brand new system next year after the Bears fire Eberflus. Chicago just can’t get out of its own way.
Bears players asking for Bagent feels like a new low for this season. Williams has been electric at times in his rookie season, but he’s started regressing after the Hail Mary. The Bears absolutely had to fire Waldron, but Eberflus should have been fired, too. Eberflus’ horrible leadership in the wake of the Hail Mary doomed Chicago’s season, and at this point it feels like the team is just playing out the string despite still being 4-5 on the year. The Bears face the hardest strength of the schedule in the NFL for the rest of this season.
At a certain point, Eberflus has to be held accountable for consistently making horrible hires on his staff:
Shane Waldron is the eighth member of Matt Eberflus’ coaching staff to be fired or resign in the past 14 months.
— Dan Wiederer (@danwiederer) November 12, 2024
Williams still has a bright future … but only if the Bears can fix the coaching staff, the offensive line, and figure out what is up with Moore. This has been another nightmare season for the Bears at a time when the franchise had so much hope. It’s all starting to feel too familiar in Chicago.
