Bear Digest

Do Bears Already Have Antidote for Packers Curse in a Play Caller?

Analysis: Matt Eberflus has reportedly gone to Thomas Brown as the new OC and with him they have someone who at least has had some success against Green Bay.

Gene Chamberlain

DJ Moore signals for a first down after a reception last season at Green Bay. The rivals meet again Sunday at Soldier Field.
DJ Moore signals for a first down after a reception last season at Green Bay. The rivals meet again Sunday at Soldier Field. / Tork Mason / USA TODAY NETWORK
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With the Bears heading toward Thomas Brown calling plays this week against Green Bay, based on last year they may have just found a secret weapon for ending a 10-game losing streak against their rivals.

Or at least it might help them score more than three points and reach the end zone to snap a streak of no touchdowns in 23 possession.

Then again, maybe not.

In that regard, perhaps it's a good idea because it's "gamesmanship." Opponents wouldn't know what to expect from someone else deciding the plays for quarterback Caleb Williams.

The Packers might, though.

Last year, Brown was the offensive coordinator who very nearly kept Green Bay out of the playoffs. He was Carolina's play caller in Week 16 when the Panthers scored a season-high 30 points, rallying from a 30-16 deficit in the fourth quarter to tie it with 4:05 to play. But the Packers escaped with an Anders Carlson 32-yard field goal to win 33-30.

That game actually impacted the Bears because a Packers loss that day would have left the Bears in position for Week 18 to still make the playoffs. Instead, they limped into Green Bay with heads down after their postseason chances ended in Week 17. The offense vanished like it usually does against the Packers in a 17-9 defeat. It was a game when they gave much the same kind of effort on offense as they have had the past three games.

So perhaps they have the "silver bullet" for this Packers curse, so to speak?

Or, maybe not.

In fact, the Panthers really didn't do very well with Brown calling plays. They didn't do very well last year with anyone calling plays.

It's why Frank Reich got fired after a 33-10 loss to the Cowboys in Week 12.

Brown's play calling started in Week 8 after the bye. Reich's team had started out 0-6 and defense had been their real problem, as they were giving up 31 points a game.

Carolina stunned playoff-bound Houston in Brown's first game calling plays, a 15-13 victory. Then they lost to the Colts 27-13 and came to Chicago for a night game against Matt Eberflus and the Tyson Bagent-led Bears. The Bears won 16-13.

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So Reich took back play-calling duties from Brown for the Dallas game after the offense had 41 points in three games. The Cowboys blew them out and Reich got canned.

Following the firing, former Bears special teams coach Chris Tabor became interim head coach. Brown served as play-calling OC the rest of the year. The Panthers had their 30-point game against the Packers.

However, in the other Carolina games under Brown, Carolina never scored more than 18, got shut out twice and scored six, nine and 10 with rookie No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young playing QB.

So there are definitely very familiar elements here in the Bears situation for Brown.

Even more eerie is the status of the current Bears play-calling decision.

First Reich announced he was going to study a play-calling change for Carolina, then for two days he was "still evaluating" the change before he decided to let Brown do it.

It's sort of deja-vu all over again for Brown as the person being entrusted with this duty, except for the head coach being fired.

When the Panthers gave Brown the keys to the offense for good, they announced Jim Caldwell would move from senior assistant to special advisor for Brown to guide him. That's the same Jim Caldwell who had interviewed for the Bears head coaching job and was a finalist with Dan Quinn and Eberflus.

All told, the Panthers scored 114 points in 10 games under Brown. That's an 11.4-point average for those who struggle with math.

But hey, that was better than the nine points a game the Bears have averaged under Waldron the past three games.

Twitter: Bears OnSI

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.