Bear Digest

Good Reasons Exist Why Heat Should Be On Bears Decision Makers

Analysis: At some point the Bears need to beat respectable teams if they want to be taken seriously, and their failure at this is stoking fan/social media anger.

Gene Chamberlain

TE Zach Ertz tries to beat Bears CB Tyrique Stevenson for a TD Sunday but can't hold onto the ball when he hits the turf.
TE Zach Ertz tries to beat Bears CB Tyrique Stevenson for a TD Sunday but can't hold onto the ball when he hits the turf. / Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
In this story:

In Week 4, the Bears faced an important juncture in the Matt Eberflus and Ryan Poles era even if no one wanted to talk about it.

Some social media types and other critics mentioned it, but when the team was 1-2 on the year and facing the Rams that weekend, it looked pretty bleak. However, they came away with a win over an injury plagued team and then went on a winning streak.

We’re back to Square One in a manner of speaking. Except this week against the Arizona Cardinals the situation is far more critical and they’re playing on the road, not at Soldier Field.

THE LONG LEGACY OF LOST LEADS BY MATT EBERFLUS TEAMS

Beating Arizona in a road game would be huge because the Cardinals are not a bad team at 4-4 and coming off a huge win of their own over the Miami Dolphins.

Yes, the game is important to their offense because they need to see better first-quarter, even first-half production from Shane Waldron. They need fewer stupid play calls at the goal line.

The defense needs to show it can hold onto a lead after Sunday’s Hail Mary.

But this one is huge for the future of the franchise, not just the win-loss record for this year’s team.

It’s the middle of the third Bears season in this great rebuild under George McCaskey’s hand-picked leaders. Now, they are losing to teams that began rebuilding projects after they did. Some of these rebuilding projects were as big or bigger than the one the Bears undertook.

The Washington Commanders just beat the Bears with only a handful of starters back from last year, with the head coach the Bears rejected and the offensive coordinator the Bears rejected so they could have Eberflus and Shane Waldron coaching.

ADMISSION AND APOLOGY FROM TYRIQUE STEVENSON TO HIS TEAMMATES

HOW BEARS PULL IT TOGETHER AFTER TOUGHEST LOSS SINCE DOUBLE-DOINK

WHAT MATT EBERFLUS SAID TO SECOND-GUESSERS AFTER HAIL MARY LOSS

TYRIQUE STEVENSON COULD FACE CHALLENGING WEEK AS DEFENSE REGROUPS

They just started the Commanders rebuild and not only have new players, new coaches but also new owners. They rebuilt and took over their division in one offseason. They beat the Bears one season after losing to them 40-20.

If the Bears lose to the Cardinals, they’ll be losing to a team that started its rebuild last season under coach Jonathan Gannon and lost last year to the Bears 27-16.

The Cardinals, in Year 2 of their rebuild, are now tied for first place in the NFC West and just got done beating the Chargers of Jim Harbaugh and Miami in successive weeks. Beating the Cardinals might not be like winning over the Chiefs, Bills or Eagles but at least it would be a win over a capable team.

The Bears finally got their first winning streak of three games under Eberflus and it ended with the Hail Mary pass. In it, they didn’t beat a single team anyone would call a playoff contender. The Rams could be eventually but the Rams team the Bears played was missing its top two offensive weapons.

The truth is, the Bears have not beaten a good team except for Detroit last season at Soldier Field. They haven’t won over a good or respectable team on the road.  They’re 3-17 on the road under Eberflus.

On Sunday, they lost to a quarterback they could have drafted but didn’t. They lost in Week 2 to another one, C.J. Stroud. They even lost on the road to Anthony Richardson and no one is confusing him with top quarterback talents this season.

Rebuilding teams are beating good teams everywhere. Sean Payton took over the Broncos last year and they have a better record than the Bears. The Seahawks have a new coach and are tied for first place in the NFC West. Meanwhile, the Bears are still in last in the NFC North.

The Bears are supposed to be rebuilt by now. You can’t take the North and not give it back, like Poles said, if you’re 3-17 on the road under your head coach, even if they have won nine straight as the home team.

Since Sunday’s disaster, social media and talk shows have been on fire calling for Eberflus’ job, some for Poles’ job and, as usual, for the McCaskeys to sell the team.

It’s all exaggerated over one loss taken by itself, but study the trend. Look at how Eberflus’ teams have always had problems holding leads even before the Bears blew big leads under him to the Broncos, Lions and Browns. It happened with the Colts.

There always seems to be some question about strategy or operations with the team under pressure situations, like with yesterday’s questions about the last 20 seconds.

None of this seems conducive to building a division winner and neither does passing on quarterbacks in the draft who become instant NFL stars while your own struggles to score in first quarters.

If the Bears think the heat was on after their loss on Sunday, wait and see what it will be like if they take a 4-4 record into their first home game since early October when they play the New England Patriots on Nov. 10, just before they start divisional play against the biggest thorn in all of their rears, the Packers.

Twitter: BearsOnSI

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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.