Panthers Firing Can Affect Bears Draft

Carolina's firing of Frank Reich and naming former Bears special teams coordinator Chris Tabor as coach in the final six games could spoil the No. 1 draft pick for Chicago.

A Sunday without Bears football changes plenty.

It resulted in a critical firing on Monday. At least it's critical to Bears chances for the top pick in the draft.

According to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, the Carolina Panthers have fired their head coach, Matt Eberflus' former boss Frank Reich after the Titans outlasted them Sunday.

There are ripple effects of games and firings. Here's how the Bears are affected by what happened Sunday in the NFL, and even Monday morning.

1. Tabes' Turn

The Panthers have reportedly put Chris Tabor in charge as head coach, the former Bears special teams coordinator. Tabor was Bears head coach for one game, a loss to San Francisco, when Matt Nagy had COVID-19.

This can affect the tentative first pick in the draft owned by the Bears.

Tabor could throw a wrench into Bears hopes for the first pick by winning a game or two down the stretch. You have to look at it from this standpoint: The Panthers can't be any worse than they already were because they were the NFL's worst team. So maybe they manage to play better for a game or two.

2. Easier Firing

One of the reasons often used as an argument for keeping Matt Eberflus as head coach after this season is he hasn't really had a chance. The roster was gutted and refilled with low-grade free agents on one-year deals last year, so winning was not really possible then. This year they brought in all new players, especially on defense, but needed time to come together as a team. He needs more time.

The Panthers sure didn't have a problem firing their head coach after 11 games, did they? 

Eberflus has had 28 games and doesn't even have consecutive wins. Even if some sort of progress is made with wins down the stretch, the way Carolina just fired a first-year coach in a total rebuild makes it apparent in this NFL anything seems possible for anyone regardless of the situation.

Reich was fired, hired and fired all while Eberflus has been in position as Bears coach. Things happen quickly in the NFL and 28 games has been forever for Eberflus.

3. Cross Off That Page

On Sunday the Cleveland Browns showed why offensive coordinator Luke Getsy needs to find the page in his playbook with the tight end sneak on it and cross it off. He should have done it already, but Getsy has already used Cole Kmet sneaking far too often on this play and it doesn't have a great success rate.

On Sunday, the Cleveland Browns tried to do this with tight end Harrison Bryant taking the snap on fourth-and-1 near midfield against Denver. He did what tight ends will do when they're not accustomed to taking a snap from under center in a crucial situation. He fumbled it for a turnover.

This needs to be a reminder to the Bears of what happens next time they decide to run that sad play.

4. Reunion Coming?

Dorian Thompson-Robinson had become the Browns' choice to play as injured Deshaun Watson's QB replacement, but he suffered a concussion Sunday and former Bears backup P.J. Walker replaced him.

The Bears are in Cleveland Dec. 17. So the possibility increases they would face a QB they released when they decided to keep Tyson Bagent. A playoff berth could be on the line for the Browns.

5. Pretenders Disappearing

The real battle for the top draft pick is narrowing now as the New York Giants are fading from the picture with their second straight victory thanks to Patriots QB failures and kicker Chad Ryland, who couldn't make a simple 35-yard game-tying field goal in the closing seconds. Go ahead and say it. You smelled a "tank" job.

After Sunday, it has become a three-team race thanks to the Patriots' follies.

Bears proxys or surrogates in this race for the top spot, the Panthers, own the edge but the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday continued to stalk them with their own total incompetence. And suddenly the Patriots have entered the picture as strong contenders for top draft pick after embarrassing performances by both Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe.

The Panthers/Bears actually have more than a one-game edge in this race for the top draft slot. Tiebreaker is strength of schedule, with the team that faced the weaker slate picking first.

Panthers opponents over the course of this season have a .513 winning percentage. The opponents on the Patriots schedule this season have a .530 winning percentage and for Arizona it's .558.

So even if the Panthers get one win, the Patriots and the Cardinals are going to need to hope some of their own opponents from this season lose more games over the last few weeks because they can't beat the Panthers/Bears in a tiebreaker at this point.

The Pan-Bears are sitting pretty after this past weekend but uneasy lies the head...

6. Pick 2 Looking Better

After the Giants won again, the Falcons ended a stretch of one win in four weeks by beating New Orleans and the Rams won, the Bears are settling in with their own draft pick at the No. 4 slot. So they'd have 1-4 in the draft.

No one else in the league has just three wins.

It's all quite an accomplishment.

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