Bear Digest

The Hand Thomas Brown Has to Play in Debut as Interim Coach

Analysis: This Bears team as morphed over the course of the season and in a way to keep them competitive but not necessarily put away games.

Gene Chamberlain

The Bears still play pass defense well enough to give them a shot in many games but there are other problems facing interim coach Thomas Brown.
The Bears still play pass defense well enough to give them a shot in many games but there are other problems facing interim coach Thomas Brown. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
In this story:

The team Thomas Brown inherits as Bears interim coach is not the team Matt Eberflus took into the regular season.

A season of being hit with one late-game catastrophe after another has scarred the team mentally. Their production waned in areas where they once were strong. They've become more adept at areas where they once struggled.

Here is the hand Brown has been dealt as he prepares for what essentially is a five-game interview to become head coach for 2025.

A Defense with a Weakness

Their defense came into the year talking about being top five. Their inability to stop the run consistently all year has left them vulnerable to teams committed to the run and committed to it. Their schedule still includes games with San Francisco, Detroit and Green Bay, all teams fully committed to running the ball.

The chances for the Bears to stop the run could improve if they get back a fully healthy Jaquan Brisker at safety. He was their best extra player to bring down into the box and assist the front in stopping the run, but how effective he can be after three concussions in three years is questionable.

A Defense Still Stopping the Pass

Because they still have Jon Hoke as cornerbacks coach and Andre Curtis as safeties coach, they're still stopping the pass even with a poor run defense and an average pass rush. Those two champion technique in the scheme and they have Jaylon Johnson and Kevin Byard playing at a high level. The components of a strong pass defense exist but when a team is leaking against the run, it automatically becomes difficult to rush the passer because opponents are no longer one-dimensional. Also, Ryan Poles never did bring in that effective edge rush counter to help take pressure off Montez Sweat. They added players and none have really worked out. Darrell Taylor hasn't had a sack since the season opener. Jake Martin has helped but they didn't have him until the Hail Mary game and he is a situational player.

THE CONCERN OVER CALEB WILLIAMS WITH THOMAS BROWN AS INTERIM COACH

HOW THOMAS BROWN SEES BEARS PULLING IT ALL BACK TOGETHER

HOW THOMAS BROWN SEES BEARS PULLING IT ALL BACK TOGETHER

REPLACING MATT EBERFLUS BEGINS AND ENDS WITH RYAN POLES

An Offense Struggling to Run

The Bears have intermittently hit opponents with big running plays but not a big running game. D'Andre Swift is not a physical runner but is a home run threat. The Bears are last in the NFL in average broken tackle per attempt. They break a tackle on every 45 rushing attempt according to Stathead/Pro Football Reference. No one else is close. Dallas is at 39.3 attempts for every broken tackle. Losing Roschon Johnson to a concussion is definitely not going to help this and will also make them vulnerable at the goal line.

A Budding Passing Game

It took a while but Caleb Williams is building a good connection with all three wide receivers and tight end Cole Kmet, as well as with Swift out of the backfield. Williams has become more confident in his ability to create against NFL defenses, is reading better and knowing where he'll have receivers open. And the play-calling of Brown has been in better tune with where Williams' strength is. More than anything else, their passing game will give them a chance to be in every game against the better teams they face at the end of this schedule. Brown needs to lean on this to have a chance to win and also to help Williams develop.

A Partial Offensive Line

Although they have yet to say anything more about the knee injury to Darnell Wright, if it was enough to prevent him from finishing the game Thursday then it's likely to be an issue for him playing this week.

They had just brought together a healthy offensive line for the first time since the start of the Jacksonville game and now the concern has to be Williams being able to pass. He has been sacked an NFL high of 49 times for an NFL high of 331 yards in losses. It's not ideal for watching a young passer develop.

Special Teams

Strong at the season's outset, they've also deteriorated. Confidence in Cairo Santos' ability to deliver longer kicks without getting them blocked, in Scott Daly to get off rapid, accurate snaps and now of return man DeAndre Carter to field bouncing punts are all anecdotal type evidence of problems but they were problems in recent weeks and points of concern.

Coaching Staff

While Brown is in a different role as head coach instead of offensive coordinator, Chris Beatty is now the offensive coordinator instead of wide receivers coach and Eric Washington the defensive signal caller now instead of just a defensive coordinator-organizer. It's an altered dynamic and no one can be certain what will happen with this group of coaches. The most important change is what Brown himself brings emotionally to a full roster. This is a change for them to have a coach who can inspire with his words.

Heart Damage

Already touched on, where does this team's psyche sit after the Motown Meltdown postgame prior to locker room interviews with reporters. Jaylon Johnson exploded. Players weren't happy. Who's to say they can go from that low point to an acceptable frame of mind to face the 49ers on a long road trip when they haven't been able to win a road game since Nov. 27, 2023?

Do they have the heart to finish a season after six straight losses by the most demoralizing of circumstances possible.

The four-word phrase most appropriate for Brown's mission impossible is "good luck with that."

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.