Matt Eberflus made a name for himself as the Indianapolis Colts’ defensive coordinator, but now he has a chance to make his mark as the new head coach of the Chicago Bears.
There’s a lot to be excited about in Chicago. The Monsters of Midway have a new head coach with Eberflus and an exciting general manager with Ryan Poles. The Bears boasted the sixth-best defense in the league in 2021, but couldn’t score points to save their lives.
The next step is to figure out who will become the Bears’ next offensive coordinator, inheriting a tough job that will include preparing quarterback Justin Fields to take a huge leap to become an elite passer and game manager.
The Bears haven’t won a playoff game since the 2010 season when they made a trip to the NFC Championship. They last made the Super Bowl in 2006 where they lost to Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl 41.
Two weeks ago, the Bears fired head coach Matt Nagy after a disastrous 6-11 season. They also fired general manager Ryan Pace after seven seasons, which accounted for zero playoff wins with his rosters.
Out with Nagy, in with Eberflus
In four years under Nagy, the Bears posted just one winning season. Nagy secured two trips to the playoffs in the NFC wild card, but lost both games. Overall, Nagy departed the Windy City with a 34-31 record with the Bears, who got progressively worse during his tenure. The Bears went 12-4 in his first season, but followed that up with consecutive 8-8 seasons.
In 2021, Nagy had a huge headache with a roster filled with less-than-worthy veteran quarterbacks like Nick Foles and Andy Dalton. The Bears started 3-2, but finished the season 3-9 with wins against losing squads like the Detroit Lions, New York Giants, and Seattle Seahawks.
At their low point, the low-scoring Bears lost five games in a row during a tough stretch of the season against opponents that would eventually qualify for the playoffs.
Now, instead of hiring a head coach experience like Dan Quinn or Jim Caldwell, the Bears are gambling on Eberflus as a rookie head coach.
Eberflus made a name for himself in Indianapolis as their defensive coordinator. He turned around their defense from one of the worst in the NFL to one of the toughest. The Colts led the NFL with 22 takeaways in 2021. The thought is that Eberflus is inheriting a good defense that will become even better under his philosophy and schemes. Despite Eberflus’ success with the Colts, some fans are skeptical because they need someone who can improve their offense.
Wide open NFC North?
If rumors on the street are correct, Aaron Rodgers will leave the Green Bay Packers next season, which will create a power vacuum in the NFC North. The Denver Broncos hired Nathaniel Hackett, Green Bay’s offensive coordinator, as their new head coach and are trying to lure Rodgers to the Mile High City. Once Rodgers leaves Green Bay, the Packers will begin their arduous process of rebuilding.
The Minnesota Vikings are in the middle of their own head coach search after they ended Mike Zimmer’s reign. The Detroit Lions have a good head coach in Dan Campbell, but they’re still the lowly Detroit Lions. With the other teams in the division in a state of flux, the Bears smell blood in the water. With the addition of Eberflus, the Bears should be one of the betting favorites to win the NFC North next season.