In Glendale, we learned
a game can tell a story.
A tragic drama.
Lifeless and listless,
the Bears quit on their head coach,
ending their season.
When do you move on?
When do you know it’s over?
Has that time not come?
Three Haikus on the Head Coach
In Glendale, we learned
a game can tell a story.
A tragic drama.
Lifeless and listless,
the Bears quit on their head coach,
ending their season.
When do you move on?
When do you know it’s over?
Has that time not come?
Deidre and Colleen are seated in their golf start, waiting for the group ahead of them to tee off at Talking Stick. Deidre smokes cigar. Colleen sips a gin and tonic. It is 6:30 AM.
Deidre: It’s a dry heat.
Colleen: Then why am I drenched at six o’clock in the morning.
Deidre: I hate that word.
Colleen: What word?
Deidre: Drenched.
Colleen: What word would you prefer I use?
Deidre: I don’t care.
Colleen: Sweaty? Saturated? Moistened?
Deidre: Towels are moistened, not human.
Colleen: I’ve been moistened.
Beat.
Deidre: How do you know?
Colleen: How do I know what?
Deidre: When it’s time to go, when it’s time to stop doing something.
Colleen: What are you talking about?
Deidre: We do things, human being. We do things because we’re supposed to, because that’s what you do. But how do you know when to stop doing a thing?
Colleen: You’re talking about Eberflus.
Deidre: I’m talking about Eberflus.
Colleen: It’s time.
Deidre: Is it?
Colleen: Time.
Deidre: Okay.
Beat.
So, what is going to happen on Sunday?
Chicago Bears 30, Arizona Cardinals 20
I.
Always.
Like.
THE.
Chicago.
Bears.
So, as many of you might have realized, I took a step back from the “insider” stuff when returning to school. That kind of work requires diligence, dedication and most importantly, nerve. You have to be willing to go with information when you trust it, and then sweat it out until it becomes reality (while the rest of Bears media peppers you with texts). The “sweat it out” part was not for me.
But on the drive from DC to Newark Monday, and throughout the day Tuesday, I texted everyone, trying to gauge what the league-wide consensus was on Matt Eberflus. Here is what I gathered in that informal survey.
– Eberflus is an exceptionally well-liked man in the league.
– Said one personnel guy: “Never make decisions after a Hail Mary loss.” (And he’s been through a bad one.)
– Said one scout: “The Ben Johnson/Breer leak was interesting timing. Johnson smells blood in the water.” I had to sit with this text a bit. Is Ben Johnson really thinking about his NEXT job in October, while being the OC of a team that looks like the overwhelming favorite to make the Super Bowl from the NFC?
– Said one former personnel guy, now a TV guy: “These next few games are very important.”
And this last comment is where I’ve landed on Eberflus. I don’t think it particularly matters if he’s the coach in 2025 or not. Do I think they can win with him? Yes. I think he’s becoming an excellent in-game adjuster, which was his primary flaw a year ago. But there’s not enough positive with Flus that I believe he’d be a major loss on the sideline should they replace him, and I don’t think Caleb would be all that flustered by a system change on offense, especially if they move to an offensive head coach.
But if Flus wants to stave off calls for his job, I think he must win these next two games. I’m not saying he’ll be fired either way, but the calls for his job will persist all season long if he’s not 6-3.
The Bears are 4-3, and in last place in the NFC North.
The Arizona Cardinals are 4-4, and in first place in the NFC West.
The NFC is the wild, wild west, so it makes poetic sense that a contest to define the Bears’ season will take place just about 195 miles from the O.K. Corral.
The Hail Maryland is over. It’s in the past. So is the dismal effort the Bears delivered for three quarters of their loss in Landover, a stadium that provides perhaps the worst sports viewing atmosphere outside of the swamp in New Jersey. (I have chosen not to write about my time in Northwest Stadium. Nobody wants to read that.) When I analyzed this three-game stretch coming out of the bye, it seemed imperative for the Bears to go 2-1, splitting their road games and beating the Patriots at home. That is still on the table. If the Bears can finish this stretch at 6-3, tournament relevance in January is still very much on the table. If they are 5-4, those questions become more difficult to answer.
Thus, it is not difficult to position Sunday’s game in Arizona as the most important the Bears have played thus far in 2024. How they start, especially after Washington, will be scrutinized. The offensive and defensive game-planning going in, especially after Washington, will be scrutinized. How Matt Eberflus manages the game, especially after Washington, will be scrutinized. Every major contributor, especially those with big contracts like DJ Moore and Montez Sweat, will be scrutinized. Tyrique Stevenson will be…very scrutinized.
And that’s what makes Sunday fun. The leaves are changing. The air is chilling. The calendar will have flipped from October to November. New York City will be celebrating the NYC Marathon, its best day of the year. All the talk of meaningless preseason games and hitless camp practices ends. The Bears have a football game they must win if they have designs on more than just scoreboard watching a seven seed after Christmas. Everything will be magnified.
Can the 2024 version of this club hold up under that scrutiny?
As I stood in Northwest Stadium, coming to the realization that the Bears had allowed an unthinkable Hail Maryland and lost a game they had no business winning in the first place, I wasn’t angry. Was I disappointed? Of course. I don’t think I need to use this space to present my credentials as a Bears fan. That resume has been thoroughly vetted. I wasn’t angry because football doesn’t make me angry anymore. And quite frankly, if it’s capable of making you angry, you shouldn’t watch it.
I’m 42 years old. I got a theater company with a thriving education program. I got a new play and musical I think are going to be really interesting when we get them on stage. I have a great relationship, amazing friends, two cool cats, an incredible community and yes, this website, which has endured since 2005 and given me more than I could have ever imagined. Oh, and I am also pursuing a PhD that is about as rigorous as one could imagine, swallowing up every available minute of my time. I don’t share all of this to brag about my life. (Although it is pretty good, aside from a wonky back the last month.) I share all of this to say that IS my life. Those things are me. If I’m going to get angry it’s going to be in support of those endeavors and for those people.
The Bears aren’t me. And quite frankly, I’m thrilled about that.
Game they had no business winning became a game they had no business losing. Push. On to Arizona.
— DaBearsBlog (@dabearsblog) October 28, 2024
Chicago Bears 27, Washington Commanders 23
