Bears make history.

And fire a coach mid-year.

A new tradition?

For nine whole minutes,

Matt was forced to meet the press.

More mismanagement.

Wind, rustling his beard.

Eberflus wanders alone,

in a field of loss.

Yesterday, Ryan Poles, Kevin Warren and Thomas Brown met the media. Here are my thoughts.

Warren and Poles.

• Two words strike me every time I hear Kevin Warren speak: empty suit. When he says things like the Bears “have the greatest fans in all of sports”…does anyone actually believe him? In what world is that even on the periphery of accurate?
• Warren made it a distinct point to confirm Ryan Poles will remain the GM of the franchise moving forward and will be the “point person” for the head coaching search.
• Warren said that Caleb Williams is “special” and can “become more special.” Yes, he actually said that. I’d like to be more special.
• Warren lists a bunch of platitudes he’s looking for in the next head coach. My favorite? “A decisive decision maker.” Isn’t making a decision, by very definition, decisive?
• Poles cites the “end of game detailing” as the reason for firing Flus.
• Warren keeps repeating that “today” is when the Bears trajectory starts pointing upwards. What has he been doing for the last two years?
• Warren said the Eberflus decision was not made when Flus met the media Friday. This is also what I was told by several people. But still…why not just have Flus delay his media availability until the afternoon if you’re discussing his fate?
• Poles seems deflated, beaten down. He has every right to be disappointed with the result on the field, but this is a moment to put on a show for the cameras.
• Poles was asked about the Shane Waldron experience. He paused for about three minutes before not answering.

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Thomas Brown is a damn good coach.

But this column’s goal is not to argue that Brown must be the next head coach of the Chicago Bears. There should be and will be a process to make that determination. This column’s goal is to position Brown’s candidacy appropriately, to make the argument why Brown should be considered for the gig in 2025 and beyond.

First, the quarterback. For generations, the cry of the Bears fan has been that the organization fails young quarterbacks. Mitch Trubisky didn’t stink. (He did.) Justin Fields didn’t stink. (He also did.) The Bears failed them. (Sure.) Let’s look at the performance of Caleb Williams over the three games with Brown as his offensive coordinator.

Based on Caleb Williams’ pace with Thomas Brown as OC

Over a full season:
4692 passing yards
28 passing TDs
0 INTs
64.1 comp %
805 rushing yards

— Nick Whalen (@_NickWhalen) November 29, 2024

Yes, these are projections, not reality. But they are also a three-game sample size against the Packers, Vikings and Lions, the three teams the Bears need to beat consistently if they want to be a championship threat. Brown and Williams clearly have a rapport that is yielding a massive amount of production. What could be a more impressive line on a candidate’s resume than that? Isn’t Brown exactly the coach fans have yearned for when it comes to quarterback development?

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Black Friday: For the first time in the 100-plus year history of the franchise, the Chicago Bears have made an in-season head-coaching change, firing Matt Eberflus.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 29, 2024

Kevin Warren lingered in the Bears locker room longer than he typically has this season, while Ryan Poles put his arm around QB Caleb Williams for a few private words.

What happens next for the Bears brass? Is it time to fire Matt Eberflus?
https://t.co/3O9MOQXnlh

— Adam Jahns (@adamjahns) November 29, 2024

Normally, this would be the space for the game preview, but holiday travel has struck a blow to my intended posting schedule. So instead, this! The following titles will be watched, by me, over the coming month.

At the end of that period, DBB will publish an updated ranking of the ten best Christmas movies ever made.

Note: If a Christmas film you like isn’t on this list (and does not involve the Grinch or Charlie Brown), send me an email (jeff@dabearsblog.com) and I’ll add it!

Today

Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)

Tomorrow

Mouse on the Mayflower (1968)

Friday

Home for the Holidays (1995)

December 1-25

Bad Moms Christmas (2017)

Bad Santa (2003)

The Bishop’s Wife (1942)

Black Christmas (1974)

A Christmas Carol (1951, Alistair Sim)

A Christmas Carol (1984, George C. Scott)

Christmas Eve on Sesame Street (1978)

Christmas in Connecticut (1942)

A Christmas Story (1983)

Christmas with the Kranks (2004)

Die Hard (1988)

Elf (2003)

Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas (1977)

Ernest Saves Christmas (1988)

The Family Stone (2005)

Four Christmases (2008)

Frosty the Snowman (1969)

Gremlins (1984)

The Holdovers (2023)

The Holiday (2006)

Holiday Inn (1942)

Home Alone (1990)

Home Alone 2 (1992)

It Happened on 5th Avenue (1947)

It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)

Jingle All the Way (1996)

Klaus (2019)

Love Actually (2003)

Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

Miracle on 34th Street (1994)

Mixed Nuts (1994)

The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)

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It was Caleb, kids.

Three hundred and forty yards.

We have one, at last.

This defensive group.

What is it that they do well?

The answer? Not much.

Flus will coach Thursday.

Detroit will blow their doors off.

Then comes Black Friday?

Quarter One 

There were four stories to this quarter.

• The strip and recovery by Jonathan Owens stabilized the game for Chicago. There’s a different game script that plays out if the Vikings score easily there.
• The Bears don’t have a pass rush. Zero. Ryan Poles has so much work to do on both lines this off-season.
• The touchdown drive for the Bears was Caleb Williams’s best drive as a professional. That was superstar stuff from the kid, and continued evidence that Thomas Brown is not a coach to be thoughtlessly discarded after the season.
• Last thirty seconds of the quarter are everything wrong with Matt Eberflus as the head coach. Bad, undisciplined penalty. Inexcusable deep completion. Eberflus is the team’s primary vulnerability.

Quarter Two

• After the Keenan Allen overturn, Eberflus takes the ball out of his quarterback’s hands on fourth and short. Once again, Flus displays that he has no feel for the football game in front of him. But more importantly, it’s far more valuable long-term for Caleb TO FACE that situation. The team is going in multiple directions because the organization refuses to move on from Flus.
• If you lose a game on a blocked FG, and the next FG attempt is blocked, that is coaching, coaching, coaching. (The broadcast made this clear in their subsequent commentary.)
• Bears end up with a field goal on the final drive, after their sideline shows no urgency or command.

Vikings 14, Bears 10

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