The last straw, the loss to the Detroit Lions was the last utter disaster that was the tenure of HC Matt Eberflus, three straight divisional games lost because of "bad luck", well a cleansing was due and it happened with his firing, it was clear that this was needed, the locker room was lost as was the hopes of any playoff chances the Bears had this season and boy did they had them, three divisional games lost by a sum total of 7 points, a blocked FG, an OT loss and a saved time out that with better time management would have probably send them to another OT game, the bar was low on expectations for this team this season with a rookie QB, but it was turning for the worst, there is finally hope at the QB position and the leadership was doing everything possible to burn it to the ground once more. Luckily the decision came crystal clear, too many losses, to many drama, too many eyes from the outside criticizing the organization while screwing up in national television, the change had to be made and so it was, the Bears have the chance once more to stumble into a good situation by elevating new OC Thomas Brown to interim HC, he went from being the passing coordinator to be the top dog in 3 weeks, its the only way the Bears can turn things around, by pure luck and stupidity.
The offense once more was missing in the first half of the game, all three and outs the first four possessions, penalties and getting behind on the scoreboard forced them to abandon the run which made it to difficult for Caleb Williams to move the ball against a stout Lions defense that are too good against an offense that goes one dimensional. In the second half they started to play clean football and the run game started to work which opened the door for Williams to do his magic. The Bears once again where in position to at least tie the game, 1st ant 10 at DET 25 with 46 seconds and 2 time outs, a bad pass from Williams that would probably take them inside the 10 but was thrown behind DJ Moore, for some reason a time out had to be used after an incompletion, second down ended with a 12 yard gain negated by penalty, 2 and 20 ended in a sack with 36 seconds and running, the next play took 30 second to snap the ball because the time out left was never used, the game ended in an incompletion. Enough was enough, its everyone's fault but the responsibility goes to the head of the team, it was time for change.
Upside players: Caleb Williams keeps making big plays and keeping games close. Keenan Allen is keeping himself relevant in this offense.
Downside players: Still waiting for Cole Kmet to get more targets. DJ Moore might benefit by playing a bit less, he really looks to be hurt.
The defense continued to do enough to have a chance to win, the game could have been over if it wasn't for the forced fumble by Tyrique Stevenson at the end of the second quarter when Jahmyr Gibbs took the ball inside the Bears 10 yard line, it probably would have ended in another TD for the Lions. Before that the Lions scored points the previous 4 drives, in the second half they scored in their next dive and then missed a FG, the Bears defense managed to stop them on two drives, one of them was a 3 and out. So yeah, they still did just enough, but just enough still is not enough.
Upside players: Kyler Gordon makes a big difference in this defense. Gervon Dexter sighting is always a good thing, making the pass rush relevant.
Downside players: When the pass rush is generated by the DTs and still there are no sacks generated, its a bad look for the EDGEs.
Next up is a visit to the west coast against a familiar foe that are the 49ers who are struggling mightily to keep their players healthy, the defense might struggle because of this but the offense can still click even without Christian McCaffrey although he will be missed with good reasons. The Bears defense might be in its way to shift a bit in mentality with the coaching changes, the whole season they have been the bend but don't break unit that has kept games close for their offense to respond, but when they need the offense to shut the door they haven't been able to do it. Now with Erick Washington at the DC spot, I would like this defense to take more chances and execute the blitz packages more effective and often, its really frustrating to see blitzing LBs just get stuffed in the LOS and generate no pressure at all. Offensively is gong to be the main story and focus, will Thomas Brown be capable of transitioning from leading an offense to now lead a whole team and still keep the focus on elevating Caleb Williams game? This season is much over for this team, now is the time to focus on what works and who stays to get this team ready for next season, this organization still needs to get things done but at least there seems to be one thing that they finally FINALLY don't need to worry about and its the QB is set and ready to be build around him, DONT SCREW IT UP.
