An ugly 29-9 loss to the Arizona Cardinals sent the Chicago Bears reeling Sunday evening as they continue to show troubling inconsistency and a lack of sharpness on the road.
The Bears are now 0-4 in true road games, and belief has dipped after the last two losses to the Washington Commanders and Cardinals.
The good news? The Bears don’t go back on the road until Thanksgiving and have a golden opportunity to steady themselves Sunday with the 2-7 New England Patriots visiting Soldier Field.
The team seems to be in a bit of a midseason crisis while seeking answers to salvage the season. Tribune writers Dan Wiederer and Colleen Kane talk through four key issues in true-or-false format.
True or false: Matt Eberflus should feel secure in his job with the Bears.
Dan Wiederer: Hold on a second. … This premise seems very, very familiar, doesn’t it?
In fact, we debated this exact topic in late August as the Bears were marching toward the starting gate of the season with so much confidence and optimism. If you’ll recall, I was hesitant to express any kind of certainty about Eberflus’ job security because I’m way too familiar with the minefield that is the NFL season.
Now? With how poorly the Bears played Sunday? With the way this season has shifted so dramatically after two tough-to-stomach losses? With frustration starting to bubble up inside the locker room? This has become an easy answer. False. With a capital “F.”
There’s time for Eberflus and the Bears to right themselves and stay in the thick of playoff contention. But to do so, they will have to play at a level they haven’t shown they’re capable of, especially in the six NFC North games still on the slate.
The Bears really couldn’t afford to lose back-to-back games to the Commanders and Cardinals. They certainly couldn’t afford to lose them in that fashion.
The former was lost via an unfathomable breakdown on the final possession with a still-hard-to-believe Hail Mary that the Bears defense botched. The latter was defined by a flat and sloppy effort that confirmed this team, until further notice, as a below-average group incapable of rising up to defeat quality opponents consistently.
All of this comes under the watch of Eberflus, who now has a 3-18 record in road games. He’s also 2-10 in the division with his team firmly stuck in last place. How general manager Ryan Poles could justify long-term security for Eberflus at this point would be astonishing.
Colleen Kane: I was the one who said at the start of the season it would be malpractice for Poles to retain Eberflus, allow him to hire offensive coordinator Shane Waldron to pair with rookie quarterback Caleb Williams and then shift gears to a new staff at the end of the season. It’s a cycle the Bears have been trying to break for years!
But you’re right — now I don’t know. I was on the cautious train last week after the loss to the Commanders, careful about going from a pretty positive vibe after the three-game winning streak to declaring doom after a loss on a Hail Mary to a good team and quarterback.
But Sunday’s loss in Arizona was much worse to me because the Cardinals outplayed the Bears in all aspects. And the thing is, I don’t agree with the assertion this is a below-average group. This Bears team is more talented than that — though injuries to key players certainly played a part in the loss.
Just as Eberflus is to blame for his late-game decisions, he also is to blame for his team not bouncing back from the Commanders loss to be better prepared Sunday.
But the real thing that makes me question his job security is the bumps Williams has experienced. We all knew there would be rookie struggles, but the offense needs to show consistent strides in the weeks to come. As we’ll get to later, if that doesn’t happen, the heat falls on Waldron — and in turn the man who hired him, Eberflus.
As you said, there’s plenty of football left to be played. But it doesn’t look like an easy road.
True or false: The Bears managed the Tyrique Stevenson situation properly last week.
Kane: False. And then true.
I say false first because Eberflus could have handled the public-facing part of the consequences for Stevenson much better. He likes to keep topics such as injuries and discipline private within the team, and our job as reporters is naturally at odds with that. The Stevenson situation was a special circumstance, though — such a public and viral misstep that it would have done a lot to appease critics and fans to explain Friday that the Bears wouldn’t start Stevenson and why.
Instead, keeping it under wraps might have furthered the perception that Eberflus isn’t holding people accountable — and created more headlines Sunday morning when Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer reported that Stevenson left a team walk-through Wednesday upon hearing the news of his temporary demotion, irking teammates. (Stevenson explained Sunday night he needed to collect himself before returning.)
As for the actual punishment, it seemed like the natural course of action all along. The Bears didn’t have to worry about too much of a fall-off by starting Terell Smith, so they weren’t hurting the whole team by benching Stevenson. The move showed they wouldn’t stand for Stevenson’s actions on the Hail Mary. And they still let Stevenson — whose development the Bears don’t want to disrupt — know they supported him.
I didn’t have a problem with Stevenson rotating in later, either, even if Smith hadn’t gotten hurt.
Wiederer: As it turns out, Stevenson had a pretty nice bounce-back effort in an otherwise deflating loss. He recorded a team-high seven tackles and had two impressive pass breakups, showing encouraging competitiveness and mental toughness.
I agree the Bears had no choice but to discipline the second-year cornerback. He didn’t just make a game-losing mistake. He committed one of football’s cardinal sins with his premature celebration and total loss of focus in a game-deciding moment. There has to be repercussions for that. And yet, as obvious as that was, I was surprised Eberflus was so uncomfortable coming out and saying as much in emphatic fashion.
Now, though, it’s time to turn the page completely and leave all of what happened against the Commanders in the past. Stevenson has a chance to be a building block for a strong defense. And his goal over the final two months of the season should be to create many more positive contributions that at least lessen the blunder in Washington.
The Bears, meanwhile, should continue to reflect on how they handled the situation from start to finish.
True or false: Given the recent struggles, GM Ryan Poles should be active and aggressive before Tuesday’s 3 p.m. trade deadline.
Wiederer: False. If we’ve confirmed anything over the first eight games, it’s that these Bears are not a legitimate Super Bowl contender this season. Nor are they one or two big-splash additions from becoming one. So, through honest eyes, Poles should stick to his disciplined nature and understand that building the Bears into a year-after-year contender requires patience and a long-term view of the roster.
That’s not to say he should turn off his phone before the deadline. He should answer any calls that come his way and even make a few if he so desires. But there’s a responsibility to deeply evaluate the cost of any trade proposal in terms of how it would affect both the Bears’ salary-cap status and their wallet of draft currency.
Even as fans grow understandably impatient with the team’s playoff prospects, Poles’ duties revolve around creating a team that can sustain success. For years on end. So there’s a big difference between being open-minded and being active and aggressive.
Kane: Right. Because the Bears don’t look like serious contenders this year, any acquisitions Poles makes ideally would benefit them beyond this season, as last year’s trade for — and then extension of — Montez Sweat did.
Maybe a player is out there who would fit that bill and fit the Bears needs, which to me remain another defensive end and offensive line depth. The latter could be in the spotlight this week as right tackle Darnell Wright and left tackle Braxton Jones deal with knee injuries. Given the importance of offensive tackles to Williams’ development, maybe that’s something Poles would consider as he looks at the trade market.
I’m most interested to see what happens Tuesday with running back Khalil Herbert. If I were the GM, I’d know it might be smart to keep Herbert around as key depth in case D’Andre Swift or Roschon Johnson gets hurt.
At the same time, I feel for Herbert, a solid running back in a contract year who has seen little playing time and has been a healthy scratch the last two games. Let him go put some work on film with another team before he enters a key offseason for his career. That would be doing right by the player.
True or false: Midway through his rookie season, Caleb Williams’ development is nearing a critical crossroads.
Kane: True. But here’s where I’d amend it: The Bears are at a critical crossroads with Williams’ development.
I don’t want this to read like it’s now or never for Williams just eight games into his NFL career, as if his long-term success hinges on how the next stretch of games goes. Like many people who have watched Williams begin his career with ups and downs, I believe he will get to a place where he consistently puts it all together.
But will this Bears staff be the ones overseeing Williams’ development when he does? That clock will wind down much faster. And that’s where the Bears are at a crossroads: in offensive coordinator Shane Waldron finding answers to get Williams out of this two-game slump. Helping him find a way to start games better. Helping him to better utilize the talent around him, including DJ Moore and Cole Kmet. Helping to find ways to protect him so he doesn’t go into every play wondering if he’ll be scrambling for his safety.
Eberflus said Monday that Waldron will continue to be the offensive play caller as the Bears look inward for answers. But when the development of a No. 1 draft pick is at stake in the NFL, such opportunities can disappear in a hurry.
Wiederer: I think you’ve done a nice job of articulating the urgency here without overstating things. So much of this season is about creating clear direction for Williams, getting his career launched properly and building momentum that will carry him and the team beyond Week 18.
To this point, “The Caleb Williams Experience” has met my expectations. It hasn’t exceeded them. And it hasn’t fallen short either. We knew, like most rookie quarterbacks, Williams would have spikes and dips in his performance. And that has certainly been the case through the first eight games.
To his credit, he has really done a nice job of protecting the football since Week 3. But he has also missed too many throws that are there for him to hit. As the season moves along, you’d like to get a sense that Williams is finding his groove. You’ve heard me talk about the three “C’s” of high-level quarterback play with Williams needing to show comfort and then confidence and then, finally, command. I’ll add a fourth “C” to that checklist: consistency. At least to a level where you can trust him to guide the Bears through “should win” games.
But as you laid out, this isn’t all on the rookie to figure out alone. And it’s up to the Bears to continue improving the support they put around Williams, which includes the system he is being asked to run and the nurturing he’s getting from the offensive coaches.
The most challenging portion of the schedule is fast approaching. And Williams and the Bears must be ready for it.
