Pressure Now Shifts at Halas Hall

Analysis: The calendar changes and the Bears will begin to change, as well—at least they'd better.

The drama playing out in Denver over the past few weeks, as well as in Las Vegas, make the Bears situation seem hum drum.

Here, 2022 has just been about Justin Fields proving himself, and that even seems to be over now. At least it better be.

Meanwhile, elsewhere a first-year coach is fired, the backup quarterback yelled at linemen for not picking up the starter after being hit, a starting quarterback got benched for the final two weeks of the season and not simply rested. All of this has been going on while the Bears kept right on losing ... and smiling.

A coach can definitely lose a locker room in situations like Denver. It's happened in Chicago, not in first seasons for regimes, but it happened in the second for Marc Trestman.

Bears coach Matt Eberflus says he never considered it possible here.

"I don't ever think that way," Eberflus said.

Eberflus tries to maintain transparency and individual communication lines as much as possible. All coaches say this but it actually is Eberflus. He doesn't force the situation.

"I start with the individual man and I talk to them separately," he said. "You know, I obviously always talk to the team three to four times a week. I'm always in the unit meetings, some position meetings, so I have a good feel for the guys, you know, the leadership of our locker room has been awesome.

"You know the guys in there have done a great job leading, first of all, themselves. That's the first quality of a good leader, the ability to lead yourself and they've done that. Then our coaches, our coaches have done an amazing job of staying positive, staying in the day, one day at a time and executing on that opponent for that particular week. So that's how we kept it going."

What they kept going sure doesn't look like much.

Struggling in the Rebuild

It's an eight-game losing streak, tying a franchise record. They'll own the mark with a loss to the Lions.

Yet, Eberflus isn't being talked about as a coach in danger of losing his job because this is a complete rebuild and 2022 was about Fields.

Eberflus and staff endured great hardship simply in the trades of Roquan Smith and Robert Quinn. Even if Quinn's numbers haven't been good this year in both Chicago and Philadelphia because of an injury, his leadership with a young defensive line would have been invaluable. When he left, the outpour of affection from players and coaches was something normally accorded Super Bowl MVPs.

The same was similar with Smith from the players, and it was no less shocking for the players. They haven't won since he left.

The injuries have piled up, as they do for all teams and especially losing ones. The defensive backfield is void of veterans, save backup DeAndre Houston-Carson, yet the rookies keep playing hard. It's a position where injuries tend to accumulate because of the nature of the job.

Everyone says a coach gets a free pass his first season and Denver proves it's not true.

In Chicago, it is true because GM Ryan Poles gutted the roster and corrected the salary cap.

They tried restoring proper balance to set the team up for building a foundation, and it came at the cost of being unable to afford bigger-name free agents to help Eberflus and staff.

Amping Up the Pressure

Year 1 becomes Year 2 in less than two weeks.

Much changes at this point. Poles will have the means and the pressure will be on him to acquire capable talent.

Eberflus and the staff must then prove they can actually coach a team capable of being more than competitive. They'll need to prove they can win at the end of games.

This year was billed as a year Fields had to prove himself. Fields has proven more than Eberflus and staff or Poles combined.

Considering what Poles has done so far, there have to be questions whether he can actually do what the Bears hired him to do.

He tried to throw almost $40 million at Larry Ogunjobi as a three technique. Ogunjobi, in Pittsburgh, has played in every game, has half of a sack, 10 quarterback hits and only three in the last eight games, with six tackles for loss. He hasn't had as many tackles for loss (8) as the cheaper player the Bears did bring in, Justin Jones. He hasn't had as many sacks (2). He has two more QB pressures.

Ogunjobi was Poles' first bid to acquire a centerpiece on the defensive line. It wasn't a good attempt.

None of the receivers he brought in at lower costs have panned out beyond being good blockers. They are that, of this there is no doubt. Equanimeous St. Brown is graded the second best blocking receiver in the NFL by Pro Football Focus. They have four of the top 26 graded blockers on pass plays in the league for receivers.

But it would be good to have one receiver besides injured Darnell Mooney who actually gets open and catches passes.

Poles' trades haven't been entirely without controversy. Trading one of the top draft picks of Round 2 for Chase Claypool doesn't look successful now after 11 catches, but the Bears receiver this week suggested everyone not jump to conclusions.

"Yeah I can definitely see why they would," he said. "We traded away a top second-round pick, very valuable. I smile because I know it was a great trade for the organization.

"Right now, however that may look, I don't want to get roasted for saying something to soon like I have before but I feel very confident like the fans, the organization, the team will be happy."

Poles will have numerous chances with $115 million to prove he is a better judge of productive players for Eberflus' scheme than what he showed with the attempted Ogunjobi signing.

He'll have more chances to show what he can do when trade offers come his way on draft day.

If Poles is successful, Eberflus and staff will have a better chance to show what they can do, and the same is true for Fields.

It's already been a historic season for the Bears in losing eight straight and possibly nine.

In a few weeks they can begin to make it seem historic for another reason—that the turnaround actually began in 2022, a year that currently seems wasted to Bears fans beyond seeing Fields' talent put on display.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven