Bear Digest

The Ironic Twist to End Matt Eberflus' Bears Coaching Era

Analysis: In a cruel twist, Bears worked hard to fulfill Matt Eberflus' vision for the team but when they finally did it they couldn't win. And he was fired.
Gene Chamberlain|
Terell Smith celebrates an interception against Minnesota. The Bears have 19 takeaways, fulfilling Matt Eberflus' vision for the team.
Terell Smith celebrates an interception against Minnesota. The Bears have 19 takeaways, fulfilling Matt Eberflus' vision for the team. | David Banks-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

The irony is very obvious.

For two years and 12 games, Bears coach Matt Eberflus preached the HITS principle with an emphasis on the "T," which stood for takeaways on defense or taking care of the ball on offense.

This would be the huge pathway to success because the team that wins the takeaway battle usually wins the game.

According to NFL statistics, the team that wins the turnover battle wins 70% of games.

The Bears finally got it right both ways, and now Eberflus is gone.

After the loss to the Indianapolis Colts, the Bears turned the ball over only three more times. Caleb Williams lost a fumble against the Commanders in the Hail Mary game. DeAndre Carter let a bouncing punt go off his shin while waving teammates to get away from it. And Williams had a bad underthrow for an interception against the Jaguars in London, the last interception he threw.

On the other side, the takeaways started in Week 1 and just kept on coming. They had at least one takeaway in every game except the loss to Washington. They have 19 takeaways to nine turnovers for a plus-10 turnover differential. They won the turnover battle eight out of 12 times. They lost the turnover battle three times.

And yet they have a 4-8 record.

In four of the last five games, the Bears won the turnover battle and still lost.

The Bears truly defied the odds and in the end it cost Eberflus his job even though they had succeeded wildly at being what he wanted them to be.

The problem was, the "S" in HITs stands for smart play and anyone who saw the end of their last game knows they failed miserably here, and it carried over to the head coach.

WHAT REPORTS OF POSTGAME BEARS ANGER CAN DO FOR THOMAS BROWN

SOLVING THE ISSUES CREATED BY MATT EBERFLUS' FIRING

THOMAS BROWN'S CHANCES WITH BEARS BASED ON INTERIM HISTORY

If they continue the takeaways and figure out the "s," they could earn Thomas Brown a job for next year.

Twitter: BearsOnSI

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.