Before everyone gets too excited, the Bears would be idiots if they weren’t talking about the possibility of firing Eberflus and hiring another coach. Poles and Warren aren’t idiots.

At this point, they will be starting to put together a list of potential coaches and Jim Harbaugh will be on it. That’s probably about as far as they’ve gotten, so throwing his name out there means less than nothing. It doesn’t mean JH is coming and it doesn’t mean he’s not coming. So relax and let it play out, you people will end up with strokes.

Thoughts.

1. Glad to see Justin make a big throw in a clutch situation but those fumbles ouch.

2. Evidently, Getsy doesn’t know how to call a game against a blitzing team.

3. Nice win but if their two best offensive players were playing, the Vikes win easily.

4. Dexter and Sweat are going to be a PROBLEM for offenses going forward. Neither can be blocked by one guy consistently.

5. Watching the locker room, it looks to me like Poles and Warren really want Eberflus to work out. It may only take another win or two for him to keep his job.

6. That same locker room looked 100% behind Justin. Baring a complete breakdown the rest of the way, it’s going to need a very hard sell to that group to replace him. Saw no sign of Getsy in the locker room, hope that’s a sign.

7. This will likely be unpopular but they need an explosive RB next year with both running and receiving ability.

8. I want Justin to play here at least one more year while they finish building the team. Add at least MHJ and a real OC and if he can’t succeed with that, draft your QB or make a trade for someone like Herbert.

9. Speaking of Herbert. The Bears have the same number of wins as the Chargers. My guess is they will be HC shopping this offseason too. When the Bears played them, they seemed like a much better team.

I feel the same way. First off, he seems like a legitimately good guy. Says all the right things, plays hurt, teammates love him and players around the league have respect for him. He has a ton of talent. He’s a guy you want to succeed.

I’ve also seen QB turn it around. Saw Drew Brees get benched against the Bears during his third year. He was frankly, terrible. I remember how everyone thought it was a joke when SF traded for Steve Young, he was universally considered a bust. I’ve seen the reverse too, Jay Cutler was way better with Denver and regressed when he came to the Bears.

The older I get, the more I realize that the NFL is a coaching league. It’s not just fielding an extremely talented team but having the right coaches and scheme for the players drafted and signed.

You’ve gotten some good answers already but let me add my take also. There’s a lot of misconception about the defense being run. It’s a cover two, soft zone. However, unlike Lovie’s old Tampa Two they do change up coverages to fool with the QB presnap reads. The problem is the nature of the zones they play. Like I mentioned they are soft zones, designed to allow short passes but take away the deeper passes. It’s outdated for that reason. It used to be that QB just wouldn’t be patient enough to take the 5-7 yard passes, now they are and most West Coast Style of offenses add an element of running after the catch that hurts this type of coverage. It’s also fairly weak against the run unless your DL is very good.

However, your concerns about them making major changes to the basic structure of the defense if Eberflus is fired are probably not something to worry about. Unless they also fired Poles (which would be a huge mistake) he’s going to bring in a coach who will use the same basic defense but perhaps a bit more aggressive and flexible. The same is true on offense as well.

The people that don’t understand this forget that this was the plan from the beginning, they were going to tear everything down and build in back mostly through the draft. Clearly they expected to see better results this year which is why Eberflus may get fired but there is a plan in place and they are going to stick with it.

Ngakoue if he can be had for a good price. Until you have another proven pass rusher bring him back

Feeney maybe let’s see how he plays

Santos definitely

Tonyan if price is right

JJ yes if he’s reasonable

ESB yes

Mooney yes (with Moore and MHJ on the outside and a new OC he’s going to feast)

Also, I don’t know how the McCaskey’s can fire Poles. He came in and has done exactly what he said he was going to do, tear everything down and rebuild it. This team has good young talent, plenty of cap room, draft picks and the dead wood cleared out. They would be the laughingstock of the league if they fired Poles now.

The telling part of this account is that Warren might want to get more involved in football operations. Read between the lines, that means he wasn’t brought in to be part of football operations. I think this is a case a National writer who doesn’t really know the power structure of the Bears. Warren was brought in to handle the business end of the Bears in general and the stadium in particular. Poles was hired with the idea that he runs the football side of things. Warren isn’t a “football guy” in the sense that he played, coached or scouted. He ran the business end of things with the Vikings and was Big Ten Commissioner. So he knows more than the average fan but nowhere near what someone like Poles does.

I think the only way you will see Warren step in is if he wants Jim Harbaugh and Poles doesn’t. I doubt that happens, one because I could see Poles and Harbaugh working together and two because Warren and Harbaugh didn’t have a particularly good relationship when Warren was in the Big Ten.

I think that if they wanted to keep Eberflus, they’d probably do it this way. Hire a OC/asst. Head coach and give them complete autonomy over the offense. Have in essence two HC one for offense and one for defense. That was more or less done with Ditka when he was brought in. They retained Buddy Ryan and he had total control over the defense.

However, I can’t think of one really good offensive coordinator that would put up with that. Also, saw a very interesting interview with Wanny yesterday and when he coached, the HC would tell the coordinators at the end of the game what he wanted. If he wanted to run down the clock, he would tell his OC to run the ball, not tell the exact plays but rather that he wanted it ran. Same on defense. He’d tell them when he wanted to blitz or drop 8 into coverage.

So it’s likely not all on Getsy for the lack of aggression at the end. This is why I tend not to like defensive HC, too much “protect the ball nonsense.”

I agree with those who have said, Justin isn’t THE problem but he is A problem. However, NFL history is filled with cases of QB who were considered busts and either getting better coaching or going to another team with better coaching unlocked their talent. We’re talking guys like Drew Brees and Steve Young. HOF. Steve Young won 5 games his first three years in Tampa. Everyone thought it was a joke when Bill Walsh traded for him. Brees got benched in the middle of his third year. Norv Turner became the HC in his fourth year and Brees started playing like the HOF quarterback he became.

So my question is why not get a guy in here that can actually develop a QB and find out if that’s the problem or not? THE PROBLEM is coaching. Go and look at Tim and JT videos. The blocking schemes are nightmares. At one point they had 3 guys pulling leaving the DT completely unblocked. Another asked Scott to block Hutchinson. On defense, their best pass rusher was sitting on the bench during the last drive.

Let’s get the coaching fixed first and then see what happens. If all the HC prospects don’t want to deal with him, then you know where you stand. Forget the money aspect. He’s cheap next year and even if they pick up his option it’s not outrageous. Let’s just not throw the baby out with the bath water. If Fields doesn’t work, they’ll be another QB coming the next year.

First off, WHEN they fire everyone and start their coaching search. They should ask what is your preference at QB, Fields or a draftee? Don’t make the job contingent on keeping Fields but don’t make it contingent on not wanting Fields either.

Strictly FA. First re-sign Mooney, JJ, Feeney, Freeman and Ngakoue (now that someone is on the other side, he’s going to show a lot more). Extend Tevin Jenkins. Sign Chris Jones and Conner Williams.

Cut Whitehair, Patrick and Eddie Jackson

Scenario 1. My DC of choice would be Ron Riviera. He adds a more aggressive approach to the Cover Two. For OC I’m bringing in Greg Roman. He’s proven he can take QB from point A to point B. The problem becomes can he take a QB further? If you’re giving Fields another year and you should if you’re bringing Flus back, that’s the guy.

Scenario 2. I have two minds on this. I KNOW that Harbaugh would make this team into winners right away. The question would be, does he want to do more than coach? The Bears finally seem to have the proper structure in their organization. Harbaugh might want to change all that. So if they go back to a more traditional coach, Waldron is probably the guy I’d go with. He’s worked for 3 great coaches, Carroll, McVay and Belichick. He would have a fairly seamless transition on offense as his is also based on the Shanahan/McVay model. This is the offense that Poles has been building up and there will be less tearing down. Riviera could still be the DC.

Here’s my draft strategy. First off, I question the whole premise of this post. They have two top picks, why are we morphing 1 & 5 into 4? Let’s say they end up with 1 and 4 or 5. I’m trading #1 to 2 or 3 and taking MHJ. Then I’m trading down the 4-5 pick to about 10 where the DL make more sense. Out of the those two moves, they get back two second round picks and at least one first round pick next year. I draft a DL in the first and use the two second rounders on a safety and center.

Then it’s all about adding depth. This gives me another year with Fields but gives you two first round picks in 2025 in case it doesn’t work.

To answer the original question. No, he’s not enough of an upgrade. People forget he was the best OT taken in the draft last year, not the best outside the first round, the best, period. He’s an outstanding run blocker and has a very correctable flaw in pass protection. He has the size, athleticism, arm length and feet to be an outstanding LT. I get really tired of so called fans who think that every player is a bust who isn’t a pro bowler his first year. He played well last year and so far even better this year. And no you can’t just move him to LG, that’s where Tevin Jenkins will be playing. They also have another up and coming guard in Carter and a decent swing tackle in Borom.

Here’s some things I’ve noticed.

1. Option routes. For those who don’t know, option routes are this. For each play, the receiver is given two routes depending on how he sees the defender across from him. So both the QB and WR need to see things the same way. It tends to create indecision in QB. You aren’t going to throw before the break if you don’t know which way the break is. Detroit for instance, only has St. Brown run option routes. The others run a progressive route. This is a good thing when you have a veteran QB and receivers but even Rodgers struggled with it when he was given a group of young receivers he wasn’t familiar with.

2. Too reliant on the “system” vs the players. One play they keep running is called a sail. They never seem to connect on it but still run it every week. On the other hand, when they find a play that works, they don’t run it again. They do well throwing on first down and then go back to running on first down the rest of the game. At times, they have been very stubborn about letting Fields run. They rarely roll out with Fields and have him read half the field, I was stunned to see them do it often with Bagent.

3. In game coaching. Go back and watch the blocking for the Vikings game. The Vikings ran the same blitz 7 times before the OL figured out how to block it. Seemed like every stunt worked. The communication between linemen was dreadful. First play of the game, Vikings line up 6 rushers, Bears counter with an empty backfield. The first read is a 4 yard route the opposite side of the blitz (opposite of conventional wisdom) and Fields was expected to avoid the free rusher and hit the quick, short pass. This is despite the fact that the week before they had great success with having max protection.

4. No accountability. The play described according the coaching staff was Fields fault, not theirs. If you hear the press conference’s it’s never a coaching issue, it’s always a players issue.

5. Terrible job of developing the QB. Fields has flaws, there’s no denying that but instead of playing to his strengths, they seem to purposely play to his weaknesses. He doesn’t get the ball out quickly, so instead of giving him more protection, they ask him to account for a free rusher. He doesn’t read defenses quickly, so instead of making his read’s easier, they make them more difficult. Because they want him to play like Rodgers, they completely changed his footwork, which is the opposite of what most QB do. Compare this to how Wilson was eased into the league. Seattle rolled him out almost every pass. He was asked to only read half the field for his first 2-1/2 years. Fields and to a lesser extent Bagent are basically being asked to play like veterans, whether they are ready to or not.

6. Too conservative with a lead. They do it to “help” the defense but all it does is collect 3 and outs and give the ball back.

I’d bring him in as a consultant if he gets canned mid season which was rumored. Coaching? I’m not sure that’s a good idea. He once was known for having his teams be the most prepared in football. He put tremendous pressure on himself, his coaches and players. I don’t know if he can do that any more to the level he once did.

BTW, there is a coach via both the Belichick (TE coach) and Shanahan tree (through McVay) who might be a better candidate than most. Shane Waldron. I’m mystified why he’s not considered a better candidate than Ben Johnson (though there’s a lot to like). Designed, runs and calls his own offense in Seattle. Similar system to what the Bears run now. Resurrected Geno Smith’s career. Worked for the best offensive mind in football (McVay) and two great defensive HC (Belichick and Carrol).

Michigan has already said they will not be extending his contract. Of course, his contract is through 2026 so take that as you may.

If they did stuff wrong, letting them go is the right step. That’s not what I fault this coaching staff about. What I dislike is that they never take the blame for their failures, it’s always the players fault. You never hear “well we need to coach that better” even when it’s painfully obvious they did a bad job.

What Daniel doesn’t tell you is that coaching creates talent. I’m not talking a few superstars, of which each team may have one or two. I’m talking about players who play great on great teams but would be average at best here. Those are the guys we don’t have and there’s a simple reason why they don’t have them. Coaching.

You know when the announcer says “that’s something that just can’t be coached.” Everything else is. You want a great offensive line? Go hire Bill Callahan away from Cleveland. Add a center, done. No you won’t need a new LT, Braxton Jones will be upper half in the league. Jenkins and Wright will be all pro. Want a better DL? talk Rod Marinelli out of retirement. Dexter and Sweat would be superstars with him teaching them.

Want to fix Fields? hire Greg Roman. In fact, hire Harbaugh to put it all together. Bears fans don’t get it. Ditka and Finks were fine but the real secret was guys like Jim Linehan (OL coach) Ed Hughes (OC) Buddy Ryan (DC) Dave McGinness (LB). You don’t need superstars everywhere, you need good talent that is coached really well. Then it’s a matter of getting the right fit for some players. That’s the GM job, he creates the template for each position and then brings them in. The coaches coach them and bingo, you have success.

I’ve said this many times. The Bears (and probably a lot of teams) would like to be like the Steelers. When they hired Tomlin, he had to conform to what they did. He wanted to switch to a 4-3 and they said no we’re keeping the same defense and coaches. They don’t fire coaches, they fire position coaches. Whatever changes are made are done with the idea of not changing the nature of the team. That’s why they are so consistently successful. The FO knows exactly what kind of players to bring in, they will always fit that template that they look for.

I think your understanding of “coaching” is rather limited. It’s not just watching film and going thru the playbook. In a QB case, it’s tailoring the offense to the QB strengths. For one example, the stats came out for the “quick game” (an offensive play that is run before the defense is completely set). Justin is statistically one of the best at it. It makes sense, the reason you run that is so the defense doesn’t have time to make adjustments to what the offense does and change the defense. So the Bears should be doing this a lot, right? 12%.

The first play against the Vikings. Getsy calls for empty backfield, 5 receivers send out against 0 coverage (no deep safety). Vikes rush 6, leaving a free rusher. Fields only option is a 5 yard pass that’s more than likely batted down or tipped. Fields is sacked. The week before, they kept the TE and RB to pass block and did extremely well. If they’d done that on the first play against the Vikes, it’s a likely TD.

Multiple times this year, the Bears have allowed a free rusher BY DESIGN and then blamed Fields on not being able to avoid it. Fields throws very well on the run, so why don’t they roll him out more? As far as running him, they almost seem to have to be guilted into doing it.

The single worst thing they do is to run nothing but option routes. Justin gets blamed a lot for not being able to read defenses. I don’t think that’s the real problem. The way the Bears offense is set up, each receiver has two routes called on each play. He “reads” his defender and decides which of the two routes he should run. Justin not only has to figure out what coverages he’s seeing but also figure out if the receiver sees it the same way. This creates too much doubt. Rodgers(who Getsy is trying to get Justin to emulate) had the same problem last year because he had a bunch of young receivers he hadn’t worked with. If a veteran like that can struggle with these concepts, is it really fair to expect Justin to be great at it?

The Vikings game was also a master class on how not to block. There were blown assignments constantly. Players not hearing the center making adjustments, so only half the half line would change. Guys not dealing with simple stunts by the defense. There was one defense that took 7 times before the OL blocked it correctly. Justin has a QB rating of over 100 with a clean pocket. Yet it’s rarely coached for him to get a clean pocket.

Now let’s compare this to other coaching. Russell Wilson only had to read half the field the first 2-1/2 years of his career. He wasn’t great at it, so instead of throwing him into the deep end, they eased him into reading defenses.

Ben Johnson, the OC of the Lions, uses a progressive read, similar to the old WCO. All but one of the receivers run a non-option route, the QB reads the coverage in a predetermined order, usually either left to right or vice versa. The QB knows exactly what his receivers are going to run and only needs to know what the defense will do. Johnson also employs his own way of doing the quick game. As soon as everyone is set, the ball is snapped, usually with no sound or motion needed. The defense is rarely completely ready.

In short, the offense isn’t catered to Justin. I’m sure that some will say “well if he’s really good it doesn’t have to be.” My answer is, do you want to develop an certain offense or a QB. Trying to find a QB that fits a certain offense, leads to the carousel of QB the Bears have employed. By the time you find one the offense and coaching staff has changed.