Hot Take Tuesday: Do the Chicago Bears have a Matt Eberflus problem?

I thought it was really nice of Anthony Richardson to leave a gift in Matt Eberflus' office before the game.

You don't expect something like that very often. But when Eberflus opened the box in the visitors' locker room, he found a “W” inside. Richardson had wrapped the game like a gift for Eberflus, he just had to take advantage of it and win.

It's unbelievable how the Bears could lose a game in which the offense ran 84 plays and gained 400 yards while the defense limited Anthony Richardson to a total of 191 yards.

There are many reasons for this: The Bears have lost the battle for possession, the defense has allowed first downs when it couldn't afford them, the offensive line has struggled, and the Bears' running game continues to be ineffective. When you have so many problems at once, it's time to look at the man at the top.

The Bears could well have a problem with Matt Eberflus.

The Bears had a chance to match head coach and quarterback this offseason. They knew they would draft Caleb Williams, but the organization decided to keep Matt Eberflus even though he lost a mathematically nearly impossible three games last season and was hauled off the field by the Green Bay Packers in the final game of the season.

But given the positive vibe surrounding the selection of Caleb Williams and the success of Matt Eberflus, everyone seemed to forget that Eberflus was a questionable sideline coach on Sundays.

And you know what? Matt Eberflus is a questionable sideline coach on Sundays.

The hope was that Eberflus would grow into the role. The hope was that he would learn from past mistakes and get better. But so far we've seen him use up timeouts on two bad challenges against the Texans and the Bears wasted a timeout on defense in this game.

A week later, the Bears are still taking timeouts when they shouldn't, and the confusion on the sideline over an OBVIOUS two-point conversion is inexcusable. High school teams make sure the sidelines know what the plan is when the touchdown is scored. Heck, they make sure the sidelines know what the plan is on every fourth down. So why are the Chicago Bears coaches busy giving each other high fives instead of focusing on the next play?

Celebrate when you win a game, not when you score your second offensive touchdown of the season.

We can talk about the lack of a running game and how the entire scheme looks disjointed and broken. This scheme was at least partially developed and designed by Chicago Bears running game coordinator Chris Morgan, who Matt Eberflus retained from last year's staff that was mostly let go.

We can talk about how the offensive line appears to be playing below its talent level, a group that is coached by Chris Morgan, who Eberflus wanted to keep off the offensive staff.

We can talk about the constant abuse of timeouts, the mismanagement of time, and the general confusion on the sidelines. Of course, we can talk about how great the defense looks and how much credit Matt Eberflus deserves for that, but he's not the defensive coordinator, he's the head coach, and he doesn't seem to have any answers to the questions that need to be resolved right now.

The best hope right now is that Eberflus grows into his role and that the team looks better and more cohesive and improves as the season progresses. But what do you do at the end of the year when the season is underwhelming?

Brad Biggs previously reported that Eberflus' contract is for four years. If that's the case, Kevin Warren and Ryan Poles will have to decide whether to fire Eberflus after this season or extend it. That will be an impossible decision. Plus, firing Eberflus will put the young quarterback in a difficult position because he'll have to learn an entirely new offensive scheme, playbook, and terminology in 2025 after just learning one in 2024. As we know, the best way to ruin a rookie is to destroy his offense after the first year.

Trevor Lawrence was a promising player and the Jacksonville Jaguars are currently wondering what is going on with their franchise quarterback, whose entire coaching staff was coincidentally fired during his rookie season (and not even afterward).

If this season falters, will the Bears risk Caleb Williams' development and make a change? Or will they stick with continuity even if the results are subpar?

It's only three games, there's still plenty of time, and there are plenty of games on the schedule that can be won, but at this point the question that needs to be asked all season is: Do the Bears have a Matt Eberflus problem?

Quick hits

• Rushing behind Braxton Jones in the season update: 17 runs, 10 yards
• DJ Moore needs to step up the field. He caught only 4 of 9 balls aimed at all medium and long passes. On short passes, he caught 15 of 18 balls aimed at.
• In contrast, Rome Oduze has 11 medium and deep targets and only 6 short targets.
• Cole Kmet has caught 15 of 16 (!!!) passes this season, giving him a catch rate of 94%.
• According to PFF, the Bears' secondary in targeted attacks this year was: 30-53, 363 yards, 1 TD, 3 INTs, 60.5 rating.
• D'Andre Swift has one first down on 37 attempts this season. ONE. Roschon Johnson had three first downs on eight attempts against the Colts.
• A first down? Really? A botched first down? You've got to be kidding.
• The Colts ran Jonathan Taylor directly to Gervon Dexter 14 times in the game for 72 yards. Dexter's play against the run was not good.
• Jaquan Brisker is having the best season of his career.
• Caleb Williams' development in three games has been remarkable. This is going to be fun.