CHICAGO (CBS) — Some Bears fans are shocked, others said it took too long after the team fired head coach Matt Eberflus on Friday, following a six-game losing streak.
Eberflus is the first Bears coach to be fired in the middle of a season, and the news apparently came as a surprise to the coach, who was allowed to hold his regular post-game press conference Friday morning after they felt… A tough loss for the Lions on Thanksgiving.
The embarrassing loss included an inexplicable decision by Eberflus not to call a timeout after quarterback Caleb Williams was sacked with 32 seconds left, and the offense rushed to close out their final play with just 6 seconds left, ending in an incomplete pass as time expired.
Gabe Ramirez, host of 670 The Score, said Eberflus left Bears general manager Ryan Poles no choice but to fire him given his management of the team after their six-game losing streak.
“When you’re the head coach of the Chicago Bears, you have that responsibility of being a game manager and putting this team in the best position to win. Unfortunately, he just hasn’t done that in recent weeks. He kind of sealed his fate ” he said.
Now, offensive coordinator Thomas Brown will serve as interim head coach for the remainder of the season.
“Hopefully they can get some wins because Caleb William needs some wins to build that confidence in that starting quarterback,” Ramirez said. “The bears are close.”
Fans and sports analysts are hoping the changing head coach will help the Bears get back to the Super Bowl in the near future.
“I didn’t think they would fire a manager or head coach in the middle of the season. So it’s cool, it’s serious,” Bears fan Jeff Rynberk said.
“That was my thought. Get rid of him. He never did anything that would make you want to say stay, especially what they did at the end of the game. That was ridiculous,” Guy Quenzler said.
Brown’s first test as head coach will come on Dec. 8 against the defending NFC champion 49ers in San Francisco, which could help him get a leg up on the full-time head coaching job if the Bears can finally end their losing streak.
