Pride of Detroit
Taking a closer look at the offensive and defensive schemes of the Detroit Lions Week 13 opponent: the Chicago Bears
The Detroit Lions (10-1) will take on the Chicago Bears (4-7) on Thanksgiving Day in Week 13. For the Lions, they’re riding a nine-game winning streak, while the Bears have lost their last five. The Bears made a change at offensive coordinator ahead of Week 11, and while they’re still working out how things will be different, they do look more efficient after a couple of changes in their approach.
Let’s take a look at the Bears' coaching staff and how their offensive and defensive schemes operate.
Eberflus began coaching in 1992 at the University of Toledo and broke into the NFL with the Browns in 2009 working under head coach Eric Mangini and defensive coordinator Rob Ryan. When Ryan left for the Dallas Cowboys in 2011, Eberflus came with him, starting a seven-year stint with the team. While Ryan only lasted two seasons in Dallas, Eberflus was retained to work under defensive coordinators Monte Kiffin and Rod Marinelli. In 2018, Eberflus left Dallas for a defensive coordinator position with the Indianapolis Colts (under head coach Frank Reich) and four years later, parlayed that success into a head coaching position with the Bears.
When Eberflus was hired in 2022, he brought in Luke Getsy as his offensive coordinator. As the former Packers quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator, expectations were that he could turn around the Bears offense. But after two seasons, he was fired and replaced by Shane Waldron, who was a Sean McVay disciple (QB coach and passing game coordinator) and former Seahawks offensive coordinator. After just nine games, Chicago fired Waldron, and as an interim replacement, promoted passing game coordinator Thomas Brown.
So far in the NFL, there have been just two offensive coordinators fired this year: Waldron from the Bears... and Getsy from the Raiders. Chew on that for a minute.
Brown, a former NFL running back, began his coaching career at Georgia, his alma mater in 2011. He bounced around at the college level for nearly a decade before landing a job with the Rams in 2020 as their running backs coach under McVay—whom Brown has known since high school. In 2023, Brown took an offensive coordinator position with the Panthers (learned from Jim Caldwell, who was in an advisory role) and eventually took over play-calling duties from head coach Frank Reich after a disastrous start that eventually led to the entire staff being fired. With Eberflus connected with Reich, and Waldron (via McVay) crossing paths with Brown in 2020, the Bears connected the dots and brought Brown into the fold as their passing game coordinator in 2024.
After working with No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young in 2023, Brown has used that knowledge when working with 2024 No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams.
