ClutchPoints
Something curious happened before news broke that the Chicago Bears were firing their head coach mid-season for the first time in the team’s over 100-year history: Matt Eberflus was allowed to run his usual media session with reporters.
That’s right, one day after snatching defeat out of the jaws of victory, making bizarre calls and clock management decisions that effectively cost Chicago at least a chance at overtime, Eberfuls discussed his play-calling decisions, broke down what happened on the team’s final drive, and even assured anyone who was listening that he would be coaching the team against the San Francisco 49ers the following week.
And yet, a few hours later, it was done: Eberflus was fired, Thomas Brown was put in place as the team’s interim head coach, and fans continued to wonder if the Bears are among the most poorly managed teams in the NFL, or simply one that didn’t give a hoot about optics if it means giving their head coach the boot.
Fortunately, Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network dug into the situation and got some insight into how things shook out, which did have to do with optics, only for the organization, not their head coach.
Would it have been good business for the Bears to simply hold off on Eberflus’ session for one reason or another, calling it a scheduling issue or just not saying anything at all? Yeah, they probably should have, but in the end, the Bears are going to Bears, and this was about the Bearsiest way for the Bears to make the wrong kind of franchise history.
So what did Eberflus say immediately before his front office meeting? Well, he boldly declared that he would be working when the Bears play the 49ers in Week 14.
“I’m confident that I’ll be working [next week when we play] San Francisco,” Eberflus said via the New York Post. “All these decisions are my decisions. I take full accountability for them and we didn’t get it done. It’s unfortunate for the players, the fans.”
Yikes, that makes everyone look really bad indeed.
Now granted, maybe Eberflus is right. Maybe someone like Fox will hire him on to talk about the NFL for the rest of the season, and he will, in fact, be “working” the Bears-49ers game. It won’t be, however, as Chicago’s head coach, which fans in Chicago appear to be very happy about indeed.
The post NFL rumors: Why Matt Eberflus spoke to reporters hours before Bears firing appeared first on ClutchPoints.
