Matt Eberflus fired: How Bears can best set up Caleb Williams for future after tumultuous start to NFL career

The Bears find themselves in a paradox. 

From a distance, they’re a bumbling mess with an ugly 4-8 record, riding a six-game losing streak with a main objective to invent ways to lose close games. They fired offensive coordinator Shane Waldron a month ago and head coach Matt Eberflus after a third-consecutive humiliating loss. 

Yet, their rookie quarterback Caleb Williams is starting to show flashes of brilliance. And that specific development, high-level quarterback play, is more vital to an NFL franchise than anything else. Anything. 

So there’s hope? 

Absolutely.

But Chicago has to make prudent, meticulous decisions from this point forward to continue to foster Williams’ maturation process entering Year 2 and beyond. 

And firing Waldron was a fantastic start. 

The former No. 1 overall pick didn’t erupt out of the gates like No. 2 pick Jayden Daniels did. But Williams has been shredding since Waldron’s dismissal. New interim head coach Thomas Brown calling plays has given life to the uber-talented rookie passer. 

Check the stark differences. 

How about the drastic difference in big-time throw rate? Incredible. 

Now, Williams did manage a three-game stretch under Waldron with 100-plus ratings, yet those contests came against Rams, Panthers and Jaguars, defenses currently ranked 21st, 32nd, and 30th, respectively, in Expected Points Allowed per play in non-garbage time scenarios this season.  

Compare that to his nearly cumulative 100 rating over the past three against the Packers, Vikings, and Lions — teams with defenses that rank 15th, second, and third in that very same statistic. Williams has upped his efficiency against stingier opponents, a clear-cut encouraging sign for his development and the competence of Brown as the staffer with play-calling responsibilities.

So, where do the Bears go from here? 

By now you know Chicago’s disjointed timeline of their general manager and head coach hirings and its quarterback. Of course, with the first in-season head-coach firing in franchise history, the Bears are primed to repeat history. Will the next non-interim head coach have no ties to Williams, thereby having a shorter leash for the 2024 No. 1 overall pick? Speaking of short leashes, how long is it for general manager Ryan Poles? 

Is Williams going to have a new general manager and head coach, with no ties to him, by his second season? 

That trend has to stop. It’d be a recipe for disaster for the young, hyper-talented quarterback. 

Removing Eberflus and Waldron were necessary moves. And the Bears have to pay close attention to Williams under Brown’s watchful eye down the stretch. If the early, clearly positive returns on that OC-QB pairing are sustained, Brown should be strongly considered for the head coach job in 2025. Remove that interim tag. 

As for Poles, have all of his decisions worked in Chicago’s favor? Of course not. But — and this is key — the roster he built is respectable enough that he should keep his job. Firing him at season’s end is far too risky for Williams’ future. And, sure, if the Bears are looking for a new general manager in a few months, Williams will be the main reason the job will be a hot commodity. But there’ve been countless examples of a new general manager inheriting a quarterback  and then wanting to hand-pick another one soon thereafter. Plus, Poles will have close to $90 million of cap space to spend in 2025 and three selections in the first two rounds thanks to the Bryce Young trade. 

Right now, the Bears are in dire straits. And to ascend from not only the tumultuous 2024 season but the franchise’s decades-long starvation at the quarterback position, Williams is the key. He’s a supreme talent who’s navigated well through a turbulent rookie year and possesses extraordinary upside at 23 years old. The Bears have gotten into game-winning situations because of Williams, not in spite of him. 

Promoting his growth must be at the heart of every major decision the Bears make from this point forward.