After promising changes to evaluate everything following Sunday’s 19-3 loss to the New England Patriots, the Chicago Bears delivered two days later by firing offensive coordinator Shane Waldron.
Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Waldron is out just just 10 games into his first season on head coach Matt Eberflus’ staff.
Thomas Brown will replace Waldron as offensive coordinator, per Tom Pelissero of NFL Network.
Eberflus told reporters on Sunday that he was going to evaluate “everything from top to bottom” after the Bears lost their third straight game.
While there is no shortage of blame to go around for the team, the main source of criticism has involved Waldron and the offensive structure around Caleb Williams.
The Bears have scored fewer than 20 points in five of nine games this season. They have scored a total of 27 points and are averaging 230 yards per contest during their current three-game losing streak.
Questions about Waldron’s job status started percolating after a 29-9 loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Nov. 3, but Eberflus said at that time no changes would be made to the coaching staff:
“We’re sitting at 4-4. Right now that’s where we are and it’s important that we focus on this week. That’s all we can control and doing a better job of putting our guys in position as coaches to be successful and that’s ultimately my job and the coordinator’s job secondly. So it’s important that we do a great job of that with the position coaches, partnering up with players and putting those guys in position to succeed.”
Sunday’s loss to the Patriots was the lowest point in what has been a disappointing season for the Bears. Williams finished 16-of-30 for 120 yards and was sacked nine times by a New England defense that had a total of 16 sacks in its first nine games.
The Bears did Williams a disservice in some ways by sticking with Eberflus as head coach instead of going embracing a full reset after last season.
The argument for keeping Eberflus despite a second straight losing record was Chicago’s defense played well at the end of last season, helping the team go 5-3 over its final eight games. It often went unmentioned three of those fives wins were in games with Bryce Young, Joshua Dobbs and Taylor Heinicke starting at quarterback for the opposing teams.
Now, Eberflus is in job-preservation mode as he looks to avoid a third straight losing season. Williams has to work with a new offensive coordinator during his rookie season, with the possibility for a third one going into 2025 if the Bears make a change at head coach after this year.
Waldron was hired as Chicago’s offensive coordinator in January after spending the previous three years in the same role with the Seattle Seahawks under head coach Pete Carroll.
The Bears currently rank 24th in points per game (19.4), 30th in yards per game (277.7) and 30th in pass yards per game (169.6). They are only two games behind the Green Bay Packers for the final playoff spot in the NFC leading into Sunday’s showdown between the division rivals at Soldier Field.
