Thanksgiving advance: Why improved Caleb Williams won’t be enough to save Matt Eberflus

Caleb Williams has a 99.9 passer rating in two games since Matt Eberflus replaced Shane Waldron with Thomas Brown as the Bears’ offensive coordinator. In the nine previous games, that mark was 81.0, 28th in the league. He’s looked decisive with more quick releases, more comfortable in the pocket and creative in extending plays — including one of the most exciting plays of the year in dotting D’Andre Swift on Sunday.

And when the Bears (4-7) lead off a John Madden Thanksgiving Celebration tripleheader at Detroit (10-1) on Thursday (12:30 p.m. ET, CBS), will that continuing trend be enough to save the job of Matt Eberflus?

Insider Dan Graziano said Tuesday morning that even if the Bears continue to play well over the final six games as they did last year, he expects Chicago to move on. Graziano noted on ESPN’s Get Up that although Eberflus has a 14-31 record (.311) since taking the reins of the Bears in 2022, he’s generally not an advocate for changing every two or three years. There are two things working against Eberflus.

“One is that he’s missed on the offensive coordinator twice,” Graziano said. “Both of his offensive coordinators didn’t pan out. Shane Waldron didn’t even make it a full year with the rookie quarterback. So, that’s the kind of thing that can do you in as a head coach, especially when your specialty is on the other side of the ball.

“The other thing is – and I don’t know what the Bears are going to do; this is the industry talk right now – they’re trying to get a new stadium built. When you’re trying to get a new stadium built, you want energy and excitement and enthusiasm about the team. The fans, right or wrong, don’t feel that for Matt Eberflus. You look at the rest of your division, you see superstar coaches, Kevin O’Connell, Matt LaFleur, Dan Campbell.”

Against those superstar coaches, Eberflus is just 2-12 (.143). He’s 1-3 against Campbell, having won the most recent meeting, 28-13, in Chicago on Dec. 10 last season. But even if the Bears can stun the Lions – who’ve outscored their last two home opponents by a combined 104-20 – moving on seems the likely scenario, unfortunately for Eberflus.

For more information on the Bears and Lions, visit the Chicago and Detroit team pages at ProFootballPost.com.