What’s the deal with the Bears’ silence about Matt Eberflus?

The Chicago Bears’ 2023 season ended with the final whistle of Week 18’s excruciating loss to the Green Bay Packers, and with such a critical offseason facing general manager Ryan Poles and the entire organization, swift action was expected.

That doesn’t mean swift terminations were expected. Just, action. And by action, I mean confirmation that Matt Eberflus will or won’t be back in 2024.

I’d imagine Poles knew by or near the end of Week 18 what he was going to do with Eberflus. His messaging leading up to the game suggested he was keeping him. The momentum around the Bears before the letdown against the Packers … Chicago was 5-2 in the seven games leading up to Week 18 … all be insured Eberflus’ return.

But there’s something about a loss to Green Bay that can change everything. Especially that loss. It was clear and convincing evidence that the Chicago Bears are still a lap or two behind the upper-class of the NFC North, which as of now are the Detroit Lions followed by the Packers.

Justin Fields looked like a quarterback in his first year as a starter, not his third. Meanwhile, Jordan Love looked like the next coming of Aaron Rodgers in what was the final game of his first full year as a QB1.

Love threw five touchdowns in two games against the Bears in 2023. Fields has just four in in six starts against the Packers.

The Bears still aren’t good enough to beat the Packers, and they haven’t developed their first-round quarterback the way Green Bay’s developed theirs. And while it’d be silly to make decisions based on what other teams are doing, the NFL is a copycat league. There’s no doubt that Poles, who said he wanted to take the NFC North and never give it back during his introductory press conference, had a sleepless night after Week 18.

Here we are, nearly three days after the Chicago Bears’ season ended, and we still don’t know what’s happening with Matt Eberflus. Perhaps it’s a non-story. Eberflus is under contract after all, and if his job is safe and it’s status quo at Halas Hall, why should Poles have to say anything? Eberflus’ job security has been a media-driven narrative, the Bears never hinted that a coaching change was even being considered, let alone coming.

The Bears conducted exit interviews on Monday, and it’s presumed Chicago’s braintrust (Eberflus, Poles, and team president Kevin Warren) met at some point before I hit publish on this post. If it went poorly, we would’ve known by now, right?

But there’s something eery about this silence. It’s been so dark that we don’t even know when the team’s end-of-year press conference will be.

Maybe Jim Harbaugh’s victory in the College Football Championship gave Poles and the Bears front office visions of what a winning team in Chicago could look like if he was on the sideline. Maybe Michigan’s dominant performance led to a phone call by Kevin Warren to Harbaugh’s agent. Ya know, due diligence and all.

This isn’t the first time the Bears have gone silent after a disappointing season. As the Chicago Sun-Times’ Jason Lieser noted on Twitter (X), three days went by before the Bears’ 2020 end-of-year press conference, one in which they confirmed the return of Matt Nagy, who was fired the morning after the season finale the following year.

Maybe Chicago really is considering a coaching change. And perhaps there’s a bit of a tug-of-war between Poles and Warren on this issue. No one will know the answer until the Chicago Bears announce it, which is why this ordeal is becoming increasingly frustrating.

But what else should we expect from this team, right?

What do you think, Bears fans? Should Matt Eberflus return as head coach in 2024? Let your voice be heard in the comments below (sign up, it’s free!). And if you want an ad-free experience on Bears Talk, level up to a premium account for just $3.49 per month (or $29.99 per year). That’s less than the cost of a cup of coffee! You’ll gain access to our premium content and unlock all of our social engagement features. Thanks for considering, and Bear Down!