Silvy: How do we judge Bears coach Matt Eberflus this season

Chicago remains on cloud 9.

Or is it cloud 18? As in cloud Caleb?

On a picture perfect day at Wrigley Field last Saturday, as Jameson Taillon was dominating the Brewers with his arm, Caleb Williams stole the show wearing his Cubs jersey, while showing off his bear claw to a standing ovation.

Let’s hope he can soon do the same with his arm against the Bears rivals from Wisconsin.

The hype isn’t going anywhere and asking for it to it to slow down is misguided and quite frankly, makes you sound like a curmudgeon. I love that the Bears are cool again and are leaning into it. Not only does Chicago know it, the country knows it.

When the schedule is released, I expect 4-5 prime time games and HBO’s “Hard Knocks” is becoming a stronger possibility. All that said, it is fair to demand the steak after all the sizzle. This is Chicago after all and we deserve to feast. It’s time to cook.

That brings us to Matt Eberflus who must serve us up a winning season. I’m asking for 10 wins and a playoff berth. With those expectations, Eberflus now has the most pressure inside Halas Hall.

You wouldn’t know it the way Ryan Poles talks about his head coach. In an exclusive interview on the Waddle and Silvy show, Poles showered Eberflus in Bears Kool-Aid.

“I believe in Matt. People don’t see what he does for this football team,” Poles said. “It’s probably under the surface which I completely understand. I still think think it’s crazy that we say year one, that’s on him too. That blows my mind that we’re still doing that, but we celebrate how far we’ve come as a roster. I don’t know how those two things can be true.

“I believe in the guy. The culture is strong. The locker room is awesome. The development of our players continues to move in the right direction and what he did last year with all the stress on having to call the defense and be the head coach, I thought that was incredible. You have to be mentally tough in this city with a situation we were in to where we are going. And he has everything he needs. I don’t know too many men that can overcome some of the challenges that we have had and I think he’s going to get better and better along with this football team.”

It’s an incredible endorsement for his head coach but the GM also explained it was not enough to get Eberflus a contract extension this offseason. And because of that, just like Justin Fields had this past season, Eberflus should have to prove he can win and be the Bears future.

The funny part is, if you re-read a lot of what Poles said about Eberflus, you could’ve said the same about Fields.

• Poles says to ignore Eberfus’ first season of the rebuild, was Fields judged fairly that season?

• Fields was actually a big reason why “the locker room was awesome”.

• Fields showed he had the mental toughness of being the QB in city of Chicago.

Don’t get me wrong, as I’ve stated many times, I thought it was time for the Bears to move off Fields and draft Williams, but if you’re going to hold you’re QB to a high standard, shouldn’t you hold your head coach to the same standard?

There’s one major difference between Eberflus and Fields when it comes to Poles.

Eberflus is Poles’ guy, Fields’ was Pace’s guy. So fair, isn’t always fair.

But the fact remains, Eberflus must get better results now that this team has been built to win. The contention window is now open.

In February, Eberflus discussed what he was looking for in a quarterback. He described someone who would thrive during “third down, two minute situations, and at the end of the games”. Fact of the matter is, it was Eberflus’ defense that allowed third down, two minute situations, and end of game collapses against the Broncos, Lions, and Browns.

Nearly every aspect of the Bears have changed since this regime took over. The roster has been completely turned over and the job Poles has done has drawn rave reviews. A new team president has taken over with another plan to build a stadium.

Meanwhile, the same coach remains with a fresh haircut, wardrobe makeover, and new coaching staff.

Will it be enough to change results for Eberflus? The journey begins Friday at Halas Hall with rookie minicamp. This will be no mini task.

Bears claws in hand, swag at an all time high, the Bears must ditch the old version of Eberlose.

It’s time for Matt to win.

• Marc Silverman shares his opinions on the Bears weekly for Shaw Local. Tune in and listen to the “Waddle & Silvy” show weekdays from 2 to 6 p.m. on ESPN 1000.