Why Matt Eberflus should be on the hot seat: Silvy on the Bears head coach

Unfortunately, the makeover ended with the wardrobe, hair and beard.

Matt Eberflus is the same head coach. And it simply isn’t good enough.

Eberflus and his staff now face a virtual must-win against the Rams. And if they don’t, I fear the Bears will be in for another underachieving year, and a lot of the blame should be shouldered by the head coach.

In Week 2, it was two terrible challenges that left the Bears without a challenge and one fewer timeout down the stretch in a one-score game against the Texans. Eberflus did not take accountability for the lack of game management and tried to say he has been good at challenging calls as a head coach. Eberflus has won two challenges in 37 games with the Bears. Going 2 for 37 isn’t even good by White Sox standards. It’s just more of a lack of awareness.

One week later, Eberflus was in charge of the operation when the Bears were confused about whether to go for two after scoring a touchdown in the fourth quarter in a five-point game. It is Eberflus’ job to have that decision made BEFORE the Bears score and properly communicate it to everyone involved. Not having that timeout cost the Bears the opportunity to attempt an onside kick with 2:01 left in the fourth quarter. It wasn’t just confusion. It directly affected the Bears’ strategy in another one-score game. This time, Eberflus did admit his staff has to be better.

Coaching matters. And two weeks in a row, Eberflus’ lack of game management hurt the Bears and put them at a disadvantage. That’s not the impact you want, especially when general manager Ryan Poles elected to keep him when many great head coaching free agents were available at the same time as your new franchise QB.

Instead, Poles chose to rebuild Eberflus’ staff. Offensive coordinator Shane Waldron met a lot of the criteria on paper. Veteran play-caller, off the Sean McVay coaching tree, and he oversaw Geno Smith’s transformation into a Pro Bowler. Yet, it has taken only three games for Bears fans to group Waldron with the worst play-callers: Getsy, Loggains, Tice and Shoop. That’s something even by Bears standards.

While it’s still very early to call Waldron a complete bust, the criticism is not unfounded. His design of a third-and-goal play from the Indy 1-yard line had 5-foot-8 Deandre Carter blocking a much bigger Colts defensive lineman. The play went nowhere. Eberflus acknowledged it was not well drawn up. Waldron’s fourth-and-goal answer lost 12 yards in one of the worst play calls I’ve witnessed as a fan. Not only did it have no chance of working, but most of the Bears’ offensive linemen were sprawled across the Lucas Oil Field turf. It was so sad, fans could only laugh superimposing the images into GIFs as if the linemen on the ground were catching some rays on a Cancun beach.

Sure, you can blame me for sounding the alarm after only three games, but I’m just following Poles’ proclamation that “it’s time to win.”

This Bears team can’t pass protect and can’t run the ball, yet they expect to develop their first franchise quarterback under those circumstances?

How can I trust the coaching staff with this tall task if they don’t know when to challenge a play, go for two or come up with plays to score from the 1-yard line without embarrassing themselves?

Blame me for having trust issues when I expected Eberflus to have his team more ready to play than last year after digging an 0-4 hole. With a new offensive coordinator and rookie quarterback, Eberflus thought it was OK to play D’Andre Swift a total of two snaps in the preseason when it was time to get their $8 million free agent running back up to speed. And now everyone is surprised he has no feel or rhythm while averaging 1.8 yards per carry?

Eberflus loved to use the term “level up” with his team this offseason. Now it’s his turn to follow his own advice.

If not, the Bears’ coach may have to level out of town. There’s still time, but the early returns are what no one inside or outside of Halas Hall expected.

So forget the makeover, Eberflus and crew must make good for the last two games and make us believe he’s capable of taking the Bears to the next level.

• 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.