This Bears team deserves better than Matt Eberflus: Silvy

What’s the worst offense from Bears head coach Matt Eberflus?

• Not having your team ready to play coming out of the bye.

• Allowing Shane Waldron to hand the ball off to a backup center, who has never carried the ball in the NFL, down a score, in the fourth quarter.

• Allowing Waldron to call a fade for DJ Moore instead of running the ball at the goal line so the Commanders can keep their final timeout. That timeout was vital to set up the Hail Mary.

• Giving the Commanders a free 13 yards, without defending the play, so they can get into Hail Mary range.

• Having TJ Edwards spy as a useless defender on the Hail Mary.

• Not calling a timeout before the Hail Mary to ensure everyone understands their responsibilities.

• As head coach, not taking responsibility for ANY of the above and thinking you didn’t make mistakes. You’re either in C.Y.A. mode or just as lost after having time for self-critique.

Even Tyrique Stevenson was accountable for his horrible mistake with a tweet, addressing his teammates, and in a news conference.

Caleb Williams stood tall after the game and owned up to the fact that he took an unacceptable sack before the end of the half that cost the Bears a field goal attempt. A rookie and second-year player showed more accountability than Eberflus.

Does Ryan Poles see what most of us see?

Poles was blinded by Matt Eberflus’ nice-guy persona a year ago when it would’ve been the perfect time to pair a new head coach with his new franchise quarterback. Instead, the Bears chose to patchwork a staff around Eberflus.

Poles judged Justin Fields more harshly than his own coach and Fields was better at his job than Eberflus. The GM correctly understood that paying the 20-25th best QB in Fields wasn’t the way to win a title. That same rationale should be used this offseason.

The Bears must improve at head coach at season’s end and Eberflus has to go. Poles cannot get caught in his feels like he did with Velus Jones and miss another opportunity. The GM was the one who said it best in Hard Knocks, “It’s time to win” and Eberflus has cost the Bears far too many wins.

Under Eberflus, the Bears are 3-17 on the road since he was named head coach with wins against Mac Jones/Bailey Zappe, Sam Howell and Josh Dobbs as opposing quarterbacks.

The Bears lost four games in the past 13 months where their win probability was above 90%: Denver 98.1%, Detroit 98.2%, Cleveland 91%, Washington 96.4%. I got a C in stats and probabilities at SIU but know that when you do the math formula on the chances of the Bears blowing ALL four of those games, it comes out to basically 1-in-a-million. I’ll say it in my best Austin Powers voice. A MILLION TO ONE!

I know Eberflus isn’t a good head coach. But when people say to me, he’s a good defensive coordinator, why couldn’t he find a way to protect a 21-point lead against the Broncos, a 12-point lead vs. the Lions, a 10-point lead at the Browns, and the Hail Mary in Washington? Don’t good coordinators find ways to close games?

If the NFL were to conduct a head coaching draft of the best coaches in the NFL and make assistants and free agents available as well, Eberflus would have a tough time finishing in the top 30. Why settle for that, especially when he’s close to needing a new contract?

Poles loves to cite the Bears culture. Under Eberflus …

• Two of his coaches he hired were dismissed for HR reasons last year.

• His new offensive coordinator, Shane Waldron, had to be told by the leadership council to hold players more accountable after just three games.

• His starting cornerback, Tyrique Stevenson, decided to quit on the final play that cost the Bears the Commanders’ game

• On Monday, Cole Kmet mentioned that some players were “laying off” in practice leading up to the Commanders game.

Lovie Smith built a culture. He took a team to the Super Bowl. He was let go by the Bears. If you can do that, you can part ways with Eberflus. There’s no reason Poles should love this head coach. This Bears team deserves better.

• 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.