CHICAGO (670 The Score) — Little time was wasted at game's end late Sunday afternoon before the Bears retreated to the northwest tunnel at Soldier Field. Players, coaches and personnel walked through, turning left to the home locker room without displaying any emotion.
Members of the Bears organization didn't appear sad or outwardly frustrated in the aftermath of a 19-3 loss to the Patriots on their home field. Instead, they appeared withdrawn.
A season that was supposed to mark the beginning of sustained success is spiraling. In dropping to 4-5, the Bears are badly broken with no fix to be found.
Two weeks prior, the Bears were dejected after a last-second loss on a Hail Mary. In the time since, they've held several meetings, pointed a few fingers and failed to find solutions in losing two games by a combined 36 points. The disbelief has turned into descent.
"We’ll look at everything, from the top to the bottom,” Bears head coach Matt Eberflus said after the third straight loss.
The Bears hoped to showcase progress in 2024 and reap rewards after two difficult rebuilding years. Led by rookie quarterback Caleb Williams, the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft, Chicago had renewed hope entering the season.
Instead, it's becoming toxic. Meetings between Eberflus and his team captains haven’t produced a turnaround. Internal discipline for second-year cornerback Tyrique Stevenson – who heard boos as he was introduced at Soldier Field on Sunday – for his antics on the last-second Hail Mary didn't set a firm example for a listless locker room.
After two weeks of talk, the Bears haven’t produced an adequate response.
“We can’t splinter,” receiver DJ Moore said. “We can’t go apart right now. When you’re down, you just got to come back up.”
Late in the game Sunday, Eberflus heard chants from the home crowd calling for his dismissal – "fire Flus, fire Flus." He's now 14-29 in a Bears tenure that spans three seasons.
Afterward, Eberflus didn’t rule out the possibility of making significant change internally, including in the offensive play-caller role. In his first season in Chicago, offensive coordinator Shane Waldron is overseeing a struggling unit that produced just 142 total yards Sunday.
It marked the second time in nine games this season that the Bears produced fewer than 150 net yards of offense, and it was their lowest yardage total since a dreadful 26-6 loss to the Browns back in 2021 that was a key flashpoint in previous coach Matt Nagy’s tenure.
On Sunday, the 22-year-old Williams was 16-of-30 for 120 yards while being sacked nine times. It marked the fifth game this season in which he didn’t throw a single touchdown.
The Bears’ offense has now been held out of the end zone in three games this season, including each of the past two weeks. Change in the play-caller role seems inevitable, whether that comes Monday or down the line.
“I mean, they're not going to reinvent the wheel in a sense,” Williams said of a potential play-caller change. “We're midseason, and it's not a decision for me. I have to do what (Eberflus) says. I have to deal with whatever decision he makes, and I have to be fine with it. Will I be able to adapt? Yes, I will. We'll be able to adapt, whatever decision Coach makes. From there, we have to go out and execute and win games.”
Eberflus was retained back in January in part because of how his locker room stuck together during an adversity-filled 2023 campaign in which the Bears went 7-10. But with a bolstered roster, the standard is different for the Bears in 2024.
The hope was that Eberflus could deliver clear progress and lead the Bears to a playoff berth. Instead, collective regression has been on display.
Despite the losses stacking up, Eberflus believes the Bears are still invested in him and each other.
“I just know the men in the room,” Eberflus said. “I know the men there. I know how they work during practice. I know the guys. I've built tight relationships with those guys, and they're going to work and pull together to get this thing done.”
The evidence suggests otherwise. Across 60 dispiriting minutes of football Sunday, the Bears were a group in disarray with a leader who seems to be losing his team. Then they hurried off Soldier Field with their heads hanging to the floor, moving forward to whatever may come next.
Chris Emma covers the Bears, Chicago’s sports scene and more for 670TheScore.com. Follow him on Twitter @CEmma670.