Matt Eberflus was the first-ever in-season head coach firing for the Bears organization. Coming back to Chicago with the Cowboys, winning is the plan.
FRISCO, Texas — Everyone is stating the obvious, except for Matt Eberflus. Cowboys players on both sides of the ball recognize that Sunday’s game in Chicago holds personal significance for their defensive coordinator.
Ten months ago, the Bears made Eberflus the only head coach in the 105-year history of the franchise to be fired during the season. They’re paying the majority of his salary as he returns to Chicago for the first time to coach against them.
On Thursday, Eberflus downplayed that narrative entirely. Asked how he expects to be received at Soldier Field, Eberflus turned dismissive and said, “I haven’t thought about it.’’
Eberflus finished with a 14-32 record. His winning percentage of .304 ranked third-worst in franchise history. Chicago has lost six one-score games in 2024, bringing Eberflus’ career record in one-score games to 5-19. That is the worst record by any coach with at least 20 such games in NFL history.
“There’s always hard moments in coaching,’’ he said. “You’re always disappointed when you lose because you put so much into it. The players put so much into it. You’re most disappointed for the players. Once that settles in, then you work to the next day, the sun comes up, and you move forward. You learn and you grow and you keep going. That’s what true grit is. That’s what we’re all about.”
Ironically, Eberflus was fired in the aftermath of a Thanksgiving Day loss to the Lions in which the Bears mismanaged a potential game-winning scoring opportunity late in the game. Eberflus was calling the defensive plays against then-Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson — hired this offseason as the Bears’ head coach.
So not only will Eberflus again be calling plays against the coach who replaced him on a full-time basis, but the presence of Caleb Williams as the Bears’ starting quarterback creates another unique dynamic. It’s only the third time in NFL history that a defensive coordinator matches up against a first-round quarterback he previously drafted as a head coach.
The Bears were the subject of the HBO documentary series Hard Knocks last season. Eberflus was seen spending extensive time with Williams, even though his expertise was on defense, because Nick Saban recommended to Eberflus the importance of creating a strong relationship between the head coach and starting quarterback.
“We’re keeping our process and our preparation the same as we always do,” Eberflus said. “I’m always grateful; I have much gratitude for my whole coaching career. I always look back at anything how you can learn, how you can grow, and get better and improve, and that’s the biggest part of experience, and that’s what we’re doing there.”
Mike McCarthy has been fired twice as an NFL head coach, both times taking a year away from football. Dan Quinn took the same approach when the Falcons fired him before joining McCarthy’s staff with the Cowboys.
Eberflus required only a few months of self-reflection before deciding to pursue an immediate return.
“You reflect and see what you want to do,’’ Eberflus said. “And it didn’t take very long for me to figure out I wanted to get back into it. I love coaching the players.’’
With Brian Schottenheimer, a first-time head coach responsible for every aspect of the team and performing as the offensive play-caller, he needed an experienced coordinator on the other side of the ball who was fully capable of handling the defense. Eberflus met those qualifications and provided Jerry Jones the familiarity he prefers, having spent seven years in Dallas under Rod Marinelli.
This week, Schottenheimer had Eberflus meet with the offensive coaching staff to share his unique insights on Bears personnel. “He knows the players. You know, we brought him in and had him talk to the offensive staff about the players. He has great respect for a lot of those guys that were there.’’
I asked Schottenheimer if he believed this game would have personal significance to Eberflus.
“Personal? Absolutely, you’ll want to perform well, but he doesn’t have to do anything special to do that,’’ Schottenheimer said. “He can just do his normal deal. The guy’s an elite football coach.’’
The current defensive rankings and the most recent performance do not resemble elite by any measure. Giants quarterback Russell Wilson has played 201 NFL games. His 450 passing yards last week were a career-high.
Eberflus remains confident in his own abilities and believes the defense will evolve and improve soon. The eventual return of a dynamic playmaker like DeMarvion Overshown could make a dramatic difference.
Perhaps it is understandable that Eberflus won’t admit it. Maybe his focus should be elsewhere. Maybe — if the defense wasn’t coming off a dreadful performance against the Giants, where only Dak Prescott and Brandon Aubrey could save everyone.
“We have to play better team defense,” Eberflus said. “We’ve all got to be on the same page, we’ve got to do a good job of alignments and key technique, and playing clean football…”
“When you give up big plays, I don’t think they’re minor. Those are major things, and we have to do a better job of all 11 players, including the coaches, executing on the certain play… they have to execute, and that’s the coaches and the players.”
Eberflus occupies a challenging position for a franchise that has always emphasized offense over defense. He’s the third defensive coordinator in Dallas in three seasons, following Dan Quinn and Mike Zimmer. It is virtually impossible for every coach in such a cycle to have all of the necessary personnel to run his defensive scheme.
Then there was Eberflus’ expectation that he would build his defense around one of the most dominant pass-rushers in the league. But a week before the season-opener in Philadelphia, the Cowboys traded Micah Parsons to Green Bay.
So Eberflus was forced to integrate veteran defensive tackle Kenny Clark, who was acquired in the trade. This week, veteran defensive end Jadeveon Clowney is on the roster — all while playing zone coverages to protect Trevon Diggs as he physically recovers from knee surgery and compensating for the loss of DaRon Bland, two cornerbacks who each led the NFL in interceptions under Quinn.
Without Parsons, the Cowboys have been inconsistent in creating pressure on the quarterback. They have forced just one turnover. The Cowboys have been unable to defend the deep ball, allowing 315 yards and three touchdowns — both the worst in the NFL — on passes thrown at least 20 yards downfield.
“It’s our job to put together a hell of a plan that gives our players the best chance to perform well, and when we do that, then we’ll probably play well,’’ Schottenheimer said. “But he’s been great. I think that’s why he’s so well respected around the league — because good, bad or indifferent, he’s going to be the same guy every day, and the guy up here talking is the same way.’’
Eberflus has reacted stoically to the defensive lapses, much of it seeming the result of poor communication in the secondary. That can be resolved.
The two worst defensive performances of the season in the NFL have come from the team Eberflus coaches now and the one he coached last season.
The Bears allowed 52 points in their loss last week to the Lions, the most scored against any defense in the league this season. The Bears and Cowboys are the only defenses to allow more than 500 yards in a single game this season, both doing so last week.
“I look at it as one opportunity for us to be able to go out there and really execute,” Eberflus said. “It’s game three, and it’s important that we need to improve, and everybody needs to improve throughout the league. Everybody has an issue here and there early in the season they’ve got to improve on, and that’s all we can do.”
The Bears never allowed more than 42 points on defense during Eberflus’ three seasons with the team. They allowed 52 in Johnson’s second game, with Dennis Allen as defensive coordinator. The 31-point final margin in Detroit matched the worst in Eberflus’ 51 games.
It seems a reasonable assumption that winning in Chicago would be more meaningful to Eberflus than perhaps any other place in the NFL because of his experience there.
Eberflus last won in Chicago in Week 5 last season, a 36-10 victory over Carolina. He lost his final three games at Soldier Field before the Bears fired him.
Starting linebacker Jack Sanborn followed Eberflus from Chicago to Dallas. His opinion seemed closer to truthful.
“I don’t want to speak for him any means, but I’d imagine he wants to go in there and win, and he wants us to go out in there and play good ball, just like every week,’’ Sanborn said. “And maybe there’s a little little extra on top of it, but I, from what it feels like, it’s the same as every other week — go out there, play good ball, play good defense and get a win.’’
Prescott cited Eberflus’ history with the Bears as part of his motivation for Sunday.
“That’s a guy that, yeah, I want to make sure he goes out there and gets a win,’’ Prescott said. “Don’t need a lot of extra motivation. Want to get a win regardless — selfishly, and for the team. And I think when it happens, that would be a good time for him to get the game ball and make sure the rest of the guys understand how great of a win it is for Flus.’’