For the third week in a row, Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus showed up at Halas Hall on Monday with a sense of frustration and discussed making changes to improve the offense.
However, Eberflus made it clear on Monday that moving rookie quarterback Caleb Williams out of the starting role is not one of the changes being considered as the Bears focus on their upcoming game against the Green Bay Packers.
“Caleb is our starter,” Eberflus said, but emphasized that the team would be evaluating almost every aspect of their offense that day.
“There’s got to be a change and adjustment,” Eberflus added. “We’re 4-5, we haven’t played our division yet… We’re in the process of getting that evaluation done. There will be changes and adjustments being made.”
Williams and the Bears were beaten badly by the New England Patriots (3-7) on Sunday, marking their third straight loss. Heading into Week 11, Chicago has gone 23 straight possessions without scoring a touchdown.
The Bears managed only three points against the Patriots, one week after scoring just nine points in Arizona. This was also the fifth time this season the Bears were held to under 17 points. New England sacked Williams nine times, just a week after the Arizona Cardinals sacked him six times.
Offensive coordinator Shane Waldron received support after the loss to Arizona. But Eberflus did not guarantee that Waldron would continue to call the plays when the Bears face the Packers (6-3) on Sunday.
“The process of that, we’re going through that right now. All those adjustments and changes and things that we’re gonna do, we’re still in the evaluation phase of that,” Eberflus said.
Eberflus, who is 14-29 since taking over as head coach in 2022, has yet to beat the Packers in four tries. His only victory against an NFC North opponent came last season with a 12-10 win at Minnesota.
Williams had a strong performance in Week 6, throwing four touchdown passes in a win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in London. But since the bye week, he has failed to throw a touchdown pass in the last three games.
He’s on pace to be sacked more than 70 times this season, and the Bears struggled mightily on offense against the Patriots. They were just 1-for-14 on third down, gaining only 142 total yards and averaging just 2.4 yards per play.
When factoring in the 51 yards lost on sacks, Williams finished with just 69 net passing yards.
There were several questions directed to Eberflus on Monday about whether Waldron would continue to call plays or even stay on the coaching staff. Waldron was hired earlier this year to replace Luke Getsy as offensive coordinator. Before joining the Bears, Waldron had worked with the Seattle Seahawks from 2021 to 2023.
“It’s important that we’re using all the people in the building on the coaching staff, getting all the input, putting our minds together to come up with the best answer,” Eberflus said. “That’s where we are right now. We’ve got to look at that this afternoon as well.”
