By Brandon Simmons
Matt Eberflus Fired
The Chicago Bears already fired an offensive coordinator this season and this time took it to another level. The Bears fired head coach Matt Eberflus in the wake of their Thanksgiving loss to the Detroit Lions. The loss was highlighted after the Bears offense was marching down the field to kick a field, when Bears QB Caleb Williams got sacked with 31 seconds left. He got up to run a play but time ran out. That instance was just the latest of a long line of things to indict against Eberflus. In his 3rd season, he has compiled a 14-32 record and went 4-8 this year. Chicago is currently on a 6 game losing streak, which includes the failed Hail Mary rejection against Washington.
This was almost a slam dunk move for the Chicago Bears to do this. At one point, this team was above .500 and made history with the NFC North as being the only division to have all teams above that mark after Week 6. But somehow, misery keeps finding the Bears. They hit a 6 game slide and the offense struggled mightily. While this is the first time the Bears have fired a coach midseason, it is the 3rd staright time the team will have a 1st round quarterback play under a different coach in their 2nd year. Of those 3 quarterbacks, Caleb Williams might be the most heralded and catered to, but Eberflus just could not get it done.
However, the Bears should go after an offensive-minded coach that can guide Williams and bring the best out of him. That seems to be what current interim head coach, Thomas Brown, was doing when he took over OC after Waldron got fired. Kliff Kingsbury – OC for the Washington Commanders and former Arizona Cardinals head coach – has been a name thrown around. Kingsbury was an offensive analyst for USC in Williams’ final season.
How Much Blame Do They Want Burrow to Get?
The Cincinatti Bengals have had a horrible season this year overall unless you own one of their stars in fantasy football. At 4-8, the Bengals have already faded from the playoff race, but QB Joe Burrow and wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase have been a dynamic duo. Burrow currently leads the league in completions, passing yards and touchdowns with only 5 interceptions thrown. Chase is the league leader in receiving yards and touchdowns. The popular place to shovel the blame is on the defense, where ironically, Cncy defensive end Trey Hendrickson leads the league in sacks.
The Bengals are walking a thin line between stat padding and doing everything they can to win the game, probably better known as “Let Joe cook.” The problem is that if he gets to cooking too much, then the meal comes out bad, Cincinatti has not won a game where Burrow has thrown for more thn 300 yards, which is a crazy stat. In the first Baltimore Ravens matchup this season, he thew 5 touchdowns and still lost. However, in a game against the Las Vegas Raiders, he threw 5 touchdowns and won, but only had 251 yards passing. A simple fix to all of this would be get help from the run game. Cincy traded away Joe Mixon in the offseason and it has impacted them negatively, leaving them at the bottom of the league in rushing. A run game will keep opposing offenses on the sideline and have their defense rested, so they don’t get worn out and don’t give up as much points as they have.
McCaffrey Injury
San Francisco 49ers just got running back Christian McCaffrey back from injury and now he seems to be headed right back to the injured reserve. The Madden cover star suffered a PCL injury in Sunday night’s loss to the Buffalo Bills, which is likely to end his season. In addition to that, the team also announced running back Jordan Mason suffered a high ankle sprain and will also be on injured reserve.
If anything, this signals the end of the 49ers season, and they should probably abandon ship with all of their players pretty soon. McCaffrey has been on injured reserve for most of the year, mainly with a calf injury. He’s only been back in the lineup for just a few games for the struggling 49ers, but it didn’t seem to have a positive impact, probably because other players were hurt, such as Niners QB Brock Purdy. San Francisco is at 5-7 and in last place in the NFC West, where it is kinda getting competitive at the top. If they somehow sneak into the postseason, it will be a quick trip, so they might as well make a plan to wrap things up now and save everyone for next year.
Shoutouts/Shutouts
Shout out to Clevelnd Browns wide receiver Jerry Jeudy and his scorching return to Denver. Monday, the Browns visited the Denver Broncos, which was Jeudy’s first game back since being traded from there. Jeudy talked a little trash leading into the game and it almost worked for him. The Browns lost but Jeudy set the record for most receiving yards by a player against their team with 235 yards off of 9 catches.
Shut out to the NFL for mis regulation of player safety. Tuesday, the league suspended Azeez Al-Shaair for a vicious hit he laid on Jacksonville Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence. In the 2nd quarter, Lawrence was scrambling and attempting to slide when Shaair hit him and was flagged for unnecessary roughness. Lawrence laid on the ground for a few minutes before regaining consciousness, however, a scuffle ensued between both teams during that time. Tuesday, the league suspended Shaair 3 games without pay for the incident.
The league went a little overboard with this ruling. There was already an ejection that was implemented and it was a hit that happens very frequesntly; it just so happens this particular instance drew an injury. Prayers to Lawrence for a full recovery and hopefully Shaair is granted his appeal.
Week 14 has a lot of bye weeks in tow but the big games are still there. The Detroit Lions are hosting the Green Bay Packers on Thursday Night Football. Both teams will be fighting for the top spot in the NFC North. Sunday night, the Kansas City Chiefs host the Los Angeles Chargers for their divisional battle. It was a close battle between these 2 in the first matchup and should be even more intense this go round. But until then…I’ll holla.
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