WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH ...
Eberflus, Bears will rely on resilience to move on from latest painful defeat
The Bears’ 20-17 loss Sunday to the Browns was excruciatingly painful, but it didn’t alter the direction of their rebuild.
Even at 5-9, coach Matt Eberflus’ team is still on pace to be significantly improved after going 3-14 in 2022. The Bears’ defense is on the rise, with several foundation pieces emerging as playmakers. And even the obvious offensive issues can be addressed in the 2024 draft, whether it’s a quarterback to replace Justin Fields or a receiver such as Marvin Harrison
Jr. to give Fields a potential difference-making weapon that could take his game to another level.
The biggest danger for Eberflus is a mail-it-in collapse in the last three games against the Cardinals and Falcons at home and the Packers on the road. An emotional surrender after a difficult season wouldn’t reflect well on Eberflus’ leadership.
That’s a legitimate concern after the dreadful loss to the Browns, in which the Bears frittered away a 17-7 lead in the fourth quarter.
A resilient locker room, however, has been one of the Bears’ strengths. It saw them through an 0-4 start and difficult losses to the Broncos (31-28) and Lions (31-26) in which they also lost fourth-quarter leads of 10 points or more.
Those were tough hits to take, but they were nothing like Sunday, when the disap
Coach Matt Eberflus says he will ‘‘talk to each guy man-to-man . . . and see how he’s doing’’ in the wake of the Bears’ loss Sunday to the Browns. pointment and bewilderment in the locker room was palpable. The Bears were just trying to win games when they slipped against the Broncos and Lions; this time, they had a chance to make a run at the playoffs. ‘‘That’s exactly where the pain was,’’ safety Eddie Jackson said. ‘‘We had our destiny in our hands. We had it . ... Just at the end, we couldn’t finish.’’
It remains to be seen whether the Bears are at an emotional breaking point. From general manager Ryan Poles down, they take great pride in their resilience. The final three games of the regular season will be the biggest test yet of their ability to move on.
‘‘It hasn’t [broken us] yet; I’m not concerned about that, necessarily,’’ said tight end Cole Kmet, who has been in this situation too many times already. ‘‘This is my fourth year in this. It’s tough, man. You come here every day wanting to build a winner out of this. It’s tough to have games like this and games we’ve had prior to this, where we’ve been in reach of winning the game and should win the game and it doesn’t [happen].
‘‘It’s tough. It’s tough coming in this morning. That’s the feeling. But we’ve got resilient guys in this locker room, and I think that’s been proven over time.’’
Eberflus is relying on the same in-house bond that helped the Bears navigate previous difficult moments to carry them past the loss Sunday to a fast finish.
‘‘It’s just relying on the relationships of the men and the guy next to you,’’ Eberflus said. ‘‘The guys are tight. We’re just going to keep pulling together. That’s what we’ve been doing all along.’’ Eberflus said he’ll go through his weekly process of communicating with team leaders and other players.
‘‘I’m going to talk to each guy man-to-man, look them in the eye and see how he’s doing,’’ Eberflus said. ‘‘[But] I might have more lengthy conversations with guys during the week.’’
The Bears’ leaders are confident they won’t let the bottom fall out emotionally.
‘‘I’ve been around a lot of groups, but this group right here is special — the way we work and the way we come together,’’ said linebacker T.J. Edwards, the leading tackler on the Eagles’ Super Bowl team last season. ‘‘We’ve got to keep our heads held high. Our job is to keep this thing together and keep moving forward. We’ve got the guys to do it.’’