The clock has run out on Matt Eberflus in Chicago.
The Bears fired Eberflus as their head coach Friday, less than 24 hours after Chicago’s costly clock mismanagement clinched a 23-20 loss to the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving.
The loss was the sixth in the row for the Bears, who fell to 4-8 this year and went 14-32 under Eberflus over the past three seasons.
Thomas Brown will serve as interim head coach.
“I thank Matt for his hard work, professionalism and dedication to our organization,” Bears general manager Ryan Poles said Friday in a statement. “We extend our gratitude for his commitment to the Chicago Bears and wish him and his family the best moving forward.”
Trailing by three points Thursday, Bears’ quarterback Caleb Williams took a six-yard sack on 2nd and 20 that brought him down at the Detroit 41-yard line — and likely out of field-goal range — with 33 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
Rather than call Chicago’s final timeout, Eberflus allowed the clock to keep running, and the Bears did not run another play until there were six seconds remaining.
Williams threw a deep pass to wide receiver Rome Odunze that landed short of the goal line as time expired.
“I think we handled it the right way,” Eberflus said afterward. “I do believe that you just rerack the play, get it in bounds and call timeout, and that’s why we held it.”
The Bears trailed 23-7 going into the fourth quarter but had rallied for the chance to tie or win the game on that fateful final possession.
“I don’t know why we didn’t call a timeout,” wide receiver D.J. Moore said.
“I feel we did enough as players to win the game,” added fellow wide receiver Keenan Allen.
The Bears still had Eberflus hold his typical next-day press conference on Friday morning, about two hours before they fired him.
Eberflus’ ousting came a little over two weeks after the Bears fired offensive coordinator Shane Waldren nine games into his first season in the role.
Brown, who less than a month ago was the Bears’ passing game coordinator, replaced Waldren as offensive coordinator before being elevated Friday to interim head coach.
Friday’s development added another chapter to a disappointing season for the Bears, who took Williams with the No. 1 overall pick in April’s NFL Draft, selected Odunze with the No. 9 pick, and traded for Allen during the offseason.
Despite the additions of that offensive firepower, the Bears entered Friday averaging 20.1 points per game to rank 23rd in the NFL.
Eberflus is the first Bears head coach to be fired during a season. He became the third NFL head coach to suffer that fate this year, joining the Jets’ Robert Saleh and the New Orleans Saints’ Dennis Allen.
