good news:In 2024, 63% of Bears supporters want Matt Eberflus to be the defensive coordinator…….

good news:In 2024, 63% of Bears supporters want Matt Eberflus to be the defensive coordinator…….

        According to DVOA (Defense-adjusted Value Over Average), the Chicago Bears’ defence was the weakest in football in 2022, although it was intentional after general manager Ryan Poles stripped the team in the first year of their rebuild. They traded Khalil Mack, let go of a couple free agents, and let several more to depart because they were going from a 3-4 front to a 4-3 one in 2021. Throughout the season, they traded for two more seasoned veterans, drafted and used a large number of rookies, and added a few stopgap players.

Given the limited resources available to him, defensive coordinator Alan Williams was not surprised by the team’s dismal performance.

Williams was supposed to make a comeback in 2023, but he stepped down due to HR issues, and play calling was taken up by head coach Matt Eberflus.

In the second year of his plan, his unit improved to 17th overall in DVOA after making some major midseason trades for Montez Sweat, acquiring additional guys via the daft, and investing some money on the front seven.

Undoubtedly, Chicago’s defence improved throughout the course of the season, and ‘Flus was able to modify his strategy by blitzing more than he had previously, but to what extent was this due to his own performance and to what extent was it due to the players’ growth?

Certainly, Eberflus deserves credit for his defence, playbook, and the players he guided to success, but I question his playcalling.

His late-game calls have a conservative bent, which is indicative of his mentality in general, but 63% of our supporters want him to continue calling defence.

Although the Bears have not even conducted interviews for the position of defensive coordinator, I hope they pursue an accomplished coach who could take over play calling so ‘Flus can concentrate on the bigger picture.

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