Matt Eberflus: McCaskeys ‘pleased’ Bill Belichick didn’t pass George Halas

Patriots coach Bill Belichick could’ve passed George Halas in career wins Monday night. Papa Bear’s heirs, though, are thrilled he didn’t do it against their team — and told Bears coach Matt Eberflus as much.

Belichick entered the game tied with Halas for the second-most coaching wins all time with 324. The Bears, though, pulled off a 33-14 stunner to keep Belichick from passing the Bears’ founder. Members of the Bears’ ownership group thanked him afterward.

“Yeah, I had a couple of comments from the McCaskey family on that,” Eberflus said with a smile Tuesday. “And they were all pleased with that.”

Belichick will pass Halas soon enough, then will take aim at Dolphins legend Don Shula’s all-time record of 347.

On the field after the game, Belichick and Eberflus embraced and chatted. Eberflus wanted to keep the specifics of their conversation private but said he was flattered.

“I can just generalize and say that he was complimentary of the way we’re doing things and what we’re building here,” Eberflus said.

Second-half shutout

The Bears pitched a second-half shutout against the Patriots, keeping their points allowed in the last two quarters at 35 — or five per game. Only two teams have allowed fewer — the Bills have given up 17 points in six games, and the Bengals have allowed 27 in seven.

By comparison, 15 NFL teams have allowed at least double the Bears’ 35 points in the second half.

That’s a good early return for Eberflus, who spent the offseason and training camp preaching stamina for the end of games.

“When you work at something and you say something over and over again, it’s just words until you actually put it into action,” Eberflus said. “And the action starts with work. So the ability to work in practice, in training camp, all the way leading you up to this, where we are right now, puts you in a position to have that mental and physical stamina to be able to focus in the second half.

“That’s an important part of what we are building here — and it’s always going to be that way.”

This and that

In his first game with the Bears, wide receiver N’Keal Harry played on 42% of the team’s offensive snaps. He caught a 14-yard pass on his only target and laughed when he was booed. Harry, a 2019 first-round pick of the Patriots, was dealt to the Bears in July.

“I knew it was going to be that type of reaction to me in general,” he said. “Patriots fans, they just have always given me a hard time. I learned early on to block that out.”

† Eberflus made no excuses for defensive tackle Mike Pennel, who was ejected for an illegal blind-side block during Roquan Smith’s interception in the fourth quarter that resulted in Patriots center David Andrews being checked for a concussion.

“Totally in the wrong,” Eberflus said. “He should not do that. And I told him right after. And that’s not what we teach. We don’t teach that. It’s not good football.”