The Bears beat the Commanders 40-20 at FedEx Field, and while it wasn’t the nearly kind of masterpiece they’d hang in the nearby National Gallery, it looked beautiful.
Eberflus still sweating
One win against the Commanders, even an emphatic one, isn’t nearly enough to get coach Matt Eberflus off the hot seat. It merely kept the temperature from rising for a week. He’s still 4-18 as head coach and has plenty to straighten out on both sides of the ball and with his game management during his weekend off.
Pass rush lacking
Eberflus and the Bears still haven’t found a way to engineer a reliable pass rush, and while they managed some success against the Commanders, that’s the single biggest liability a defense can have. It’s a major flaw in their construction and absolutely needs to be addressed with one of their first-round picks next year. Eberflus only has so many moves when it comes to blitzing; the Bears need to find a generational talent at defensive end almost as badly as they need to make sure they have one at quarterback.
Friendly schedule?
Whether they can do it is a huge question mark, but the Bears’ upcoming schedule lends itself to building off their success Thursday. They get an extended break before hosting the 1-3 Vikings next week, followed by a home game against the 1-3 Raiders. The Bears don’t face a team that currently has a winning record until visiting the Lions in Week 11.
