If Matt Eberflus is going to argue that the Bears have momentum — and that he’s the right coach to carry it into next season — he’s going to have to do more than beat the Lions. But he couldn’t have made the case without first defeating the Lions, either.
Eberflus has a signature win for the first time — a physical, dominant 28-13 victory against the 9-4 Lions on a gray Sunday at Soldier Field. Eberflus now has the first winning streak of his Bears career and the franchise’s first victory coming off a bye in 10 years. He exorcised the ghosts of the teams’ meeting last month, when the Bears turned a 12-point lead against the Lions into a five-point loss in less than five minutes.
“To have a win like this, it’s proof for those guys,” Eberflus said. “It’s proof for our staff. It’s proof, really, for the Chicago Bears fans.”
It’s a solid first step — or, rather, a second step after beating the Vikings — but by no means enough. The Bears are 5-8 with four games to play.
“You’re not gonna throw a parade for winning two games in a row,” tight end Cole Kmet said. “We’ve got a lot to go here till the end. But definitely a positive. . . . We’ve been seeing things on tape that have been showing up, and we’ve been liking it. This is a results league. It’s nice to see the result go our way.”
That hasn’t happened often — Eberflus holds the Bears’ worst winning percentage — but it’s trending the right way. The Bears have won three of their last four games after previously winning three of their last 23.
“To win two in a row — and it’s two division opponents, which is big,” Eberflus said. “The guys are super-excited, but we could feel this coming. The improvement was happening over time, and I just kept telling them, ‘If you keep doing it right, it’s going to be right, and good things are going to happen.’ ”
Bears brass will have to ask itself myriad other questions at the end of the season — Does the organization want Eberflus and his staff developing a rookie quarterback if the Bears pick first overall? — but he has shown the team is best at his area of expertise. Matt Nagy could never say that.
The Lions entered the game with the fourth-best passing and rushing offenses in the NFL. The Bears smothered them in the second half, limiting them to 2.5 yards per play. The Lions went three-and-out on their first three third-quarter drives and fumbled on their fourth. Their three fourth-quarter drives all ended in turnovers on downs.
“We weren’t being smart with situational football,” said safety Jaquan Brisker, who had 17 tackles. “The smarts came the last couple of games.”
Defensive end Montez Sweat, who had a sack in his third straight game, credited Eberflus for keeping the Bears motivated through tough times. When the Bears traded for him in late October, he said he found “a group of guys that had chemistry and had each other’s backs” at Halas Hall. That wasn’t the case on his previous team, the Commanders.
“It was kinda like, just waiting on the season to end,” he said. “Here it’s . . . every week, it’s a new challenge. People want to play for the man beside them.”
Asked if he felt the Bears were showing growth, wide receiver DJ Moore smiled.
“Do you not remember when we were on the up-and-down roller coaster?” he said. “And we just stacked two wins back-to-back. I’d say we’re doing great.”
Everybody feels great during a winning streak, but the Bears know they have to stretch it beyond two games to make real progress. They’re not eliminated from the playoffs quite yet.
“We’re not gonna act like we’re not aware of what’s going on,” Kmet said. “We have to run the table [to make the playoffs]. We have been looking better, and I do believe in that, but the results have to come with that.”
