FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The Bears’ last trip to 1 Patriot Place for a regular-season game was the beginning of the end for Marc Trestman. Eight years ago Wednesday, his Bears lost 51-23 when Tom Brady threw five touchdowns and Bears edge rusher Lamarr Houston tore his ACL thrusting his crotch to celebrate a sack while down 25.
The Bears’ second-year head coach vowed to make changes during the bye week– and lost the next game to the rival Packers by 41 points. The Bears became the first team since the Rochester Jeffersons in 1923 to allow 50 or more points in back-to-back games.
Trestman’s fate was sealed, though he was allowed to limp another two months toward a “Black Monday” firing. It was, and is, the Bears’ way.
Perhaps one day Gillette Stadium will be known as the beginning of the beginning for head coach Matt Eberflus.
A first-time head coach at any level, Eberflus rode a three-game losing streak into the Bears’ “mini-bye,” an open weekend afforded them by a Thursday night football game followed by a Monday night contest. Eberflus, like Trestman before him, vowed changes.
What he produced Monday night was a Bears team that, while still flawed, showed life in a 33-14 beatdown of the Patriots. Their performance reflected well on Eberflus’ ability to regroup, both strategically and emotionally.
For a first-time head coach, that’s an encouraging early sign.
“He’s incredible,” general manager Ryan Poles said before the game. “His ability to self-assess over this last week and get the staff together and keep the team jelled together….
“That’s what you worry about with any team, is, when you lose, you don’t want things to fester. And this team is tighter than it’s ever been — believing in each other and finding ways to win games moving forward.”
There won’t too be many of those going forward — the Bears are rebuilding –but Monday night proved that Eberflus can get off the mat.
His lone “mini-bye” personnel change was rendered moot in less than a quarter, when center Lucas Patrick — who’d moved from left guard to become the starter — limped off the field with a toe injury. He was replaced by Sam Mustipher, the starting center over the first six games.
Schematic changes, though, were obvious from the beginning — and for the most part, effective. Offensive coordinator Luke Getsy played to Fields’ strengths, moving the pocket with a personal protector blocker and even calling designed runs for his fleet-footed quarterback.
Alan Williams’ defense so baffled Patriots quarterback Mac Jones that the Patriots faithful chanted the name of backup Bailey Zappe within minutes. They got their wish early in the second quarter when Bill Belichick, playing for the right to pass Bears founder George Halas with 325 career wins, benched Jones in his return from a three-week ankle injury. The rookie from Western Kentucky started red-hot before succumbing to the Bears defense.
Eberflus and his staff spent the days after an embarrassing Commanders loss in self-reflection. Position coaches wrote reports on each of their players to share with their coordinators. Getsy, Williams and special teams coordinator Richard Hightower self-evaluated their schemes, detailing their strengths, weaknesses and trends.
On the practice field, Poles said, the coaching staff harped on technique, believing that was what was missing in the Bears’ well-documented October near-misses.
“It’s detail in their work,” Poles said. “Just being very specific, being exactly where you’re supposed to be. Your technique — I know [Eberflus] is big on technique. That’s one thing they hammered this week. I believe in that, too, just from my time playing: if you can dial in on technique, all the other little stuff comes after that.”