Hoge's Bears Things: Is Matt Eberflus' job really on the line tonight?

Bears head coach Matt Eberflus got up to the podium Wednesday and praised his team for getting their bodies right for tonight’s game against the Commanders.

But the reality was that the team’s health had taken another hit less than an hour earlier. Safety Jaquan Brisker “tweaked his hamstring” in Wednesday’s practice, Eberflus later confirmed, which means the Bears could be without four members of their starting secondary tonight. 

Eddie Jackson, Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon (IR) are already confirmed to be out.

Eberflus started Wednesday’s press conference with a nearly two-minute opening statement praising his team’s mental and physical preparation on a short week in which they had “a ton of walk-throughs” and plenty of meetings. He wants everyone to be assured — once again — that everything is going well during his team’s 14-game losing streak. 

Meanwhile, Eberflus’ odds to be the first head coach fired this year are now just 1/2 (-200), a stunning number considering the Bears have never fired a head coach during the season. 

That history, plus general manager Ryan Poles’ constant praise for Eberflus as a head coach has me very skeptical that a loss tonight would lead to a head coaching change tomorrow. Just 14 days ago, on the heels of Alan Williams’ sudden resignation, Poles said he had “a ton of faith in Flus as a leader. He’s done a great job.”

Of course, the Bears have suffered two bad losses in the last 14 days and could have a third tonight. Not to mention that first-year team president Kevin Warren might view things differently. I find it hard to believe he was impressed with how Eberflus bungled back-to-back press conferences this week while answering questions about Chase Claypool’s absence from the team. 

Eberflus was asked on Wednesday if he has received assurances from ownership or Warren that they “see where this team is going and that they buy into this?”

Eberflus’ response: “Yeah I feel the support. I haven’t talked to anybody about any of those things. I feel the support and we’re just focused on Washington.”

Not exactly convincing.

Let’s see how things play out tonight. As we’ve seen time and time again over the first four weeks of this season — it can definitely get worse. And if that’s the case, Friday could be a very interesting day at Halas Hall.

My prediction: Commanders 24, Bears 20. 

Up Next: Tonight’s pregame coverage on CHGO starts at 6 p.m. CT with postgame immediately following the game. Corey Wootton will join us on both shows to give us his thoughts on the game.