As December begins, no team wants to lose six games in a row. Going 0-5 on the road only adds to the misery.
Oh, and the Chicago Bears have lost seven straight road games since last season.
These are all reasons why the Bears will have an interim head coach this week.
Matt Eberflus’ era is over, and that’s for the best, even if the series is left with more questions about why it can’t do anything right.
But those are bigger, more pressing issues that will be addressed another time. Today is all about ending the losing streak and getting back in the win column.
The San Francisco 49ers were in the Super Bowl in February. They are coming off a very disappointing season. Injuries and poor play are holding the 49ers back while many other teams appear to be on their way to making the playoffs.
This game was a match between the losing teams, so expectations were extremely high.
Let’s break it down.
Sam: What can Thomas Brown do for you? Watch him prepare his team for victory on the road. It’s been years since the Bears had a good road performance. This game looks like it was between two bad teams, but San Francisco is talented and well-coached. The defense will have to slow down the run game, and the secondary will have to tame Brock Purdy’s weapons like Deebo Samuel and George Kittle.
On offense, keep doing what works. Build your running game and use your short passing game to build your shot plays. That kept the Bears out of games for more than a month, but the coaching held them back. With all of these factors in place, it’s time to end the losing slide.
Jacob: Don’t beat yourself up. We watched a few games with Thomas Brown as the offensive play-caller to see if he could successfully run this offense. However, it remains to be seen how he will fare as a head coach. Even though the 49ers have a lot of injuries, they still have a lot of talent and are the better coached team at this point. Good time management and avoiding silly penalties will go a long way for the Bears in this game.
Brian: As Thomas Brown said in his opening press conference, don’t come out with some fire and “violence” and give the reeling 49ers a glimmer of hope. San Fran is susceptible to runaways and our OL is mostly healthy, so let’s hit the rocks and then take the play-action pass and let Caleb do the cooking. The D will need to play solid fundamental football with gap integrity and prevent room for rookie speedster Isaac Guerend to take advantage of his 4.3 speed. If they can tighten up the run game, they believe their back seven can compete with George Kittle, Deebo Samuel, Ricky Pearsall and Jauan Jennings. This should be a statement win and a confidence booster.
Jack R. Salo: In the three games since Thomas Brown was promoted to offensive coordinator, the Bears have averaged less than seven points in the first half. They had a great drive late in the game but lost at the buzzer, but the slow start remains an obstacle to overcome.
Do you know who else has gotten off to slow starts in recent games? In fact, in the past three games, the 49ers have averaged less than six points in the first half, and they’ve lost all three as well. So the Bears need to get off to a hot start and not rely on Caleb Williams’ heroics in the fourth quarter. Defensively, it might look like the Bears are going to break out with the 49ers running third-string running back Isaac Guerend, but he has fresh legs and could really fire up. The Bears’ box defenders have to hit the gap and catch up on the first try. Let the feisty Brock Purdy lose.
Can the Bears get a big win on the road this week? What will it take to get the win?
