The Chicago Bears’ Week 8 loss to the Washington Commanders ended up being one of the big turning points in their 2024 season. According to starting quarterback Caleb Williams, the way that loss was handled by then-head coach Matt Eberflus annoyed the team’s locker room.

Williams made that revelation in an upcoming cover story with Esquire, saying: “How [Eberflus] handled it at that time, for that game, was, I think, one of the things that throughout the locker room people talked about and were annoyed by.”

At the time, the Bears were off to a 4-2 start and looked to be on the verge of their fifth when they were holding on to a lead in the closing seconds. The Commanders ended up winning the game on a last-second Hail Mary that was low-lighted by Bears defensive back Tyrique Stevenson dancing and taunting Commanders fans after the play had already started.

The player he was responsible for covering on that play ended up catching the game-winning pass.

Where Eberflus faced the most criticism was for the way the Bears played the snaps prior to the Hail Mary, where they allowed the Commanders to take an easy 15-yard completion on the sidelines to get themselves into Hail Mary range.

Had the Bears played a tighter, more traditional defense they would not have given up an easy completion and Washington never gets into a Hail Mary range and likely does not win the game.

Eberflus was dismissive of that criticism in the following days, attempting to argue that the plays prior to the Hail Mary did not matter.

It was a clear sign that he was not willing to take accountability for a bad decision that ended up costing his team a game. It is not hard to understand why that would rub players the wrong way. They were simply playing the defenses that were called, knew those defenses likely cost them, and had to listen to their head coach fail to take any blame for it. 

The Bears ended up losing their next nine games after that and finished the season with a disappointing 5-12 record.

Eberflus was eventually fired late in the season after several botched coaching decisions. 

The Bears hired former Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson this offseason in one of the most prominent head-coaching hires of the offseason. His addition, as well as the improvements to the offensive line, have created a new sense of optimism for the Bears going into the season. Now they just have to capitalize on it.