NFL Rumors: Shane Waldron fired as Bears OC by Eberflus amid Caleb Williams woes | News, scores, highlights, stats and rumors

After promising changes to reevaluate everything following Sunday’s 19-3 loss to the New England Patriots, the Chicago Bears delivered two days later by firing offensive coordinator Shane Waldron.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Waldron has been out for just 10 games in his first season on head coach Matt Eberflus’ staff.

Thomas Brown will replace Waldron as offensive coordinator, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.

Eberflus told reporters on Sunday that he was going to evaluate “everything from top to bottom” after the Bears lost their third straight game.

While there is no shortage of blame for the team, the main source of criticism concerns Waldron and the attacking structure around Caleb Williams.

The Bears have scored fewer than 20 points in five of nine games this season. They have scored a total of 27 points and are averaging 230 yards per game during their current three-game losing streak.

Questions about Waldron’s job status began to percolate after a 29–9 loss to the Arizona Cardinals on November 3, but Eberflus said at the time that no changes would be made to the coaching staff:

“We’re at 4-4. Right now that’s where we are and it’s important that we focus on this week. That’s all we can control and better position our guys as coaches to be successful and that’s ultimately My job and secondarily the coordinator’s job. So it’s important that we get that right with the position coaches, working with players and putting those guys in a position to succeed.”

Sunday’s loss to the Patriots was the lowest point in a disappointing season for the Bears. Williams finished 16 of 30 for 120 yards and was sacked nine times by a New England defense that had 16 total sacks through the first nine games.

The Bears, in some ways, did Williams a disservice by sticking with Eberflus as head coach instead of embracing a complete reset after last season.

The argument for keeping Eberflus despite a second straight losing record was that Chicago’s defense played well at the end of last season, helping the team to 5-3 in its last eight games. It often went unmentioned: Three of those five wins came in games where Bryce Young, Joshua Dobbs and Taylor Heinicke started at quarterback for the opposing team.

Now Eberflus is in job retention mode as he looks to avoid a third straight losing season. Williams will have to work with a new offensive coordinator during his rookie season, with the possibility of a third in 2025 if the Bears make a change at head coach after this year.

Waldron was hired as Chicago’s offensive coordinator in January after spending the previous three years in the same role with the Seattle Seahawks under head coach Pete Carroll.

The Bears currently rank 24th in points per game (19.4), 30th in yards per game (277.7) and 30th in passing yards per game (169.6). They are just two games behind the Green Bay Packers for the final playoff spot in the NFC, leading into Sunday’s showdown between the division rivals at Soldier Field.