Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus just got an endorsement from the best coach in the NFL.
After the Bears handed the New England Patriots a 33-14 loss few saw coming on Monday Night Football Week 7, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick threw compliments around like confetti at the Bears and their first-year head coach.
Belichick entered the game against Chicago with 324 wins as a head coach, which is tied with Bears legend George “Papa Bear” Halas for second place all-time. The longtime Patriots coach needed just one more victory to move past Halas into sole possession of second place, behind former legendary Miami Dolphins coach Don Shula, who sits atop the all-time list. That didn’t happen, however.
The Bears didn’t just eke past the Patriots — they racked up 234 yards on the ground and didn’t surrender the lead after taking over in the second quarter. It was just the sixth time the Pats have given up 243 or more rushing yards in a game during Belichick’s tenure in New England (2000-22).
Bill Belichick on New England’s Loss to Chicago: ‘We Were Badly Out-Coached’
The Bears played well on both sides of the ball against New England, scoring a season-high 33 points, while not allowing any points on defense in the second half for the first time this year. After getting served a slice of humble pie, Belichick gave credit where credit is due.
“I know we were badly out-coached, outplayed,” Belichick said after the loss. “Just didn’t do anything well enough in the game to have a chance to win or deserve to win. Bears did a good job. Totally controlled the game in all three phases.”
Eberflus was asked what the Pats coach had to say during their postgame handshake, and while he didn’t quote Belichick, he shared the gist of what he said.
“It was obviously a private conversation, but I can just generalize and say that he was very complimentary of the way we’re doing things and what we’re building here,” Eberflus said the day after his team’s upset win. “That was really what the whole conversation was and it was just complimentary of how we’re doing things.”
Matt Eberflus Also Received Kudos From the McCaskey Family
The Bears coach was also asked about beating Belichick on a night when he could have passed Chicago’s legendary coach on the all-time wins list.
“Yeah, I had a couple comments from (team owners) the McCaskey family on that,” Eberflus acknowledged. “And they were all pleased.”
Eberflus is already moving forward after the big win, however, and is looking ahead to the team’s big Week 8 matchup against the Dallas Cowboys. “It’s one step in the right direction,” Eberflus said about his team’s win over New England, “but we’ve got Dallas in front of us now.”
Eberflus is set to return to Dallas for the first time since he served as an assistant coach for the Cowboys. The current Bears HC was a linebackers coach for the Cowboys for five seasons, from 2011 until 2015. He also served as the passing game coordinator during his final two years with the Dallas (2016 and 2017). The Bears are 12-13 all-time against the Cowboys, so we’ll see if Eberflus can tie the series up with a second straight upset.
