Thomas Brown is a damn good coach.

But this column’s goal is not to argue that Brown must be the next head coach of the Chicago Bears. There should be and will be a process to make that determination. This column’s goal is to position Brown’s candidacy appropriately, to make the argument why Brown should be considered for the gig in 2025 and beyond.

First, the quarterback. For generations, the cry of the Bears fan has been that the organization fails young quarterbacks. Mitch Trubisky didn’t stink. (He did.) Justin Fields didn’t stink. (He also did.) The Bears failed them. (Sure.) Let’s look at the performance of Caleb Williams over the three games with Brown as his offensive coordinator.

Based on Caleb Williams’ pace with Thomas Brown as OC

Over a full season:
4692 passing yards
28 passing TDs
0 INTs
64.1 comp %
805 rushing yards

— Nick Whalen (@_NickWhalen) November 29, 2024

Yes, these are projections, not reality. But they are also a three-game sample size against the Packers, Vikings and Lions, the three teams the Bears need to beat consistently if they want to be a championship threat. Brown and Williams clearly have a rapport that is yielding a massive amount of production. What could be a more impressive line on a candidate’s resume than that? Isn’t Brown exactly the coach fans have yearned for when it comes to quarterback development?

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Black Friday: For the first time in the 100-plus year history of the franchise, the Chicago Bears have made an in-season head-coaching change, firing Matt Eberflus.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 29, 2024

Kevin Warren lingered in the Bears locker room longer than he typically has this season, while Ryan Poles put his arm around QB Caleb Williams for a few private words.

What happens next for the Bears brass? Is it time to fire Matt Eberflus?
https://t.co/3O9MOQXnlh

— Adam Jahns (@adamjahns) November 29, 2024

Normally, this would be the space for the game preview, but holiday travel has struck a blow to my intended posting schedule. So instead, this! The following titles will be watched, by me, over the coming month.

At the end of that period, DBB will publish an updated ranking of the ten best Christmas movies ever made.

Note: If a Christmas film you like isn’t on this list (and does not involve the Grinch or Charlie Brown), send me an email (jeff@dabearsblog.com) and I’ll add it!

Today

Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)

Tomorrow

Mouse on the Mayflower (1968)

Friday

Home for the Holidays (1995)

December 1-25

Bad Moms Christmas (2017)

Bad Santa (2003)

The Bishop’s Wife (1942)

Black Christmas (1974)

A Christmas Carol (1951, Alistair Sim)

A Christmas Carol (1984, George C. Scott)

Christmas Eve on Sesame Street (1978)

Christmas in Connecticut (1942)

A Christmas Story (1983)

Christmas with the Kranks (2004)

Die Hard (1988)

Elf (2003)

Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas (1977)

Ernest Saves Christmas (1988)

The Family Stone (2005)

Four Christmases (2008)

Frosty the Snowman (1969)

Gremlins (1984)

The Holdovers (2023)

The Holiday (2006)

Holiday Inn (1942)

Home Alone (1990)

Home Alone 2 (1992)

It Happened on 5th Avenue (1947)

It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)

Jingle All the Way (1996)

Klaus (2019)

Love Actually (2003)

Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

Miracle on 34th Street (1994)

Mixed Nuts (1994)

The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)

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It was Caleb, kids.

Three hundred and forty yards.

We have one, at last.

This defensive group.

What is it that they do well?

The answer? Not much.

Flus will coach Thursday.

Detroit will blow their doors off.

Then comes Black Friday?

Quarter One 

There were four stories to this quarter.

• The strip and recovery by Jonathan Owens stabilized the game for Chicago. There’s a different game script that plays out if the Vikings score easily there.
• The Bears don’t have a pass rush. Zero. Ryan Poles has so much work to do on both lines this off-season.
• The touchdown drive for the Bears was Caleb Williams’s best drive as a professional. That was superstar stuff from the kid, and continued evidence that Thomas Brown is not a coach to be thoughtlessly discarded after the season.
• Last thirty seconds of the quarter are everything wrong with Matt Eberflus as the head coach. Bad, undisciplined penalty. Inexcusable deep completion. Eberflus is the team’s primary vulnerability.

Quarter Two

• After the Keenan Allen overturn, Eberflus takes the ball out of his quarterback’s hands on fourth and short. Once again, Flus displays that he has no feel for the football game in front of him. But more importantly, it’s far more valuable long-term for Caleb TO FACE that situation. The team is going in multiple directions because the organization refuses to move on from Flus.
• If you lose a game on a blocked FG, and the next FG attempt is blocked, that is coaching, coaching, coaching. (The broadcast made this clear in their subsequent commentary.)
• Bears end up with a field goal on the final drive, after their sideline shows no urgency or command.

Vikings 14, Bears 10

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Today, I’m framing my prediction with Sidney Lumet’s offerings from the decade of the 1990s.

Q&A (1990). A strange, compelling film that Lumet co-authored. What do I find most strange about the 2024 Chicago Bears? Cole Kmet. Why does Kmet, a tight end that should be a vital component when it comes to making a rookie QB’s life easier, have only six catches over the last three weeks? Thomas Brown must get him more involved to unlocking this passing game.

A Stranger Among Us (1992). Will the real Montez Sweat please stand up? This is not the same player who arrived midseason in 2023, and the Bears needed him to be if they intended to mount a serious pass rush. Sam Darnold has a quick trigger under pressure. Sunday, they need Sweat to apply it.

Guilty as Sin (1993). What am I most guilty of this season? Underplaying the impact of the “Hail Maryland.” Seeing the Bears play Sunday against Green Bay, it’s clear that was not the same team that showed up the previous two weeks. The hangover was real, but it seems to have receded, sadly costing the club their 2024 campaign.

Night Falls on Manhattan (1996). One of the most underrated films of the decade, Night Falls is not perfect, but Lumet guides several brilliant performances, especially the late Ron Leibman. Minnesota features one of the best pass rushes in the league. Night is about to fall on Caleb Williams if the OL is not on high alert. (And I’m not sure their alertness will matter too much.)

Critical Care (1997). A subtle, if not entirely successful reminder that Lumet is the cinema’s greatest institutional critic. The Vikings offense is on a bit of life support. They have won their last three games, but it’s been mostly on the strength of their defense, as they’re allowing only 11 points per game over that stretch.

Gloria (1999). Lumet’s seriously misguided cinematic effort; a remake with no reason for existence. This is a perfect metaphor for Matt Eberflus’s continued role in the Chicago Bears. Still, I’m calling for the upset.

Chicago Bears 16, Minnesota Vikings 13