The Chase Claypool Drama Epitomizes the Chicago Bears’ Dysfunction
It never seemed like it was going to work.
Bears wide receiver Chase Claypool had two promising years in Pittsburgh, but the divorce between the two parties was defined by character issues, lack of self-discipline, lack of effort, and decline of play quality that stemmed from these issues. The conclusion that was reached for the Steelers was to ultimately move on from him.
The Bears acquired Claypool in 2022. Essentially, a rebuilding franchise, that failed to give their young quarterback a sufficient wide-receiving supporting class, traded for an inconsistent, big-mouthed wide receiver with an ego as big as his 6’4” frame in Chase Claypool.
Many losses followed.
The Bears have not won a game since October of 2022.
Their prized offseason acquisitions have underperformed. A failure by GM Ryan Poles.
The Bears blew a massive lead to the then 0-3 Denver Broncos last week during a heartbreaking defensive collapse. The week before, Justin Fields threw a pick-six right in front of his own endzone, which was the 3rd of three straight halfback screen play calls. A coaching failure by Matt Eberflus and OC Luke Getsy.
In the midst of all the losing and frustration, the apex of the Bears’ dysfunctionality reared its ugly head last week, when Chase Claypool was sent home by the team, and asked not to come back.
ITEM 1 OF THE DYSFUNCTIONALITY: CLAYPOOL HIMSELF
Earlier in the season, Claypool shook his head no when asked if the Bears were using him right. He then said he’d just do what the coaches told him to do, which seemed like an obvious way of masking his frustration by being a “team player” on the surface.
This was Claypool’s last game before being sent home and told to stay there. The effort is not there. The demeanor looks disinterested and his movements look like “going through the motions”.
He disagrees with his usage, but his play does not warrant him getting any additional usage. They spent a second-round pick on him that was essentially a first rounder (32nd overall), yet he didn’t work as hard as he should for his talent level and the Bears’ offensive ineptitude lit his ego.
He thought he was the answer. I would imagine he was saying so in practice. The Bears’ management disagreed. They saw the lack of effort, the lack of commitment to his role, and the unecessary controversies. Thus, they sent him home.
ITEM 2 OF THE DYSFUNCTIONALITY: MATT EBERFLUS
Head Coach Matt Eberflus has no control over the locker room and no respect from the players he “leads”. He is indecisive, boring, and contributes nothing to the Bears besides the universal traits of all coaches: a specific scheme. Other than that, he falls short of every requirement necessary to be an effective head coach.
Listen to his press conference about the Bears’ decision to send Claypool home. With the amount of dodging he does, he should play professional dodgeball.
The lack of accountability is apparent. But the disconnect from the players is also just as apparent.
He was directly asked about Claypool’s future. He was directly asked if a certain incident prompted their decision to send him home. All of these questions have reasonable inferences for answers and everyone knows these answers.
Yet, Eberflus clumsily stumbled around the questions, deflecting Claypool’s future to Ryan Poles and stating the team was better off with him at home. But why you might ask? Well, Eberflus doesn’t elaborate. Instead, he delivers one-liner after one-liner.
There is no accountability taken here. He doesn’t acknowledge his obvious room for improvement as a leader of the locker room. He doesn’t acknowledge Claypool’s comments, or give context that might help the media understand better what occurred. Instead, he took the easy way out.
Off the field is not the sole location for Eberflus’s issues. The defense he led last week blew a massive lead at home to lose to the winless Denver Broncos. His clock management was absolutely atrocious. His defensive units have been hovering near the bottom of the league for most of his tenure.
Not only is he failing his team as a leader off the field, but he is failing them on the field too.
For things to get better in Chicago, sending Eberflus home next might be the best move.
ITEM 3 OF THE DYSFUNCTIONALITY: GM RYAN POLES
In Poles’s defense, he could not have predicted that a player of Claypool’s talent and potential wouldn’t be a fit in their offense.
But at the same time, Poles must learn to read between the lines as the architect of the franchise.
Claypool had his long list of disagreements and dysfuctions with the Pittsburgh Steelers, led by one of the most respected coaches in the NFL in Mike Tomlin. If Claypool couldn’t be fixed in a respected culture like in Pittsburgh, how could Poles have possibly expected an inexperienced, struggling team to fix Claypool?
Instead, what everyone predicted what would happen, happened. Claypool struggled in a bad offense with a young QB, while the team was led by a total question mark Head Coach in Matt Eberflus. Losing was frustrating. There was no voice to lead the team.
And their 32nd overall pick investment in Chase Claypool failed.
Every NFL Franchise has experienced some high highs, and some low lows. But the Chicago Bears are stuck in quicksand, endlessly binding them to the lowest of the low. Fans, players, and the organization all suffer as a result.
For the sake of Bears fans, I hope that this organization can find its way and begin to take steps forward.
But in the meantime, things look bleak on literally every front.
