Patriots' Upset Week 10 Win Just Got a Bears Coach Fired
The New England Patriots surprised many around the league in Week 10 by defeating the Chicago Bears on the road. On paper, Chicago entered with the better record and roster, but also ongoing internal turmoil.
Those struggles inside the organization made the Bears an easy opponent to knock off, and now it turns out the eye-opening loss to New England has caused Chicago to make a major shakeup.
It’s official: Shane Waldron is out as Bears offensive coordinator. Passing game coordinator Thomas Brown slides into the OC role.
— Dan Wiederer (@danwiederer) November 12, 2024
This is a necessary reboot for a desperate team. But there is no level of EMPHASIS strong enough to frame how colossal an embarrassment this is.
On Tuesday, the Bears announced they had fired offensive coordinator Shane Waldron, whose play-calling has come under serious fire in recent weeks.
The Patriots presented an opponent to possibly bounce against for both Chicago and Waldron. New England previously had given up totals of 41, 32 and 30 points earlier this season, so there were some weaknesses the Bears could exploit.
Yet, Waldron's unit fell flat on its face on Sunday. They managed a disastrous 3 points in Week 10, their lowest total of the campaign and the fewest the Patriots' defense has allowed all year. It's not like Chicago just couldn't score, either; the Bears only recorded 142 yards of total offense and allowed a whopping nine sacks as they were completely overwhelmed by Jerod Mayo's defense.
In reality, Mayo and company once were in a very similar situation as Chicago, with early-season struggles and drama dominating the first several weeks of the new head coach's tenure. Yet, the Pats' locker room has appeared to rally, with rookie Drake Maye's ascension to starter giving them a much-needed shot in the arm.
The jury's still out on Patriots OC Alex Van Pelt, but if he can continue to outperform fellow OCs like he did against Chicago, he'll stave off any firing discussions for the short-term.
In other Patriots news:
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