Cards thump the Bears. Who gets the deflated football?

I have to admit, McCarthy has the required ability to be a really bad coach. It could work

Really thought we would be 6-2 at this point. As are schedule was soft as puddin so far. And 7-2 after Patriots.
That was the only way we could get to 10 Ws imo, with our schedule being pretty horrific till the end of the year. It would not be impossible for us to get like 1 W in the last 8 games.
Sad.

I would say the entire coaching staff.

Also, I would give a double-deflated ball to Flus (or whoever made the decision ) to leave Caleb Williams in the FINAL TWO MINUTES of the game. I mean what was the point?

x.com/GBraggsJr23/status/1853440234543022591?t=l59RUsHSwTuAV0oQfcES9g&s=19

Could not have put it better:

Unless something dramatically changes over the next 9 games, Win Now is dead for me. Disappointing because there is no reason this Bears team couldn't have gotten a minimum of 6 wins before they played Green Bay.

But they didn't.

There's a lot of reasons for that. It's never just one reason as many fans would like it to be. It starts with coaching because there's no excuse for what happened to end the Washington game. None. And that loss sent the Bears into a dramatic and abrubt 7-day plummet where they played their worst game since Kansas City last year. No excuse to lose to the Colts in week 3 with the way Anthony Richardson played. And asking Caleb to throw 50+ times in back to back games vs Houston & Indy are part of that. It took Waldron too long to even get halfway to figuring out what he wants to do on offense.

Ultimately, the Bears just aren't ready to take advantage of a very weak schedule to start the year. VERY weak. I thought they could. I was wrong.

But Caleb Williams is also part of this equation. I have no doubt that Caleb will be a great QB and easily the best the Bears have had (not a high bar) but if we're just speaking in terms of why they are 4-4. Caleb holds some responsibility as well. Easy to blame Waldron and rightfully so during the first 3 games where the offense had no idea how to execute anything properly. But the Bears finally figured out how to be competent vs the Rams, Panthers and Jaguars. Why? A big reason for that was Caleb Williams playing patient football. Taking what the defense gave him. Not forcing it. The guy can make any throw. I know it doesn't seem that way because he has been awful on deep passes this year. The inaccuracy is troubling, but to me, it's less about him being unable to make those throws. It's the unwillingness to let the game come to him at times. These last 2 gms vs bad defenses in Washington and Arizona, Caleb has reverted back to his USC days trying to play hero ball. The checkdowns are there. I'm not a film expert but I think the All-22 from yesterday will agree with me. Many said to me during my Win Now campaign was all that mattered was Caleb's development. Well, these final 9 games, both Shane and Caleb better solely focus on drilling it into their rookie QB that taking the easy throw isn't a bad thing. No, you don't want to take what makes 18 special out of him. But more importantly, you don't want him developing bad habits.

There's context within the tough start for Waldron & Caleb. The OLine is a mess. That's on Ryan Poles. He decided to roll the dice and punt on getting top line talent and instead build mediocre talent while calling it "good depth". That gamble has failed. Miserably. It started with Nate Davis. Not just keeping him on the team. I wouldn't have. But starting him Week 1 when he didn't deserve it. Ryan Bates also hasn't worked out because of an injury that he already had coming into the team. He was Ryan's guy for years. That hurt the process of figuring out who your center is. They struggled with that decision the whole summer & into camp. Now injuries are mounting. Ryan Poles has done some great things, in my opinion. But clocks run out on not investing heavily in the OLine. I understand drafting Rome & I'm glad he's here but your next 5 moves better be to that OLine.

Overall, while the Bears have a ton of talent. They just weren't ready to take advantage of an easy schedule. Their QB still has much room for growth. It still comes back to coaching. Specifically, Matt Eberflus. The QB might have an excuse to not be ready 8 games into his career. But you're 3 years into yours. The clocks run out on your excuses, Matt. And while it's not a perfect roster, you pissed away a golden opportunity to have this team well over .500 before playing Green Bay.

What Eberflus did in Washington was inexcusable. Defending bad decisions was worse. Now the team looks like they quit on you in Arizona. If I was Ryan Poles, I'd hand you your walking papers.