Thomas Brown has emerged as a bright spot on the Chicago Bears coaching staff in the last three weeks during the roughest points of a turbulent season. Now the Bears will see if he can make an even larger impact with his direct nature as the interim head coach. Brown was given his third title in less than four weeks Friday after the Bears fired coach Matt Eberflus with five games remaining this season plus two more years on his contract. It’s a risk, for sure, given the work Brown has done as interim offensive coordinator starting with the Week 11 game against the Green Bay Packers. The continued development of rookie quarterback Caleb Williams is the most important thing at Halas Hall between now and Black Monday, when the Bears figure to be elbow to elbow with at least a half-dozen other teams in hunting for a new head coach. The New Orleans Saints and New York Jets already fired their coaches this season. Adding responsibilities to Brown’s workload complicates a messy season for the Bears, who are 4-8 and in the midst of a six-game losing streak. Brown will have to shift from the coaches’ box — where he called plays in three straight losses to NFC North rivals by a combined seven points — to the sideline, where a lot more will be going on than just what’s on his call sheet. Brown has the weekend to put together a plan before players return to Halas Hall on Monday. Defensive coordinator Eric Washington is expected to replace Eberflus in calling plays for the defense, something he last did in 2018 while working for Ron Rivera with the Carolina Panthers. It remains to be seen if Brown will have additional staff changes in mind. Optics matter, and the Bears haven’t looked worse in a long while — which is really saying something. It’s one thing to be kicked around regionally for their struggles in the division and the one-sided beating they’ve been taking from the Packers for years. Only six teams have fewer wins since the start of the 2011 season, when George McCaskey became chairman. Even in their meandering quest to find a franchise quarterback, the Bears have mostly avoided direct comparisons to some of the perennial losers in that bunch, such as the New York Jets, Cleveland Browns, Las Vegas Raiders and Jacksonville Jaguars. Then, in the final 32 seconds of Thursday’s nationally televised game in Detroit, they became the butt of jokes around the league and were pilloried by the most even-handed analysts. After a second-down sack of Williams at the Lions 41-yard line, the Bears ran only one more play and left Ford Field with a timeout in their pocket, missing a chance to attempt a game-tying field goal. Week 13 photos: Detroit Lions 23, Chicago Bears 20 in Detroit on Thanksgiving Eberflus stumbled through an explanation of the operation after the game. Maybe part of it was trying to avoid criticizing players who shared in some of the blame, but nothing he could say justified not using the timeout. Players were furious afterward. “I feel like we did enough as players to win the game,” wide receiver Keenan Allen said. “Bad coaching on their part,” Lions safety Brian Branch said. Eberflus can be found in all sorts of memes poking fun at the Bears now, and it’s unfortunate the team didn’t act sooner Friday. Instead he was forced to fulfill his day-after-game media obligation — failing again to make sense of the end-of-game timeline — before being informed he was fired. There are many fair ways to criticize Eberflus, but he kept the roster playing hard through an extended losing streak and that wasn’t by happenstance. Brown has had a presence in front of the offense the last three weeks, delivering what players had been seeking — someone to hold them accountable. He’s equally skilled fielding questions on the podium, and that will provide a welcome change for at least a month or so after Eberflus’ media sessions had devolved into weekly witch hunts as the team found increasingly aggravating ways to come up just short in the final moments. Running back Roschon Johnson used one word — “belief” — to describe what Brown brought to the offense after replacing Shane Waldron. Tight end Cole Kmet said he appreciated Brown’s straightforward messaging and detailed demands. Related Articles Chicago Bears | Column: After Matt Eberflus’ firing, the onus is on Kevin Warren and Ryan Poles to put the Chicago Bears on the right path Chicago Bears | Photos: Chicago Bears fire coach Matt Eberflus Chicago Bears | Chicago Bears fire Matt Eberflus — the 1st time they’ve dismissed a head coach during a season Chicago Bears | The Chicago Bears have played 38 times on Thanksgiving. Here’s how they’ve fared in each game since 1920. Chicago Bears | Chicago Bears’ Matt Eberflus — amid growing calls for his job — says he’s confident he’ll coach next week “He’s done a great job understanding me, even though we have not had many talks in the past, many opportunities to do something like that,” Williams said last week. “He has done a good job understanding me and the players we have on this team. I think that is going to keep growing.” The key will be finding a way to keep Williams on the upswing. He completed 75 of 117 passes (64.1%) for 827 yards with five touchdowns and no interceptions in the last three games as the offense finally got DJ Moore, Allen and Kmet consistently involved. Brown can juggle staff responsibilities so that he keeps his hand on the controls of the offense during planning, meetings, practices and games. But it’s a lot for him to take on in the middle of the season in what amounts to a five-game tryout for the Bears or any other team that might be intrigued by his candor and toughness. Trust was broken between Eberflus and the players, and the franchise’s rebuild is smack dab against a wall because learning how to win is a real thing in the NFL, an obstacle the Bears have discovered can be excruciatingly painful to clear. Don’t look now, but the rest of the NFC North could finish the season with 11 victories or more. This situation was beyond repair, so far gone that the Bears did something they’d never done in 105 previous seasons — fire a head coach in season — and they canned Eberflus just three games after Waldron was launched. At least now players can take a deep breath over the weekend and know ownership and the front office have their backs. They do want to put an end to the misery. But it’s about developing Williams, who has had bright spots but still has clear rookie flaws. He has been in position to bring home a win three weeks in a row. Maybe Brown, originally hired in January as the passing game coordinator, can bring out more from the rest of the team. It’s worth a shot.