Could the Packers retrieve Luke Getsy from the Bears bonfire?

Sooner or later, the Bears will part with former Green Bay assistant coach Luke Getsy as part of a larger overhaul. Should the Packers bring him back on staff?

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Seemingly every NFL season, one team or another captures national attention for all the wrong reasons. The 2008 Detroit Lions, en route to an 0-16 final record, earned that distinction the moment quarterback Dan Orlovsky unwittingly ran through the back of his own end zone. The Cleveland Browns have played this role on numerous occasions, including a two-year stretch during which they won just a single contest. More recently, the Houston Texans took up the mantle under chaplain-turned-football-exec Jack Easterby who oversaw the hiring of multiple one-and-done head coaches as well as the departure of several of the franchise's all-time greats.

In 2023, the Chicago Bears have become that team.

A year after earning the right to pick first in the NFL draft, Chicago has delivered an even more astounding encore. The team drove its own hype train during the offseason with players like defensive lineman Justin Jones declaring the season "a good time to be a Bears fan." Meanwhile, pundits predicted a breakout season for Justin Fields with the third-year quarterback garnering MVP hype.

But despite all the bluster and a series of major personnel investments, the club has gone winless through four weeks, losing those contests by a combined score of 137-85. The nadir came this past Sunday when Chicago inexplicably blew a 21-point lead in eight minutes to a comparably terrible Denver Broncos squad.

The combined effect of the preseason hype, the 0-4 record to start the year, and the embarrassing come-from-ahead loss to the Broncos have all but ensured that head coach Matt Eberflus and his staff will not survive into 2024. Though management understood the obstacles facing the Bears at this stage of their rebuilding process, the on-field product simply does not justify another year with this regime, especially given the possibility of landing coveted QB prospect Caleb Williams in the upcoming draft. The question is no longer if the Bears will fire Eberflus but when.

That end could arrive within a matter of days.

On Thursday night, the Bears face off against the middling Washington Commanders in front of a national audience. Though the game offers little intrigue to the casual observer -- both teams could realistically succumb to playoff elimination by Thanksgiving -- a Chicago loss would force the decision-makers at Halas Hall to consider formally ending the Eberflus era during the mini-bye to follow.

The Bears have never fired a head coach during a season and have other important matters with which to contend. The franchise remains in the midst of a stadium project that has already hit some unexpected hurdles. Team president Kevin Warren only started on the job in January while general manager Ryan Poles has just a year and change under his belt and hasn't run a full coach search during his tenure (Chicago began the interview process with Eberflus prior to hiring its GM).

Still, team management has no shortage of reasons to make an exception. A loss in Washington would send the Bears to 0-5, their worst start since the Clinton administration. Chicago hasn't won a game since Week 7 of last season and risks the ignominy of going a full calendar year without a victory. Firing Eberflus doesn't guarantee a shift toward competence, but it would send a powerful signal to the rest of the organization about the expectations moving forward.

Whenever Eberflus receives his pink slip, the clock will start on whichever of his assistants remain with the team. That includes Luke Getsy, the Bears' offensive coordinator and a former Packers assistant. Getsy hasn't exactly covered himself in glory since arriving in Chicago. However, the young coach could still have a bright future, one that sees him return to Green Bay.