We’re about 72 hours away from the Chicago Bears sending the Minnesota Vikings to overtime on Sunday at Soldier Field. There has been a lot of discussion in these 72 hours about Thomas Brown and whether he deserves to be in the conversation to replace Matt Eberflus if he is fired at the end of the season.

I’d be lying if I said the idea didn’t cross my mind. Matt, Luis and I talked about it. I could probably be talked into it. But let’s slow down a bit, because in my opinion it’s still too early to have the conversation seriously. But I think we will come to a point where we need to start a dialogue. The question is when?

If the Bears lose to the Detroit Lions tomorrow, we could be having this conversation sooner than we thought

The Chicago Bears have never fired a head coach during the season – we’ve heard that ad nauseam. I will say this: They almost fired a coach after a Thanksgiving game against the Detroit Lions. People forget how close the Bears came to firing Matt Nagy after their Thanksgiving game against the Lions in 2021. Remember when Patch reporter Mark Konkol broke the news in the days leading up to the game (Luis: Yes. I. Surely. Do.), and Nagy was asked about it in his weekly press conference?

Nagy denied it, and so did George McCaskey, but that seemed more like cold feet than anything else. If Konkol hadn’t spread the word in the days before Thanksgiving and made the McCaskeys the talk of the football staff, I think Nagy would have been fired.

Could this be the time the Bears pull the trigger, and can their head coach after a Thanksgiving game against the Lions? If things go the way the oddsmakers think they will, I wouldn’t be surprised. The Bears are 10-point underdogs, and if the Lions blow them out for their sixth straight loss and eighth of the season, Matt Eberflus could coach his last game this week.

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If the McCaskeys wanted to buck the trend, now would be the time. Firing Eberflus on Friday would give the interim coach (possibly Thomas Brown) a short break to prepare for the new role and Chicago’s next opponent.

The Bears would have eight losses and would therefore not be mathematically eliminated from playoff contention. They could finish 9-8, give Thomas Brown a longer audition and set a precedent in their locker room that a loss at Halas Hall is no longer acceptable.

Thomas Brown has breathed new life into Caleb Williams and the offense; Why not try to have the same impact on the rest of the team?

Chicago’s offense was in disarray before Thomas Brown replaced Shane Waldron. The performance was worse than it had been all season, players were starting to openly question the lead and it seemed like Caleb Williams was taking a step backwards.

Since Brown took over, Chicago’s offense has looked and sounded like a different unit. Not only did they put together two of their best performances of the season against division opponents, but they also look and sound like a group with new life. They responded to Brown’s no-nonsense communication and accountability style.

Now the defense looks the same as the offense did the week after the bye. Chicago’s defense gave up 30 points against the Vikings on Sunday and looked like a shell in the first half of the season. It hurts not having Jaquan Brisker, but that can’t be an excuse for the entire unit, which looks like it’s on a death march to the finish line.

Brown is not a defensive coach, but he seems to be the leader that Eberflus is not. Why not let him try to revitalize the unity on the other side of the ball like he did with the offense?

If we’re going to have the conversation with Thomas Brown’s head coach, we’ll have it only after we see what he can do as interim coach

Again, this is all hypothetical. The Bears could win tomorrow and save Eberflus from being fired on Black Friday. They could lose by three points and the McCaskeys could remain cowardly.

But now is the time to take action for several reasons. If they make the smart decision, we can have a realistic conversation about Thomas Brown as a head coaching candidate in 2025. Let’s see how he navigates the sinking ship of the Bears’ 2024 season while wearing the captain’s hat.

Until then, there is little point in having the conversation.