The Chicago Bears fired head coach Matt Eberflus on Friday, a day after their management made a late mistake in their 23-20 loss to the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving Day.

The loss dropped Chicago to 4-8 and likely knocked them out of the playoffs except for a miraculous run. But it also gives the team an early advantage in the search for a new coach, which is one of the reasons they decided to make the move now, according to NFL Network.

According to Tom Pelissero, Bears officials still let Eberflus speak to the media hours before his release.

According to the report, the Bears’ brain trust, consisting of George McCaskey (chairman), Kevin Warren (president) and Ryan Poles (general manager), had just begun holding a meeting that lasted “several hours.”

The meeting took place at the same time as Eberflus’ press conference, which was scheduled at the regular time.

Pelissero pointed out that a speaker’s lateness would likely have meant a change had been decided, but the decision was believed to have been made during the meeting, which ended long after Eberflus’ final address.

Eberflus, who went 14-32 during his tenure with the Bears, was fired before he could complete his third full season as the team’s coach.

The well-known defensive player was hired in 2022 after serving as the Indianapolis Colts’ defensive coordinator from 2018 to 2021.

He was the linebackers coach of the Dallas Cowboys from 2011 to 2017.

The Bears’ next game is December 8th against the San Francisco 49ers.

Former NFL running back Thomas Brown will serve as interim head coach.

Brown was hired as the team’s passing game coordinator in January and was promoted to offensive coordinator after Shane Waldron was fired as the previous offensive coordinator more than two weeks ago.