For the past nine days or so, there’s been nothing to celebrate if you’re a fan of Chicago Bears. The team dropped both games to fall to 4-4 and the vibes took a decided turn for the worse. One of those losses came on a last-second Hail Mary, while the other was a 20-point loss that was never close.

Immediately after dropping that Hail Mary, most people in the football world said something along the lines of, “That’s the worst way to lose,” but I’d argue that he didn’t score a touchdown against a weak defense, and he wasn’t never really. in the game is worse. If you’re going to lose anyway, at least make it interesting.

Bears fans need something to distract them from the product they’ve been watching on the field, and luckily we have a confluence of events happening today to take our minds off the fact that the playoffs seem to be slipping away .

It’s trade deadline day, one of Bears general manager Ryan Poles’ favorite holidays. There are also a plethora of Bears injuries to keep track of – some old and some new, and the ever-tenuous status of Matt Eberflus as the Bears’ head coach. Let’s all jump into the rumor mill together, shall we?

The Bears made the first move of the trade deadline when they sent Khalil Herbert to the Bengals for a seventh-round pick. Herbert has been with the Bears throughout his four-year career, but despite averaging 4.8 yards per carry, fell out of favor this year after the Bears signed D’Andre Swift in free agency and picked up second-year quarterback Roschon. Johnson in second place behind him.

Herbert only has eight carries on the season, but he’ll get a chance to contribute more to a Bengals team that suffers in the backfield. Zach Moss is out indefinitely with a neck injury, leaving Chase Brown to absorb most of the running back workload.

Brown carried the ball a career-high 27 times last week and was on the field for 79 percent of the Bengals’ offensive snaps. Bringing in Herbert will allow Zac Taylor to distribute touches more evenly in the backfield, and Herbert should thrive in Cincy’s high-scoring offense.

For the Bears, a seventh-round pick isn’t much to get in return, but it’s better than nothing for a player they weren’t using anyway. Guard Nate Davis, who lost his starting job earlier this year, is also expected to be moved on a team that needs offensive line depth, so keep an eye on him today.

As far as players the Bears could bring in to help them now, the offensive line is the most likely target for two reasons. One, the Bears are hurt up front, and two, even if healthy, the line has been the team’s weakest link this year. It’s in the Poles’ best interest to keep Caleb Williams upright, so if a solid shortstop becomes available, especially one signed after this year, expect the Poles to pounce.

Once the first NFL head coaching firing of the season occurs, it usually opens the door for more. With Dennis Allen fired as Saints coach in the midst of their seven-game losing streak, that turns up the heat on Matt Eberflus, who should already be worried based on what we’ve seen over the past two weeks . .

Eberflus has not had a good two weeks. His complete mismanagement late in the Commanders game, from allowing an easy completion to put Washington in Hail Mary range to not using a timeout before the final play, cost the Bears the game. A good coach would have lifted his team the following week, but the Bears turned in their most lackluster performance of the season in Arizona, which seems to be a sure sign that the locker room is losing.

DJ Moore didn’t exactly give Eberflus an endorsement in a radio interview on Monday:

News broke last week that Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, one of the hottest names on the coaching merry-go-round, would have been interested in the Bears job if it opened last year, that only poured salt into the wounds of Bears fans who had to watch Eberflus continue to struggle.

Eberflus insisted on doubling down on some of his worst decisions, including leaving Caleb Williams late in this week’s loss, during which his star rookie tweaked his ankle and was seen limping late in the game.

After Sunday’s loss, Eberflus is now 14-28 with the Bears and just 3-18 on the road. Chicago hosts the 2-7 Patriots this week, which could be a good opportunity to “straighten it up.” Instead, losing at home to one of the worst teams in the NFL could be the final nail in Eberflus’ coffin.

After the Bears play the Patriots next Sunday, the schedule gets really tough. To have a chance to make a run, the team needs to be much healthier than it currently is.

The Bears were without several critical pieces on Sunday, including Montez Sweat, Jaquan Brisker, Kyler Gordon and Braxton Jones. To make matters worse, several other Bears were knocked out of the game with new injuries.

Darnell Wright suffered a sprained MCL, further weakening the offensive line. Terell Smith, who started in place of Tyrique Stevenson following Stevenson’s demotion for his Hail Mary antics against the Commanders, injured his ankle in the first half and did not return. Andrew Billings was also forced out with a chest injury in the third quarter.

Most frightening of all was Caleb Williams, who appeared to tweak his ankle late in the game, though it doesn’t appear his status is in doubt for the Patriots game.

DJ Moore made headlines for all the wrong reasons after coming off the field in the middle of a play and sitting on the bench before Caleb Williams had even thrown the ball. Moore appeared to have rolled his ankle and was definitely limping as he headed, so while the optics were bad, I’m willing to give the all-world veteran the benefit of the doubt. Moore didn’t have his best day, catching four of nine targets for 33 yards, but the fact that he was able to stay in the game is a good sign.

The Bears won’t release their official injury report until Wednesday, but Bears fans will want to keep a close eye on this to see how busy the team will be against New England.