It’s easy to wonder if the support Eberflus has always received from players is dwindling after all these questions. This didn’t all come from the media or the fans. DJ Moore and Jaylon Johnson did it.

Cole Kmet may have done something even more telling by pointing out players’ flaws in preparation. Coaches are supposed to guide preparation, although Kmet said players play tricks on their own “in the dark,” away from coaches. Either way, it’s the coaches’ responsibility.

He had to revamp the offense with new coaches after the second year, and through it all, Eberflus had the support of general manager Ryan Poles and likely Bears decision-makers like president Kevin Warren and board chairman George McCaskey.

It still doesn’t look like the team collapse the Bears experienced in 2014 under coach Marc Trestman in his second season. If they ever had to fire a coach during the season for the first time, it would have been then, but then who would have coached the team to the end because the staff was no better than Trestman.

CALEB WILLIAMS’ IDEA ON PREVENTING FROST IS AN EARLY MARK FOR CHANGE

BEARS MAKE EFFORTS TO PUT AWAY DISSENTATION FROM SALU MARIE

CARDINALS WHO CAUSE BIG PROBLEMS FOR BEARS

COLE KMET SAYS BEARS NEED TO STOP DECEIVING THEMSELVES IN PRACTICE

These bears haven’t abandoned Eberflus, or at least they say they support him.

“Yeah, you’d have to ask those guys,” Eberflus said. “I’m going to be the man I’ve been and the leader I’ve been and stay steady through the whole process.

“We’re a team that’s growing, and we’re a team that’s getting better, and we’re going to overcome this adversity.”

The real potential flaw in Eberflus’ statement is that they are growing and improving. Last week’s loss to a team with a similar record doesn’t say that. They’ve beaten weaker teams and remain unable to win on the road with a 3-17 record under him. They don’t beat good teams. The only one they’ve beaten in his two and a half seasons is Detroit last year and San Francisco in its very first game, but that was with the 49ers using a quarterback who had no business doing .

For Eberflus, it will become obvious to everyone if he has to go and it could be before the end of the season.

The deciding factor will be the schedule.

The Bears have already blown their opportunity to be able to hold off a challenge from Super Bowl contenders in the second half. They could have been 6-1, or even 7-0 if Kyler Gordon had a pick-6 opportunity against the Texans in the second half.

Instead, they are 4-3 and have played the easiest schedule thus far. They are playing the second-toughest schedule based on their opponents’ records for the rest of the game (.546). Only the Lions (.550) have a busier schedule. And after the Bears face New England next week, this will be the toughest remaining schedule.

Even New England is showing signs of improvement after a comeback win over the Jets. It starts with the Cardinals and facing a coach who had already worked for him, Jonathan Gannon, and a team that Eberflus’ team beat handily last year.

This feels like another opportunity to show regression.

“I’ve said it before, every week in the NFL is the week, and this is the week of this week,” Eberflus said. “We’re Arizona, a very good football team. They won a few closer games at the end and executed well, executed the ball very well. (Cardinals back James) Conner and that offensive line are doing a great job. The ability for the quarterback to run as well.”

The Bears will sink or swim the rest of the way on their own merit, depending on which competition is tougher. Teams lacking unity behind their coach will never pass this kind of test, especially with a rookie quarterback who is as prone to mistakes as he is to big plays.

What they say or refuse to say now is not as important as what they will have to do on the ground.

“The consequences are that we lost the game and it is important that we focus now on Arizona,” Eberflus said. “And again, this (loss) was tough, no doubt about it. And again, we’re heading to Arizona and it’s important that everyone does that and that’s my job as “head coach to get this group ready for the Arizona game.”

They’d better because it would be easy to get blown out on the road against an improving team like the Cardinals and the one thing this team hasn’t done yet that the 2014 Bears of Trestman did in their free fall was to blow themselves up. This happened to them several times.

Look at the scoreboard to see if it’s going in the wrong direction.

The Bears don’t need to say they support Eberflus and Eberflus has nothing to say about Stevenson’s punishment, but how they begin to handle games against real competition will determine whether any of this means anything to the future.

Twitter: BearsOnSI