The Chicago Bears’ season of suffering continued Thursday, as they lost to the Detroit Lions in yet another close game.
Trailing 23-20 and driving into Lions territory with less than a minute to play in regulation, Bears quarterback Caleb Williams took a sack on second down after failing to locate a receiver.
That left Chicago with a third and long with approximately 33 seconds left on the clock from the Lions’ 41-yard line. The Bears had a timeout, but in a move that was questioned by the game’s announcers as it was happening, the team did not use it.
Instead, Chicago attempted to go no-huddle and run another play, presumably to make a would-be game-tying field goal slightly more manageable for their kicker. But the offense was slow in returning to the line of scrimmage and snapping the ball, causing the clock to expire on the following play, during which Williams overthrew his intended receiver in the end zone.
In his postgame news conference, Bears head coach Matt Eberflus —already on the hot seat after a string of game mismanagement decisions — acknowledged that he had hoped to run one more play and then call timeout.
But as the clock got to 12 seconds, he decided to let the play go.
“We wanted to rerack that,” he said, referring to getting back to the line of scrimmage, “get a play in bounds, and then call timeout.”
“We just got to do a better job together,” he added.
To put Eberflus’ tenure in context: According to The Associated Press, 221 coaches have had 20 or more career games decided by 7 points or fewer. Eberflus’ .227 win percentage (5-17) in those games ranks 221st.
Reaction to the Bears’ decision-making on social media was swift and critical.
“Man, I feel for you Bears fans. That was just brutal,” former NFL defensive back and future Hall of Famer J.J. Watt said. “Literal coaching malpractice.”
Kyle Brandt, co-host of “Good Morning Football” on the NFL Network, noted the loss continued a pattern that has occurred throughout the Bears’ 2024 season, which has also featured a Hail Mary loss, two blocked game-tying or game-winning field goals at the end of regulation, and a loss to the league’s worst team.
“You can’t imagine it gets more brutal. And then it does. And then it does 3 more times,” Brandt said on X. “This Bears season is like watching a SAW movie.”
During CBS’ postgame show, former NFL QB Matt Ryan blasted Eberflus.
“This is unacceptable,” Ryan said. “From the head coach position, your responsibility is to not panic in critical situations.”
The Bears’ record fell to 4-8 with Thursday’s loss, their sixth straight.
The Lions, meanwhile, improved to 11-1, the best in the NFL.
Rohan Nadkarni contributed.
