Bears failing to capitalize on miracle onside kick sums up Matt Eberflus era

The Chicago Bears had multiple opportunities to climb back into their game against the Minnesota Vikings, but blocked field goals, an inability to capitalize on Sam Darnold's mistakes, and a few big plays being negated made it tough for the Bears to support Caleb Williams in perhaps his finest pro game.

The Bears, through a gift from the football heavens, were able to somehow get a second chance at taking down the Vikings. After a Williams touchdown pass to Keenan Allen, a subsequent two-point conversion made the score 27-24. Only the onside kick, which works maybe twice every NFL season, could save them.

In a stroke of incredible fortune, an onside kick recovery from Chicago led to a Williams dart to DJ Moore and a game-tying field from Cairo Santos that sent the game to overtime. In classic Matt Eberflus fashion, the Bears did nothing with this.

The Bears' only overtime possession featured a rookie moment from Williams that resulted in a huge sack. The Bears let Darnold and the rest of the Minnesota offense reel off enough big plays to eventually kick a game-winning chip-shot field goal that sent Chicago to 4-7 on the season. This loss was emblematic of the Eberflus era.

Bears losing in OT after miracle onside kick sums up Matt Eberflus era

The positives are obvious. Williams had perhaps the best game of his pro career, as the switch from Shane Waldron to Thomas Brown at offensive coordinator has done wonders for the young quarterback. Throwing for 340 yards and two touchdowns against this defense is no joke.

The negatives, however, are what everyone will remember. After more special teams miscues, highlighted by yet another blocked field goal that would have made the fourth-quarter kick a game-winner, one has to wonder what finer points of coaching are going on in that Bears facility.

The mighty defense, which is the one encouraging thing Eberflus has managed to cook up during his Bears tenure, was shredded every which way. Sure, Justin Jefferson had two catches, but Jordan Addison may as well have been Randy Moss for how much he carved up the Chicago secondary.

The optimistic Bears fan can at least look at this game as another great Williams performance followed by one more negative against Eberflus that could precede a firing. Still, with the season slipping away, losing like that to a division rival is always going to feel like dunking your arm in molten lava.