On an afternoon that was set up to be an epic, storybook ending for rookie quarterback Caleb Williams, the Chicago Bears had everything in place for their first win against the Green Bay Packersin 11 tries.
The final drive of the game saw the Bears offense get just under three minutes to work with, down by only one point and needing a mere field goal to win it. Williams proceeded to lead the offense down the field making some excellent throws after the drive started with back-to-back sacks.
Yet, when head coach Matt Eberflus saw the offense "do enough" and get kicker Cairo Santos within field goal range, he pulled back the reins.
Santos would trot out for a 46-yard field goal, to win the game, and give the Bears a much-needed victory over the Packers.
What came next was a heartbreaking loss by way of a blocked field goal, but could it have been avoided?
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Could the kick have been made easier on Santos? Could the Bears have played to win in a more aggressive fashion? If you ask Santos, himself, he felt that there was no blame to be handed out on that final drive. Simply put, the Packers made a great play.
In other words, Santos defended Eberflus when the head coach deserved a whole lot of blame.
Cairo Santos on whether a field goal from closer range (say 42, 43 yards) changes his approach/how he kicks versus his execution on the 46-yarder: "No. That was a comfortable range there. Left hash in that left or right wind, everything felt great and it looked like the line that…
— Courtney Cronin (@CourtneyRCronin) November 17, 2024
Matt Eberflus played to lose and got what he deserved vs. the Packers
Regardless of whether Santos, or other players, actually support their head coach's decision to play it safe late in the game, the reality still shines through. Matt Eberflus coached to lose this game. He settled for "good enough" rather than putting his team in the best position to win the game.
Williams was coming off three-straight completions of 16, 21 and 12 yards prior to the Bears going conservative, running it up the middle with Roschon Johnson for a gain of two on 1st-and-10. And, even after that play, there were roughly 30 seconds left on the clock.
Instead of running another play, or two, Eberflus allowed the clock to run all the way down to three seconds before calling the final timeout and sending Santos onto the field.
We're talking about your quarterback gaining nearly 50 yards on three-straight passing plays before essentially throwing the white flag on that drive. Eberflus has always played scared. He's rarely had his team prepared or disciplined. And, on this day, all of his flaws came to the surface once again.
The Bears can't keep kidding themselves. Whether it's Ryan Poles or George McCaskey, someone needs to make the decision to clean house by the end of the season.