In what has become an all-too-common experience for Bears fans this season, head coach Matt Eberflus and his players found a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory (or tie).
With 33 seconds remaining in the game and the Bears trailing by three points at Detroit’s 41-yard line with one timeout remaining, the Bears somehow managed to run only one play and not even attempt a game-tying kick.
To dissect the disaster, you must go back to the play before the last play. Bears QB Caleb Williams took a sack with 33 seconds remaining on the clock. The young QB got to his feet and seemed to try to get his team lined up for the next play with some urgency. However, his offensive linemen and receivers seemed to be moving at normal speed and not in any great rush to snap the ball.
Then, once Willians finally got them set for the play, he seemed to be looking over the defense instead of clapping for the ball. By this time, there were less than 15 seconds left on the clock. It should have seemed obvious to all—especially Bears head coach Matt Eberflus—that the team had taken too much time and needed to call their final timeout to preserve at least an attempt to run a play before the field goal or just attempt a 58-yarder to tie it.
Instead, Eberflus did nothing; Williams threw an incomplete pass that didn’t hit the ground until after the clock had hit zero, and the Bears lost.
There really aren’t words to express the breathtaking lack of competence displayed by the Bears in this situation. Yes, Caleb Williams is a quarterback and should have known he needed to call either to hurry the snap or to call the timeout in that situation.
However, Williams is a rookie.
Eberflus was there to bail his quarterback out in that situation, but he failed miserably.