The Chicago Bears must ensure that one painful loss doesn’t turn into a lost season.
A team that entered its bye week on a three-game winning streak is now struggling after losing 18-15 on a last-minute Hail Mary touchdown at Washington on Sunday.
The offense had trouble getting started until late in the game, there were some confusing play calls, and cornerback Tyrique Stevenson made a big mistake at the end, which all contributed to a tough afternoon.
“When you lose, your initial feeling as anybody is to want to deflect blame or point fingers elsewhere,” tight end Cole Kmet said Monday. “But look, we got done watching the tape — I’ve watched the tape five or six times — we as players did not play well in that game.”
Caleb Williams and the offense had a hard time for most of the game before finally finding some rhythm. The team’s slow start and some failed play calls put the coaching staff under scrutiny.
The Bears were trailing 12-7 in the fourth quarter when they reached the 1-yard line. They decided to hand the ball to offensive lineman Doug Kramer, but he fumbled the handoff and Washington recovered.
Chicago finally took the lead on their next drive when Roschon Johnson scored from the 1 with just 25 seconds left. But instead of a close win, they ended up with a tough loss.
Stevenson became a focus on social media after he was seen gesturing to the crowd and had his back turned when Washington snapped the ball for Jayden Daniels’ Hail Mary to Noah Brown.
However, earlier in the game, with just 6 seconds left and Washington at its 35, the Bears chose not to defend the sidelines. This allowed Terry McLaurin to get out of bounds and stop the clock after a 13-yard reception.
“If you want to play sideline defense, what they’re gonna do is convert to the Hail Mary there and just run everybody off the sideline,” Eberflus said. “Then, you’ve gotta pick them up from the sideline and do the same job that you’re gonna do in the Hail Mary.
To me, we wanted to bring them up so we wouldn’t give them something that was too far down the field, which it was to the 48, and then we set up for the Hail Mary at the end.”
