A day after the game, Chicago Bears coach Matt Eberflus stood by his decision to let the clock run down instead of calling for another play before their last-second field goal attempt against Green Bay.
The Bears ended a chaotic week, which included firing their offensive coordinator, with their fourth straight loss, falling 20-19 to the Packers. Green Bay blocked Cairo Santos’ 46-yard field goal attempt as time ran out, securing the victory for the Packers.
“Yeah, I would do the same,” Eberflus said on Monday. “Would you like to be closer? Yeah, sure. You’d like it be at the 15-yard line. But it is where it is and you could have done a bunch of different things there.”
Chicago was in a position to break their losing streak, which started with a loss at Washington due to a Hail Mary. Instead, the Bears (4-6) suffered their second loss in four games because of a last-second play.
The Bears were leading 19-14 until Jordan Love scored a 1-yard touchdown to give the Packers a one-point lead with 2:59 left in the game.
Caleb Williams was sacked on the first two plays of the next drive, putting the Bears in a tough situation with a third-and-19 at their own 21-yard line. Just when it seemed like the Bears were out of the game, Williams connected on two passes to Rome Odunze, moving them into Green Bay’s side of the field.
A 12-yard catch by Keenan Allen gave them a first down at the 30-yard line with 35 seconds left. After a 2-yard rush by Roschon Johnson, Chicago had the option to run another play to shorten the field goal attempt.
Instead, Eberflus let the clock tick down before calling a timeout with 3 seconds remaining.
Karl Brooks broke through the offensive line and blocked Santos’ kick with his left hand, preserving the Packers’ 11th straight win over the Bears. Eberflus said he felt the risks of running another play were too high compared to the reward of a shorter field goal.
“They stunt or whatever and you false start, you go backwards, you look at all that,” said the coach. “You run an outside play, they call holding. You throw a pass it gets tipped, whatever it is. You feel good about your decision there.”
The Bears, however, can’t feel good about their season. Sitting last in the NFC North wasn’t part of their plan. Chicago had hoped for a playoff spot this year after a combined 10-24 record in the first two seasons under Eberflus and general manager Ryan Poles.
“We don’t come in this building to lose,” safety Kevin Byard said. “There are things that happen during the game that we can be better and that in totality is the reason why we lose games. But at the end of the day, we have to continue to work and make sure that we’re not separating. And I think we’re a close group as a team. I don’t really worry about that, honestly.”
