A disastrous outcome for the Chicago Bears against the Detroit Lions occurred on Thanksgiving Day. There might have been one positive that came out of this entire situation for some Bears fans but otherwise, it was ugly. At halftime, the Bears were down 16-0 at Detroit. However, the Bears came back to make the score 23-20 Lions with 5:36 left in the game. The Bears had ample time to at least tie the game, as the Lions punted the ball back to the Bears with 3:42 left on the game clock. What happened next determined the future of the Chicago Bears organization.
After almost two minutes, the clock was stopped at 0:43 at the Detroit 25-yard line. However, there was a penalty against the Bears that brought the ball back to the 35-yard line. This was in the Bears kicker’s field goal range, as it would have been 52-yards and the Bears kicker’s career high is a 55-yard made field goal. However, they decided to do a passing play and the result was a sack, which brought the Bears back even further, all the way down to the Detroit 41-yard line. This would have been a 58-yard field goal, 3 yards more than Bears kicker Cairo Santos’s career high, but the team did not feel comfortable due to the Bears past kicking woes. But instead of calling another timeout to stop the clock at 0:36 immediately after the sack, the Bears Coach, Matt Eberflus, for some questionable reason, let the clock run out and Bears rookie QB Caleb Williams had no choice but to throw a Hail Mary that went incomplete to end the game.
There could have been a number of ways to go about this situation but the best idea would have been to run the ball on 2nd-and-10 with 0:43 left on the clock to at least get into better field goal range. Not only that, but there was a chance the penalty would have never happened since it was a completely different play, so it would have kept the ball on either the 25-yard line or maybe even closer to the end zone depending on how many yards were gained on the run. Chicago could have then used their last timeout with 0:03 seconds left in the game and kicked the field goal to possibly tie the game, as this would have given the Bears another chance to win the game in overtime.
The Bears should have done that, and it was the coach’s responsibility to call that timeout and not the rookie QB’s job to do that. QB Caleb Williams was trying to get his guys lined up to run a play, so Eberflus should have called timeout. It was total clock mismanagement and the Coach should have known better.
During the post-game press conference, Eberflus doubled down on his decision (or lack thereof), saying something to the tune of that they had no choice but to throw the ball into the end zone because there was not enough time on the clock. Eberflus explained that they had a plan in place, which he said, “I do believe that you just rerack the play, get it in bounds and call timeout.” Then he said something to the tune of that they dealt with the situation the right way but that it did not go in the direction they wanted it to.
As a result, Eberflus was fired as the Head Coach of the Chicago Bears and not only that, but it was the first time that a Chicago Bears head coach had been dismissed midseason. And the Chicago Bears were created in 1920. Remember that.
There were also Bears fans that were probably pumped up and started yelling happily around the house that Eberflus got fired, as fans want a fresh start. Eberflus did not have a good track record when he was in charge, as he was 14-32 in the games he coached.
The current situation for the Chicago Bears coaching staff as of now is that Thomas Brown is the interim Head Coach, who was promoted to the Offensive Coordinator position just three weeks ago after the firing of then-Offensive Coordinator Shane Waldron. Thomas Brown made some changes to his coaching staff, as he promoted Chris Beatty to Offensive Coordinator. Beatty was already helping Brown with the offense in a major way after Waldron’s firing, so it is not very significant, but Brown is still the play caller for the offense. As in regards to the defense, Defensive Coordinator Eric Washington is now calling the plays for the defense, since Eberflus was the one calling the defense’s plays before his firing.
There is now chaos within the Chicago Bears organization and they must find a coach who will help the team develop their #1 overall pick in rookie QB Caleb Williams and of course, create a winning culture within the organization. Who knows what will happen, but the Bears must get this coaching decision right and help them become relevant in the NFL. If they pick the wrong coach, they will be in shambles for even more years to come.