Matt Eberflus addresses playcalling ahead of blocked field goal - Chicago News Weekly

Sunday, November 17, 2024

Matt Eberflus addresses playcalling ahead of blocked field goal

The Chicago Bears lost in heartbreaking fashion for an 11th straight defeat against the Green Bay Packers, and head coach Matt Eberflus discussed how it came to be.

Packers defensive lineman Karl Brooks got his hand on the football on Cairo Santos’ field goal attempt as the clock expired, giving Green Bay a 20-19 victory over Chicago.

The Bears have not beaten the Packers since the 2018 season, and have now lost four games in a row this season as their record has fallen to 4-7 on the year.

The drive that led up to the field goal showed some tremendous growth by Caleb Williams, but conservative playcalling in the closing seconds allowed the clock to expire before the blocked field goal.

Bears head coach Matt Eberflus defended the decision-making down the stretch, saying the Packers set up on defense helped dictate the Bears only going for one play before the field goal.

“They were (in) a loaded box there. You could say you could run another play and try for a couple of yards there, but you risk a fumble,” he said.

On third down deep in their own territory, Williams fired a pass to Rome Odunze for a 16-yard gain, setting up a 4th-and-3 play that saw the rookie duo hook up again for a 21-yard gain for a first down.

Williams then hit Keenan Allen for a 12-yard gain to get the Bears to the Green Bay 30-yard line with 35 seconds remaining in the contest.

With one timeout, the Bears ran with Roschon Johnson for two yards, setting up a 46-yard field goal from the left hash mark that was blocked by the Packers to seal the victory.

Williams, in his first game under offensive coordinator Thomas Brown, accounted for 301 all-purpose yards, throwing for 231 yards and rushing for 70 more in the game. The Bears put up 391 yards of offense in the game, but it wasn’t enough as they dropped yet another game to the Packers.

The team will hope to snap their current losing streak when they take on the Minnesota Vikings next week at Soldier Field.



from NBC Chicago https://ift.tt/ZEXT1bu

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