Eberflus: Bears’ clock management handled ‘the right way’

DETROIT — Trailing by three points with 36 seconds left after mounting a furious second-half comeback, the Chicago Bears were poised to tie or defeat the Lions on Thanksgiving Day.

But poor clock management in late games ensured the Bears wouldn’t get the chance to complete a come-from-behind victory against their division rival. As time ran out on Chicago to snap a sixth straight loss in a 23-20 defeat, coach Matt Eberflus defended his decision not to call a timeout in the final moments of the game.

“We’re at 36 seconds right there, and our hope was because it was third (down) going into fourth (down) that we would resume that play at 18 seconds, throw it in, get it within the field goal range and then call a timeout,” Eberflus said.

After getting the ball back at Detroit’s 1-yard line with 3:31 left, the Bears drove 13 plays before facing second-and-20 from the Lions’ 35-yard line. Quarterback Caleb Williams was sacked for a 6-yard loss with 32 seconds left when Detroit defensive end Za’Darius Smith went untouched to bring the rookie down.

Instead of calling a timeout ahead of what became Chicago’s final play while facing third-and-26 from Detroit’s 41-yard line, the Bears let the clock wind down. About 10 seconds passed before Williams frantically alerted the offense to be lined up for a pass play, and the ball wasn’t snapped until six seconds remained.

Williams sent a deep ball to rookie wide receiver Rome Odunze, who bounced off the turf inside the 5-yard line as time expired.

“I knew when we snapped the ball that (the clock) was going to run out, so I tried to get to the end zone,” Odunze said. “We just didn’t get good coverage for it. I know what I have to do to get there.”

When asked after the game how the Bears should have handled the final sequence in retrospect, Eberflus doubled down on the team’s late-game operation.

“I like what we did there,” Eberflus said. “Again, when it’s under seven (seconds), you want to call a timeout there — actually under 12, and then you really don’t have an option because it’s third to fourth, you have to throw it into the end zone then.

“To me, it’s — I think we handled it the right way, I believe you just resume the play, get it in bounds and call timeout, and that’s why we held it and it didn’t work, as we wanted it to.”

Twenty-six seconds passed from Williams being sacked until the ball was snapped on the final play. The quarterback had called a timeout earlier in the drive but indicated he was unable to do so again, prompting him to change the play with 13 seconds left to take one final shot.

“I made an adjustment because I saw the clock running down, knowing that if we complete an inbounds or something like that, we’re not going to have time to kick a field goal or anything like that,” Williams said. “So I made an adjustment and knew Rom was either going to be one-on-one or he was going to beat the safety and be one-on-one there and I tried to give him a shot and we got shot and missed .”

Kicker Cairo Santos would have been able to kick a 58-yard field goal on the final play, but Eberflus said the Bears were out of field goal range. Santos’ career high is 55 yards, which he has accomplished twice (2020 with Carolina Panthers, 2023 with Minnesota Vikings). But the kicker’s recent ups and downs, including blocked 48-yard field goals in back-to-back games against the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota (along with kicking a field goal to send the Bears to overtime in Week 12), could have been factor into Chicago’s decision to get closer than zone before sending out his kicking unit.

Santos, warming up on the sidelines, did not expect the final moments to unfold as they did.

“I didn’t see it happening,” Santos said. “We practice these scenarios and I picture myself kicking it. I know we’re going to play for the win, but I just picture myself at least getting a shot there.”

Given that the Bears’ plan was to run a play when the clock hit 18 seconds to get into field goal range, Eberflus was also asked why he didn’t call a timeout at that point when he saw the ball wasn’t been snapped.

“When it gets under 12 (seconds), you have to stick with it,” Eberflus said.

Eberflus chalked up the Bears’ mistakes to “the entire operation,” but defended Chicago’s communication in the final 36 seconds.

“We were all on the same page there, we just have to do it a little bit better,” he said.

The loss drops the Bears to 4-8. According to ESPN Research, since turnovers were first tracked in 1933, the Bears are the first team to go on a six-game losing streak without committing multiple errors in any of those games. The Bears have lost four games this season by three or fewer points, which is tied with the Jets for the most in the NFL and tied for the most such losses in a season in franchise history (1983 and 2015).

Several Bears players were shocked that a timeout was not called.

“All of a sudden I see everybody come on the field and the game’s over,” tight end Cole Kmet said. “So I was like, ‘What the hell just happened?’ The sack happens. When I turned around, Caleb was pretty much on the ground. could get some yardage and then take the timeout and then kick the field goal, but we were just a little too late on.”

Wide receiver DJ Moore, who logged a team-high eight catches for 97 yards and a touchdown, expressed similar disbelief at how the game ended.

“I mean, you’re just like, ‘what the hell?’ Nah, it’s like, ‘What is it,’ but it is what it is,” Moore said. “It’s not what it is, but we’ve got to find a way to win. We keep coming back in these games and have time to actually win the game and we’re just in bed.”

After being outgained by 226 yards, getting a first down and being shut out in the first half, the Bears thundered back from a 16-point deficit beginning with a 74-yard touchdown drive to open the third quarter. Williams led the Bears on three touchdown drives in the second half, setting a franchise rookie record for passing touchdowns at 15 along the way.

Thursday’s loss extends Eberflus’ record to 5-19 in one-score games, the worst mark of any coach with at least 20 such games in NFL history.

“It was tough,” wide receiver Keenan Allen said. “I feel like we did enough as players to win the game.”