Bears’ Matt Eberflus defends decision to run clock before kick

CHICAGO — Bears coach Matt Eberflus defended his decision not to run one final play at the end of Chicago’s Week 11 loss to the Green Bay Packers to get kicker Cairo Santos closer to the south end zone at Soldier Field.

With Chicago trailing by one point, Santos attempted a 46-yard field goal that was blocked as time expired by Packers defensive tackle Karl Brooks. Chicago’s 20-19 defeat on Sunday marked 11 straight losses to Green Bay, a streak dating back to the 2018 season.

“We felt good about where the punt line was,” Eberflus said. “The wind was not a factor today and Cairo made a lot of those kicks in that area. We feel safe in Cairo and confident in our operation there.”

The Bears’ final drive began with 2:59 left from their own 30-yard line. Quarterback Caleb Williams got them into Green Bay territory by connecting with fellow rookie Rome Odunze for a 16-yard reception on third-and-19 and finding Odunze again to convert on fourth-and-3 to go past midfield.

Chicago picked up another first down, then ran the ball with Roschon Johnson, who picked up 2 yards on a play that began with 35 seconds left from the Packers’ 30-yard line. The Bears let the clock run down to three seconds before using their final timeout, sending Santos and the kicking team onto the field. Green Bay had no timeouts left.

Santos’ attempt was blocked and the Packers sideline erupted in celebration as Green Bay (7-3, 1-2 NFC North) secured its first division win of the season.

This is the second time in franchise history that the Packers have blocked a potential game-winning or game-tying field goal on the final play of the game. The second instance came back on November 26, 1939 against the Cleveland Rams.

“They loaded the box there,” Eberflus said. “You could say you could definitely do it, maybe get a couple more yards, but you also run the risk of fumbles and stuff there. We felt like where we were, if we’re at 36 or 35, you’re all sure want to do it because you want it inside there I felt very confident where we were at that point with the wind and where we were on the field.

In Week 6, Santos had a 43-yard field goal attempt blocked in Chicago’s 35-16 win over the visiting Jacksonville Jaguars, but it came with tight end Cole Kmet snapping the ball in relief of injured long snapper Scott Daly.

“That was a comfortable reach there,” Santos said. “Left hash in the left or right wind, everything felt great and it looked like the line the ball was going was right down the middle. I hit it solid on my foot. Service was good, snap, hold. They just made a good play with the penetration there.”

One of the last things Packers players heard on the eve of the game was a message from special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia in the team meeting.

“I will say this: Rich told our team last night, ‘I won’t understand if we get out of this game without a block, whether it’s a field goal or a PAT,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. “So good great job by our special teams coaches.”

It stemmed from a vulnerability Bisaccia and his staff watched on film of the Bears’ blocking unit. It just took until Chicago’s last kick to figure out the best way to take advantage of it.

“We saw that through the middle (it) we could get a good push through the middle,” said Packers safety Xavier McKinney, who lined up on the edge to Santos’ blind side. “And we believed that the guys we have would play big and be stronger up front and we were able to get the push that we needed. And we got it when we needed it in a big situation and we got the block. We just watched it during the week and we were able to get it.”

Brooks said he could pinpoint exactly where he got the ball. It was with his left middle finger.

“Until I touched it, I didn’t think I got enough of it,” said Brooks, who also blocked a field goal against the Minnesota Vikings last season as a rookie. “And it fell short, and that’s when I really celebrated it. So of course it was fun. It was cool. It was a good experience.”

Brooks received an assist from Lukas Van Ness, who did his own version of the tush push.

“I was on the same page with Karl and I knew he was going to push it inside a hole, so I just got behind him and I pushed him as hard as I could,” Van Ness said. “Before I knew it, I saw his hand go up and I heard ‘thunk’ and I heard everybody scream. Super exciting. I was happy to be out there and do what I could to help this team win.”

Green Bay rookie linebacker Edgerrin Cooper said the team noticed on film that Santos kicks with a low pitch compared to other kickers and that the Packers saw it earlier in the game, on Santos’ first field goal, a 53-yarder in the first quarter . .

“We put so much emphasis on that this week,” Cooper said. “We just saw how low he kicked the ball, so we knew we had a really good chance to block it.”

Cooper and fellow linebacker Quay Walker were both surprised Chicago (4-6, 0-1) didn’t run another play when it had time to do so to get into shorter field goal range.

“At least a little more,” Walker said. “At least run the ball to try to get closer to the field goal.”

Sunday’s outing marked the second time since Week 8 that the Bears lost a game in the final game in puzzling fashion. In Washington, Commanders wide receiver Noah Brown caught a Hail Mary pass that was tipped into his hands as he stood unguarded in the end zone. Bears cornerback Tyrique Stevenson faced intense scrutiny and temporarily lost his spot in the starting lineup after his decision to jaw back and forth with fans leading into the game caused him to miss his defensive assignment.

“It’s almost comical,” Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson said Sunday of the nature of the Bears’ latest loss. “The luck of the damn draw at this point. We’ve got to figure out how to get better.”