Matt Eberflus’ Excuse For Botched Timeout Call Sparks Strong Reaction From Keenan Allen After Bears’ Loss to Lions

The Chicago Bears have had their fair share of painful defeats this season. They almost beat the Packers for the first time in six years before a blocked field goal ended their chances. Then there was the Hail Mary defeat against the Commanders. The latest loss against the Lions was down to another late-game error, this time coming from the sidelines.

With three points down, the Bears were charging into Lions territory late in the fourth quarter. They looked primed to take the game into overtime, but Caleb Williams was sacked for a 6-yard loss on second-and-20 from the 35-yard line, with only 32 seconds left on the clock. To everyone’s surprise inside Ford Field, Bears’ HC Matt Eberflus didn’t call the team’s final timeout.

Instead, the team rushed to the line for their next but was snapped with about six seconds left as Williams’ desperate pass at the end fell incomplete and hit the ground. Despite the obvious error, Eberflus defended his decision in his post-game address.

“Our hope was, because it was third [down] going into fourth, that we would re-rack that play at 18 seconds, throw it inbounds, get into field goal range and then call the timeout. That’s where it was and that was our decision-making process on that. Again, we were outside the field goal range, so we needed to get a few more yards in there, as close as we can get, and then we were going to call a timeout, and that’s why we held that last timeout,” he said.

Eberflus though did take responsibility for how things unfolded in the last few seconds. “Well, I’m the head football coach, so I’m taking the blame, of course. That’s what you do. We didn’t get it done, it starts at the top and it starts right here. So, accountability is right here with me and again, we got to do it better and I got to do it better. I was proud of the way we fought.” Could the Bears have done things differently? Well, according to veteran wide receiver Keenan Allen, the players did their best.

“I feel like we did enough as players to win the game. You got to talk to the people who control those things,” Allen said of the timeout debacle. “I hear the play, line up and run the play. I don’t know.”

The Bears were struggling early on in the game, managing just two first downs in the entire first half, and were down with a 16-0 deficit. By the end of the third quarter, they had crawled back into the game, sitting behind 23-7. With touchdown passes from Caleb Williams to Allen and DJ Moore in the final quarter, they had reduced the deficit to three points. And they might have forced overtime or even gone on to win, had Eberflus called timeout in those last seconds.

While Chicago’s offense struggled in the first half, it was their defense that kept them in the game. After a second-quarter touchdown, the Lions could only muster two more field goals in the half. In the second half, the Bears’ defense held the Lions’ potent offense to just a single score.

When asked about why he didn’t call a timeout once the game clock ran under 10 seconds, Eberflus explained, “We like the play that we had. We were hoping that [Williams] was going to call it — get the ball snapped. And then we would have called time out right there. Once it’s under seven there, then you call timeout there, you’re basically throwing the ball to the end zone. Because once it’s under 12, you can’t throw it inside with no timeout.”

Whatever the thought process here, it didn’t work out for him and it raises questions over his coaching abilities in the final key moments of the game. Their defeats to the Washington Commanders and Green Bay Packers were down to poor coaching in the final plays of the game. About a month ago, against the Commanders, they didn’t guard the sidelines on the penultimate play, which gave their opponents an easy completion to set up the winning Hail Mary by Jayden Daniels.

Then against the Packers, Williams had put into range to kick the game-winning field goal in the final minute. But rather than run another play with a timeout in the final 30 seconds, Eberflus settled for a 46-yard field goal, which was promptly blocked.

With their defeat to the Lions, the Bears are now  4-8 and on a six-game losing streak and this has ultimately led to Eberflus’ departure.

Matt Eberflus let go by the Bears after horrid run

A Thanksgiving loss was the tipping point that Matt Eberflus did not want. The post-game presser inevitably led to questions about his future but he remained focused ahead. “This is the NFL,” Eberflus said, adding, “I’m just going to put my best foot forward and keep grinding.” However, Chicago decided against giving him any more time.

Matt Eberflus became the first Chicago Bears head coach fired midseason after the Bears let him go on Friday. He leaves Chicago after coaching for two seasons with a 14-32 record, including 2-13 in the NFC North, hardly a recipe for success.

“This morning, after meeting with [chairman] George [H. McCaskey] and [President and CEO] Kevin [Warren], we informed Matt of our decision to move in a different direction with the leadership of our football team and the head-coaching position,” said Bears general manager Ryan Poles in a statement.

Eberflus was on thin ice after the losses against the Packers and the Commanders highlighted his shortcomings. The defeat against the Lions, when a win was so near, proved to be the final straw. For now, offensive coordinator Thomas Brown will take over the remainder of the season, but the Bears will have to get their next HC appointment right after this debacle.