Eberflus on offense: “We’re taking a step in the right direction” |
CHICAGO—It is no mystery that communication was a major issue in Chicago’s 21-15 loss to the Indianapolis Colts this past Sunday.
Perhaps the two-point attempt best exemplifies this, as head coach Matt Eberflus said he took the timeout because it had not been communicated to the offense that they intended to go for the two-point attempt in the event they scored a touchdown on that drive. “We need to be better there as coaches, communicating across the board (that) we are going for it, go for two because we were down by five,” Eberflus said. “Obviously, that’s the number one thing you do, and when I saw that it wasn’t, I called timeout to make sure that we got the guys ready, we got them alerted, and that we got the best play that we had for that particular situation. So, again, that has to be better. We have been great at that, we just got to be better in that moment.” This loss was a dejecting one for fans. The season seemed to be filled with so much promise with all of the new additions and star talent the Bears have. After how the defense performed last season and how they started out the season against the Tennessee Titans, it seemed Chicago fans were in store for another dominant defense. However, they could not contain the Colts’ running back, Jonathan Taylor, who had 110 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Nonetheless, Eberflus is proud of what he saw on both sides of the ball, including the defense's takeaways. “Really feel that we’re taking a step in the right direction in terms of offensively distributing the ball to our (different) targets. I know we were committed to the run game, certainly need to have it be more effective in the early part of that game,” Eberflus said. “Proud of the defense and the way that they played in terms of the way they responded to different scenarios they were put in - sudden change and (the fourth down), going out on downs, giving the ball back to the offense. The takeaways still continue to be there for us and that’s going to be a big part going forward.” Rookie quarterback Caleb Williams had an interesting game against Indianapolis. While he put up 363 passing yards and had two passing touchdowns, he also turned the ball over three times with two interceptions and a lost fumble. The second interception, intended for rookie Rome Odunze, was a particularly aggravating play. With most of the second half left, Eberflus called it “aggressive” and said that Williams will have to improve his decision-making for those kinds of passes. “I think it was an aggressive throw. I really do. I think that he was open. But, those windows close in the NFL and the safe option would have been taking the back in the flat on that particular case,” Eberflus said. “They went to the motion and they end up shifting their coverage over there. So on that particular play, aggressive throw. He’s got to have some wisdom there and discernment in terms of what he needs to make that throw. But again, you never want to take away his aggressiveness. But, he has to be really good with the football, and that’s his number one job with a quarterback.” There were a lot of expectations for Williams coming into the beginning of the season. The Heisman winner constantly put up ridiculous numbers in college and put his team on his back, particularly in his final season when Southern California’s defense was lacking. Naturally, there were high hopes for him coming into the NFL and playing for the Bears. Eberflus emphasized the need to keep those expectations on the outside and just focus on preparing for the next game, going against the Los Angeles Rams this coming Sunday (Noon / FOX). “Expectations are always going to be out there, and they are an outside-in type of force, and he’s got to really do a good job, we have to do a really good job, working from the inside-out and preparing for the Rams and learning from our experience from (Sunday),” Eberflus said. “So, that’s where I think he is and that’s where I think we need to be.”
