Commentary: Bears heartbreaking loss leaves familiar feeling for fans |
Yesterday’s Bears’ loss on a last-second Hail Mary play was one of the worst losses to stomach as a Bears fan in recent memory. However, the reason that this loss particularly stings is because the loss was extremely avoidable and, unfortunately, something that Bears fans are all too used to.
For starters, this was the Bears' first game off of a BYE. Typically, a BYE week allows teams to rest, recharge, get healthy and prepare for a game that is in two weeks instead of one. Great coaches like Bill Belichick and Andy Reid are almost unbeatable off of a BYE week. However, the Bears looked completely unprepared to play on Sunday despite getting two weeks to prepare. The Bears are historically awful off of a BYE. In the last 10 seasons, the Bears are 1-9 coming off of a bye week. That trend continued in a large way on Sunday as the Bears lost a heartbreaking game 18-15, in a game in which they were out-gained and out-coached. There were so many intricacies that contributed to the loss, but here is what sticks out the most to me. Obviously, the Hail Mary should not have been completed, but Hail Marys themselves are fluky plays. However, the Bears could have defended the play better had their cornerback Tyrique Stephenson stuck to his assignment instead of going back and forth with fans while the play was live and aborting his man (Noah Brown) to tip the ball. If the Bears had called a timeout before the play, they could have ensured that all of the defense knew its assignment. But, had the Bears been better coached, the Hail Mary could not have even gotten to the end zone. A 13-yard gain with 0:06 seconds left got the Commanders into range to heave the last-second throw — without those 13 yards, Daniels could not have reached the end zone with his throw. If the Bears had defended the second-to-last play at all, the outcome could have been different. Plus, an undetected clock malfunction allowed the Commanders to have an extra play. The clock did not run until midway through the incompletion to Zach Ertz earlier in the drive. Had that play been clocked correctly, the Commanders wouldn’t have even had enough time to run that 13-yard play that eclipsed four seconds off the clock — which also means they would not have been in range for a Hail Mary with 0:02 seconds left. Not to mention, the Commanders' offensive line made blatant holds, which defused the Bears' already weak 3-man pass rush. Typically, those don’t get called anyway on final plays, but maybe if the Bears had rushed four instead of three with a spy or even a fifth pass rusher, Daniels would have been under enough pressure to deter the throw or even force a sack. This is all focussing on the final drive. What about the fact the Bears had multiple pre-snap penalties and unsportsmanlike conducts? What about the fact that the Bears drove down inside the one-yard line twice in the fourth quarter? If they didn’t fumble handing off to a backup offensive lineman and instead handed the ball to a running back and scored — the game would have been out of reach by the time of the Hail Mary. The days that followed were filled with leaders like D.J. Moore, Kevin Byard III, and Jaylon Johnson questioning some of their coaches’ decisions down the stretch. We’ve seen an apology and accountability from Tyrique Stephenson, but we’ve also seen Matt Eberflus defend his blunders. The one positive to draw from this game is that if it weren’t for a fluky final play, the Bears would have been in a position to secure a win over a playoff contender while playing possibly their worst game all season. Caleb Williams struggled for three quarters and made the throws necessary to set the Bears up with a go-ahead score. The issue, which has reared its head in Bears history, is that if they had won, it would have been despite their coaching — rather than aided by it. If I were the Bears, Matt Eberflus would have to make some serious strides to convince me to bring him back for next season. Which, of course, begs the question: Why was he brought back for this season in the first place? The Bears have seen firsthand with Mitchell Trubisky and Justin Fields what forcing a second-year quarterback to learn a new system can do to stunt his growth. Unfortunately, the pain was all too familiar for a franchise whose poor decisions tend to repeat themselves.
