Matt Eberflus and the Chicago Bears once again find new, creative ways to lose in the final moments of a hard-fought game.
Despite a revived offense, thanks to new play caller Thomas Brown, and a chance to win the game on a field goal as time expired, Chicago Bears Head Coach Matt Eberflus coached “not to lose” the game and ended up doing exactly that. Here are my notes from the 11th consecutive loss to the Green Bay Packers.
Offense:
- Huge shout out to Interim Offensive Coordinator Thomas Brown. He did a phenomenal job of calling plays to 1) get the ball out quicky, 2) get the ball to his playmakers, 3) keep the defense off-balance and 4) compensate for the poor and injured OL.
- Though he missed another “easy” throw early, Caleb Williams settled in quicker in this game, and it showed with an FG on the team’s opening drive. He got the ball out noticeably quicker and used a variety of short, quick throws and scrambles to move the chains. He was far more decisive in the pocket in this one. It’s hard to tell why that was, but a game plan catered to his and the offensive personnel’s skillset is what it appeared to be to me.
- The run game struggled early, with no push or room for the backs to work. Our iOL held their own in pass pro (surprisingly enough) but were bullied and beaten at the point of attack. A talent infusion there could do wonders for our offense.
- Pre snap penalties continue to be an issue for this team. Falls on the Head Coach.
- Another injury to the OL was an early gut punch. But to their credit, they didn’t fall apart as I expected after that. Props to Jake Curhan for filling in admirably, though he and Matt Pryor clearly don’t have the athleticism to complement this scheme on offense.
- Shocked that our QB actually got a late hit call. Kudos for Caleb for selling it.
- Braxton Jones had one bad rep in the pass game on a bullrush by Rashan Gary, but boy, oh boy, Braxton in space is a thing of beauty. Not many LTs are as athletic as this kid. We can (and have) done far worse than him at LT.
- Rome was robbed on what should have been 88 yard TD where the DB clearly held him down the field whilst getting cooked by the 9th overall pick. A score there would have put the game out of reach and is not being talked about as much as it should be, IMO.
- Back to Caleb Williams. From adamantly convincing his Head Coach to go for it on 4th down early in the second half to back to back drives in the 4th Q that both got the Bears off their own goal line and then put the team in position to win with a last second FG, Williams showed exactly the type of moxy, courage and skillset that made him the 1st overall pick. This should have been his 3rd comeback victory of his young career and signature win over the Green Bay Packers, instead Matt Eberflus continues to add more reasons to why he should no longer be Head Coach of the Chicago Bears.
Defense:
- Theme of the game on D was how soft our DL was. Pushed back pretty much all day in the run game and practically zero pressure all day in the pass game. The fact that we even had a chance to win it at the end points to how gritty that back 7 is and how s*itty Jordan Love is.
- While he’s now 3-0 against us, I have nowhere near the same level of fear or respect of Jordan Love as I did with Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers.
- Tyrique Stevenson had a bad game. Played too soft in coverage and consistently got beat and almost cost us the game with what could/should have been a personal foul call after we stopped Love’s 4th down scramble late in the 4th.
- Byron Cowart is arguably our best run stopping DT not named Billings. But to jump offsides on a 4th and 3 play is bush league stuff. My middle school backups are better than that.
- Kevin Byard had a solid game. I love what he has brought to our team and he’s still playing at a high level. But why he was splitting the field on the opening drive TD to Jayden Reed when Reed was the ONLY threat is beyond me.
- Why we were in Nickel package when the Pack was 1st, and goal at our 7-yard line is also beyond me. Jack Sanborn proved once again that he is an impact player on run downs. Foolish Flus.
- More Terell Smith please.
- Our DBs struggled to stick with the Pack receivers. I thought Kyler had a rough game outside of one epic TFL on a Reed jet sweep. I also thought Jaylon Johnson had his worst game of the season. And Elijah Hicks has been getting a lot of love, but I still wish we have been playing Jonathan Owens more at SS opposite Byard. That first deep shot to Watson should have been a pick.
- Saw Edmunds getting some heat in the Game Day Open Thread comments, but I thought he and Edwards played a good game. His 3rd down tackle on Jacobs after he caught a short dump off and evaded Spidey was clutch. But it is damn near impossible to make much of an impact at LB when the DL are getting pushed into your lap each play.
Special Teams:
- Much better game all around for our Special Teams units than the last couple weeks.
- Coverage teams did a fine job against some of the top returners in the league.
- Tory Taylor didn’t have as many chances this week (yay!) but he made the most of them.
- The FG block at the end could/should have been a penalty. But at the end of the day, our piss poor offensive line was the culprit on that play too.
Bonus Notes:
- Love him or hate him, this is exactly the team that Ryan Poles has constructed. From the Head Coach on down to the reserves.
- Lack of depth and talent on the OL and DL continue to be an issue for the 2024 Chicago Bears.
- While I have vacillated back and forth about what might be best for Caleb, I cannot get over how abysmal Matt Eberflus is at end game management. He shoulders most of the blame for so many close losses that we have experienced in his tenure and its way past time for him to be canned.
- While extremely encouraged by Thomas Brown’s debut as play caller and high on Eric Washington as DC, my current pipedream is for Richard Hightower to relieve Flus of his Head Coaching duties and let Brown and Washington resume their coordinator duties. Though, to be honest, I would be happy with anyone taking over for Flus at this point.
What about you? What were some of your takeaways? Do you think Ryan Poles should make a move? Should he be allowed to make a move? Sound off in the comments.