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Courtney Cronin, ESPN writer
CHICAGO — Bears coach Matt Eberflus defended his decision not to run a final play late in Chicago’s Week 11 loss to the Green Bay Packers to move kicker Cairo Santos into the south end zone in Soldier Field.
With Chicago trailing by one point, Santos attempted a 46-yard game-winning field goal as time expired, which was blocked by Packers defensive tackle Karl Brooks. Chicago’s 20-19 loss marked eleven in a row against Green Bay, a streak that dates back to the 2018 season.
“We felt good about where the shooting line was,” Eberflus said. “The wind wasn’t a factor today, and Cairo has made a lot of those kicks within that range. We feel confident 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 led Chicago 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 get past midfield.
Chicago got an extra first down and then ran the ball to Roschon Johnson, who gained 2 yards on a play that started 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 and sending Santos and the kicking team onto the field. Green Bay had no timeouts left.
Santos attempted a line kick that was blocked. The Packers bench erupted in celebration as Green Bay (7-3, 1-2) secured its first division win of the season.
This is the second time in franchise history that the Packers have blocked a potential winning or tying field goal on the final play of the game. The other case occurred on November 26, 1939, against the Cleveland Rams.
“There they were loading the box,” Eberflus said. “You could say you can do that for sure, maybe get a couple more yards, but you’re also going to run the risk of turning the ball over and different things there. We felt where we were, if we’re at 36 or 35, I definitely want to. to do that because you want to get it in there. I felt very confident about where we were at that time with the wind and where we were on the field.”
In Week 7, Santos had a 43-yard field goal attempt blocked in Chicago’s 35-16 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, but it came when tight end Cole Kmet snapped the ball in relief of the injured long snapper. Scott Daly.
“That was a comfortable range there,” Santos said. “With that wind left or right, everything felt great and it seemed like the line the ball was going was right in the middle. I hit it solidly on my foot. The operation was good, snap, hold. They just made a good game 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 at the team meeting.
“I’ll say this: Rich told our team last night, ‘I’m not going to understand if we come out of this game without a block, whether it’s a field goal or a PAT,'” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. “What a great job by our special teams coaches.”
It arose from a vulnerability Bisaccia and his staff saw on film of the Bears’ blocking unit. It only took until the Bears’ final kick to figure out the best way to exploit it.
“We saw it through the middle [that] “We could get a good push up the middle,” said Packers safety Xavier McKinney, who lined up on the edge of Santos’ blind side. “And we believed that the guys we had were going to 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 an important situation and we got the block. We saw it just by studying the film throughout the game. week and we were able to achieve it.
Brooks said he could determine exactly where he got the ball from. It was with his left middle finger.
“At first when I touched it, I didn’t think I’d had enough,” said Brooks, who also blocked a field goal against the Vikings last season as a rookie. “And it came up short and that’s when I really celebrated it, so it was fun, for sure. It was cool. It was a good experience.”
He received an assist from Lukas Van Ness, who did his own version of the push.
“I was on the same side as Karl, and I knew he was going to push that into the A gap, so I just got behind him and 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 everyone screaming. Super exciting. I was happy to be there and do what I could to help this team win.”
Packers rookie linebacker Edgerrin Cooper said the team noticed on film that Santos kicks with a low trajectory compared to other kickers, and they saw it earlier in the game, on Santos’ first field goal, of 53 yards in the first quarter.
“We’ve emphasized it a lot this week,” Cooper said. “We just saw how low he kicked the ball, so we knew we had a good chance of blocking it.”
Cooper and fellow linebacker Quay Walker were surprised that Chicago didn’t run another play when they had time to do so to get into shorter field goal range.
“At least one more play,” Walker said. “At least run the ball trying to get close to the field goal.”
Sunday was the second time since Week 8 that the Bears lost a game on the final play in confusing fashion. Against Washington, Commanders wide receiver Noah Brown caught a Hail Mary pass that fell into his hands while standing unprotected in the end zone. Cornerback Tyrique Stevenson faced intense scrutiny and temporarily lost his spot in the starting lineup after his decision to speak to fans caused him to lose his defensive assignment.
“It’s almost comical,” Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson said of the nature of the Bears’ recent losses. “Luck of the damn draw right now. We have to figure out how to be better.”
