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Courtney Cronin, ESPN writer
DETROIT — With 36 seconds left, trailing by three points after mounting a furious second-half comeback, the Chicago Bears were in position to tie or defeat the Lions on Thanksgiving Day.
But poor clock management late in the game ensured that the Bears would not have a chance to complete a comeback victory against their division rival. As time ran out for Chicago to solidify a sixth straight loss in the form of a 23-20 loss, coach Matt Eberflus defended his decision not to call a timeout in the final moments of the game.
“We are 36 seconds away right there and our hope was, because it was third [down] going to fourth [down]that we would build that play back up at 18 seconds, throw it infield, put it in field goal range and then call a timeout,” Eberflus said.
Getting the ball back at Detroit’s 1-yard line with 3:31 left, the Bears ran 13 plays before facing second-and-20 from the Lions’ 35-yard line. Quarterback Caleb Williams was sacked for a 6-yard loss with 32 seconds left while Detroit defensive end Za’Darius Smith went untouched to take down the rookie.
Instead of calling a timeout before what became Chicago’s final play as they faced third-and-26 from the Detroit 41-yard line, the Bears let the clock run out. About 10 seconds passed before Williams frantically alerted the offense to line up for a pass play, and the ball wasn’t sacked until there were six seconds left.
Williams threw a deep ball to rookie receiver Rome Odunze that bounced off the curve inside the 5-yard line as time expired.
“When we threw the ball, I knew the [clock] It was going to run out, so I was trying to get to the end zone,” Odunze said. “We just didn’t get great coverage. In the future, I’ll know what I have to do to get there.”
When asked after the game how the Bears should have handled the final sequence in hindsight, Eberflus doubled down on the team’s late-game operation.
“I like what we did there,” Eberflus said. “Again, once he is under seven [seconds]you’re going to call a timeout there, it’s actually under 12 and then you really have no choice because it’s third to fourth, so you have to throw it into the end zone.
“To me, I think we handled it the right way, I think you just reorganize the play, put it in bounds and call a timeout, and that’s why we held it and it didn’t work out the way we wanted to.”
Twenty-six seconds passed from the time Williams was sacked until the ball was snapped on the final play. The quarterback had called a timeout earlier in the series but hinted that he was not in a position to do so again, prompting him to change the play with 13 seconds left to take one last throw.
“I made an adjustment because I saw the clock was running out, knowing that if we complete an infield or something like that, we won’t have time to kick a field goal or anything like that,” Williams said. “So I made an adjustment and I knew Roma was going to be one-on-one or I was going to beat the safety and be one-on-one there and I tried to give it a chance and we got the chance and missed.”
Kicker Cairo Santos would have been in position to kick a 58-yard field goal on the final play of the game, but Eberflus said the Bears were out of field goal range. Santos’ career-high 55 yards, which he has accomplished twice in his career (2020 at Panthers, 2023 at Vikings), but the kicker’s recent ups and downs, including blocked 48-yard field goals in back-to-back games against Green Bay. and Minnesota, in addition to kicking a field goal to send the Bears to overtime in Week 12, may have influenced Chicago’s decision to get closer to the end zone before sending its kicking unit.
Warming up on the sidelines, Santos did not expect the final moments to play out the way they did.
“I didn’t see that happen,” Santos said. “We rehearse these scenarios, and I imagine myself kicking that. I know we want to play to win, but I imagine at least having a chance there.”
Considering the Bears’ plan was to run a play once the clock hit 18 seconds to get within field goal range, Eberflus was also asked why he didn’t call a timeout at that time when he saw that the ball had not been broken.
“Once it reaches less than 12 [seconds]then you have to hold on to it,” Eberflus said.
Eberflus attributed the Bears’ failures to “the entire operation,” but defended Chicago’s communication in the final 36 seconds of the game.
“We were all on the same page, we just have to do a little better,” Eberflus said.
The loss marked Chicago’s sixth consecutive loss, leaving the Bears with a 4-8 record. According to ESPN Research, since turnovers were first tracked in 1933, the Bears are the first team to go on a six-game losing streak without committing multiple turnovers in any of those games. The Bears have lost four games this season decided by 3 points or less, which is tied with the Jets for the most in the NFL and tied for the most such losses in a season in franchise history ( 1983 and 2015).
Several Bears players were surprised that a timeout was not called in the final moments of the game.
“All of a sudden I see everyone come on the field and the game is over,” tight end Cole Kmet said. “Then I thought, ‘What the hell just happened?’ The sack happens when I turned around, Caleb was practically on the ground. We just have to find a way to not get a sack there and unfortunately the clock is ticking and I’m sure the thought process was to be able to get some yards. and then take the timeout and then kick the field goal, but we were too late on that.”
Wide receiver DJ Moore, who recorded a team-high eight receptions for 97 yards and a touchdown, expressed similar disbelief about how the game ended.
“I mean, you’re like ‘what the hell?’ No, it’s like ‘what the fuck,’ but it is what it is,” Moore said. “It’s not ‘it is what it is,’ but we have to find a way to win. We keep coming back to these games and having time to win the game and just screw up the bed.”
After being outscored for 226 yards, gaining a first down and being shut out in the first half, the Bears rallied from a 16-point deficit starting with a 74-yard touchdown to open the third quarter. Williams led the Bears on three second-half touchdown drives, and along the way set a new rookie franchise record for touchdown passes with 15.
Thursday’s loss extends Eberflus’ record to 5-19 in one-score games, the worst record of any coach with at least 20 such games in NFL history.
“It was tough,” wide receiver Keenan Allen said. “I feel like we did enough as players to win the game.”
