At this point, what more can even be said about the Chicago Bears? This team, one that I’ve rooted for my entire life, is improbably, almost comically, finding utterly heartbreaking ways to lose football games. It’s actually like something you’d see in a cheesy sports movie, right before the team has their moment where they come together and right the ship, except this is real life and there’s no such moment coming… at least until Ryan Poles does what he needs to do, and fires Matt Eberflus.
I won’t go as far as saying that the Bears have “quit” on Matt Eberflus, because this team continues to play competitive football, at least in four of their last six losses. But at the very least, it’s become abundantly clear over the last month that this Bears roster hates playing for their third-year head coach who is a miserable 5-19 in one-score games since taking over in Chicago, including one on Thursday afternoon, which the Bears lost in large part because Matt Eberflus failed to take a timeout in the final seconds.
Multiple players have taken veiled shots at Eberflus over the course of the season, and Keenan Allen became the latest to do so on Thursday following Chicago’s 23-20 loss to the Detroit Lions.
“It was tough,” Allen said after the game, per ESPN’s Courtney Cronin. “I feel like we did enough as players to win the game.”
Allen certainly did enough for the Bears to win the game. Despite coming into the week with some doubt regarding his availability for the Thanksgiving matchup with the Lions, the 32-year-old wideout caught five passes for 73 yards and a pair of touchdowns, his second consecutive game with at least 70 yards and a touchdown.
Rookie quarterback Caleb Williams did plenty too, setting an NFL rookie record for consecutive pass attempts without an interception in the process of throwing for 256 yards and three touchdowns. For the season, Williams has now thrown for 2,612 yards, 14 touchdowns and just 5 interceptions. And still, the rookie quarterback had the presence of mind to do what Matt Eberflus has repeatedly proven he’s unwilling to do… take any of the blame for Chicago’s loss.
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“My job is to go out there and make plays, my job is to get everybody lined up,” Williams told reporters after the game. “That’s it. Win games. Didn’t do that today.”
No, the Bears didn’t win the game. But the players did do enough to do so.