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The Chicago Bears just keep finding ways to lose. After a couple of disastrous losses over the last month, the Bears found another way to fall just short on Sunday in a 20-19 loss to the Green Bay Packers.
After a late touchdown by the Packers put them in the lead, Caleb Williams led the Bears all the way down the field and into field goal range for what appears to be a fairly straightforward game-winning field goal attempt. However, Cairo Santos' kick was blocked, sending the Packers home with the win.
The Bears aren't satisfied with that result. Matt Eberflus and company are turning over the final play of the game to the league office because they think a penalty should have been called on the Packers, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Media.
“Bears coach Matt Eberflus says they’ll turn in Sunday’s game-sealing blocked field goal to the league office because the Packers were on our long snapper and felt a penalty could’ve been called. No flag was thrown,” Pelissero reported on X, formerly Twitter.
The Bears dropped to 4-6 on the season with this loss and are pretty clearly out of the race in a very competitive NFC North. They still have an outside chance to secure a wild card spot, but it will take a pretty improbable run down the stretch of the season against a very balanced conference.
Losing close games becoming part of Bears' identity
This season, Matt Eberflus and the Bears have now lost four games by just one score, including two in absolutely gut-wrenching fashion. Against the Washington Commanders last month, the Bears lost on a Hail Mary on the last play of the game, and now they lost on a blocked field goal against the Packers.
Sandwiched in between those two losses were embarrassing defeats against the Arizona Cardinals and New England Patriots, turning what was once a playoff hopeful into a team that's looking at mock draft simulators already.
Losing these games where they fail to execute simple situational football or come out just completely unprepared has become a part of the Bears' identity under Eberflus. The Bears head coach was already on the hot seat coming into this season, and the last few weeks have likely done nothing to change that.
The Bears are usually hesitant to get rid of a head coach in the middle of the season, but they have shown that they're unafraid to shake things up with this team. After that lifeless loss to the Patriots, the Bears fired offensive coordinator Shane Waldron and immediately saw positive results. In the first week with Thomas Brown calling plays, the offense was much smoother and Caleb Williams had one of the best games of his rookie season.
If the Bears want to get back into the NFC playoff picture, they need to start reversing their results in some of these close games. Whether they can do that with Eberflus leading the way remains to be seen.
