As if fans in Chicago hadn't suffered enough heartbreak during the 2024 season, during a Week 11 matchup with the Green Bay Packers, the Bears managed to turn devastating defeat into something resembling a Greek tragedy.

For the 11th straight time, the Packers defeated the Bears, and after the game, embattled head coach Matt Eberflus, likely as a means to take the heat off himself for yet another late-game decision-making debacle, announced that the Bears would be submitting the play for review with the league office because of what Eberflus believed was illegal contact with Bears long snapper Scott Daly.

“We had to be firmer inside for sure,” Eberflus said less than 24 hours after the loss, per Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk. “We’ll turn the play in, because they were obviously on our long snapper. So we’ll turn it in and see what the league says from there.”

Well, on Friday evening, the NFL reached their decision on the matter, and predictably, the league determined that there was no penalty on a play. Even if the league had ruled in favor of the Bears, nothing would've changed. There wouldn't have been a do-over. Cairo Santos wouldn't have gotten a make-up chance at a shorter field goal to win the game. The loss still stands, and everything Caleb Williams did to get the Bears in position to win the game is still all for naught.

Bears blocked field goal disaster erases Caleb Williams late-game heroics

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For the second time this year, a last-minute Caleb Williams-led drive that should've resulted in a Chicago Bears win fell apart before our very eyes, preventing Bears fans from two early moments where it felt like Williams, the #1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, was irrefutably the quarterback that the Windy City has long been waiting for.

Now, those moments where Williams delivered feel irrelevant, even though in the long-term that's certainly not the case. Williams' reps, and his ability to either lead the Bears on last-minute scoring drives — as he did against Washington — or lead the Bears into field goal range in the final seconds — as he did against Green Bay — prove what some of the numbers and the win-loss record might not show… this kid's got it.

There's still plenty of room to grow, but once the Bears move on to a new coaching staff and build an above-average offense line to protect him, Caleb Williams could still be the savior fans in Chicago hoped he would be.