Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus is facing withering criticism after the team’s 23-20 loss to the Detroit Lions on Thursday, and he’s left to explain his actions at the end of the game.
Eberflus decided not to call a timeout in the final 30 seconds of the game, even as his offense scrambled to get in position for what would ultimately be the final play of the game, but he defended that decision in his postgame press conference.
“I like what we did there,” he said.
Eberflus did concede the play “didn’t work out the way we wanted it to,” but went on to explain that the Bears had planned to run a passing play over the middle of the field, and then to call a timeout to secure the ball in field goal position.
Instead, the team scrambled to get set up after Caleb Williams was sacked with 36 seconds remaining, and by the time his pass to Rome Odunze bounced off the Ford Field turf, the game was over and the Bears had lost their sixth straight contest.
The coach said that he wanted the players and coaches to “do a better job together” in the future after the astonishing sequence, which dropped the Bears to 4-8 on the season and Eberflus to 5-19 in his coaching career in one-score games.
Needless to say, the decisionmaking has further ratcheted up criticism of his performance as Bears coach, but Eberflus says he is going to continue pushing forward.
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“I know where it is. I’m just going to put my best foot forward and I’m going to get to work and keep grinding,” he said.
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