The Chicago Bears have never fired a head coach in the middle of a season, but could Matt Eberflus be on the chopping block after a mind-boggling end to the team's Thanksgiving game against the Lions?
Former Bears coach Dave Wannstedt said one major element has him questioning: the response from players.
"Coaches can lose games, but you can never lose the locker room," Wannstedt said on NBC Chicago Friday. "If you lose the locker room, you're done, okay? And I don't like what I'm hearing from the players afterwards. I don't like the vibe. To me, if I'm George McCaskey, that's what I'm looking at. We've had some blunders and there's a thousand reasons why ... Where's my football team at? Do they still believe? That's the key when you get in this situation."
Wannstedt stopped short of saying whether or not he thinks the Bears should part ways with Eberflus, but said Bears Chairman George McCaskey has some thinking to do.
Eberflus did appear in a press conference Friday morning, so it appears no decisions have been made so far.
In his address Friday, Eberflus noted it has been “normal operation" since Thursday's loss, but said he has met with team president Kevin Warren and General Manager Ryan Poles, with plans to meet again Friday.
“I’m confident that I’ll be working on to San Francisco and getting ready for that game,” Eberflus said.
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Wannstedt's comments come as players after the game didn't defend their coach's decision not to call a timeout in the final seconds of what could have been a huge comeback win for Chicago.
Eberflus opted 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.
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“I feel like we did enough as players to win the game," veteran wide receiver Keenan Allen told reporters.
When asked about the decision, Bears quarterback Caleb Williams said it wasn't his call.
“We can call a timeout there or we cannot,” he said. “I’m not going to say I was surprised. My job is just to go out there and make plays. I let the coaches and everybody make that decision — it is their call. Maybe in the later years of my career, it will be my call.”
So what exactly happened on the play?
Here's a recap:
What happened with final play in Bears' loss to Lions?
The Bears drove into position for a tying field goal or winning touchdown, only to have a sack and questionable clock management end the game before they got a chance at either one.
The confusion started after Caleb Williams hit Keenan Allen for a 12-yard completion to the Lions 13 in the final minute.
That would have given the Bears plenty of time to try for the win before attempting the field goal, but guard Teven Jenkins was called for illegal hands to the face, moving the ball back to the 35.
On second down, the Bears called a draw play for Williams, hoping he could get the first down and set up the field goal. However, backup tackle Larry Borom didn’t move as Za’Darius Smith came in unblocked to sack Williams for a 6-yard loss.
“It got loud, and I don’t think Larry heard the count,” Williams said. “Once I saw Za’Darius coming free, I didn’t want to risk trying to throw the ball away in case he got a chance to get his hands on it. I took the sack and tried to get everybody lined up for the final play.”
As Williams tried to get the play off, Bears coach Matt Eberflus didn’t call Chicago’s last timeout. He said he was conserving it to set up a field-goal attempt.
“The hope was we could re-rack the play, snap it with about 18 seconds left, throw it into field-goal range and call the timeout,” he said.
The clock, though, ran beyond 18 seconds and beyond Eberflus’ other benchmarks.
“Once it gets under 12, we can’t throw a pass to the sideline, and once it gets under seven, you have to throw the ball to the end zone,” he said. “At that point, if you call a timeout, it is to throw it to the end zone.”
When Williams realized no timeout was coming, he hurriedly changed the play call to a deep pass to Rome Odunze, but it fell incomplete just short of the end zone.
“I knew we didn’t have time for a field goal, so I made an adjustment,” he said. “I just wanted to get Rome one-on-one and try to take a shot at six.”
Williams didn’t second-guess his coach.
“We can call a timeout there or we cannot,” he said. “I’m not going to say I was surprised. My job is just to go out there and make plays. I let the coaches and everybody make that decision — it is their call. Maybe in the later years of my career, it will be my call.”
The finish ruined a spectacular second half by Williams, who went 15 for 24 for 222 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 29 yards.
What did Eberflus say after the game?
Still, Eberflus defended the decision in post-game interviews.
“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.
“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.
