Bear Digest

Bears Turn Field Goal in to League to Examine Packers' Tactics

It's not like a baseball protest because they'll get nothing overturned, but the Bears submitted the Packers' block of their field goal to the NFL asking for a rule explanation.

Gene Chamberlain

Matt Eberflus explains his strategy at the end of the game before kicking a field goal on second down after letting time wind down.
Matt Eberflus explains his strategy at the end of the game before kicking a field goal on second down after letting time wind down. / Photo: Chicago Bears Video
In this story:

Upon further review, the Bears are not so sure the Green Bay Packers played by the rules for their game-winning block of Cairo Santos' last-second 46-yard field goal.

Bears coach Matt Eberflus on Monday said they have sent in the film to the league on the play, although he admitted their blocking left plenty to be desired.

"Yeah, we had to be firmer inside. Yeah, we had to be firmer inside for sure," Eberflus said. "And again, we'll turn the play in because obviously they were on our long snapper. So we'll turn it and see what the league says from there. But again, we just got to be firmer in the execution there."

The rules have been changed over the years and do not allow direct contact with the long snapper.

"We just saw them making direct contact with him right away and we'll turn that in as well," Eberflus said.

After the game, long snapper Scott Daly couldn't be sure what had happened.

"They made a good play and that's what it came down to and the game's this close and it's game of inches," Daly said.

However, he did add that he didn't immediately realize what happened on the kick after it left Santos' foot.

"I was on my butt at that time," he said.

This is what the rule change was designed to prevent.

The Bears have been called for using illegal leverage attempting to block kicks this year and it's possible some of this occurred on the play, as well.

Whatever the league determines will not overturn the verdict. The most the Bears can hope for is an apology from the league and in many cases this wouldn't even be made public by the league.

BEARS REPORT CARD FOR GAME WITH PACKERS

MATT EBERFLUS' LASTING LEGACY IS FINDING VARIETY OF WAYS TO LOSE LATE

HOW LINCOLN RILEY IMPACTED BEARS AND CALEB WILLIAMS BEFORE PACKERS GAME

BEARS TRY TO SEE THE POSITIVES IN LOSS TO PACKERS

Eberflus' decision not to go any closer before kicking on second down was still being scrutinized Monday. He decided this even though the Bears had a timeout left.

The ball sat at the 28 of Green Bay after Keenan Allen caught a pass for the first down in field goal range and Roschon Johnson ran inside for a yard.

After the game, Eberflus cited the risk of losing a fumble on a play with the "box" stacked with defenders waiting for a run.

"Yeah, obvious risks — they stunt or whatever and you false start, you go backwards, you look at all that," Eberflus said. "You run an outside play, they call holding. You throw a pass it gets tipped, whatever it is. You feel good about your decision there, and the wind conditions and what the conditions are at that point and where you are on the field, and you feel good about it and you take it down and you kick it. And we felt good about it."

He felt good about it, he said, even though the Bears knew Santos has never missed a field goal for them inside of 40 yards in 70 tries.

"The wind was not a factor there," Eberflus said. "We felt good where he was on the field, and we felt very confident in his ability to get that done."

Sounding a bit like Shane Waldron doubling down on the Doug Kramer dive play against Washington, Eberflus said he'd do it all over again the same way. Of course, they'd block it better in that fantasy world.

"I mean, where the conditions were and where we were in the game, I would say, yeah, I would do the same," he said. "Would you like to be closer? Yeah, sure. You'd like it to be at the 15-yard line.

"But it is where it is and you could have done a bunch of different things there. You could have ran a pass. You could have ran an outside play. You could have ran another play that we punched there forward for 2 yards. From the 30 to the 28, again if that thing break for a couple more yards, it’s definitely a positive. But that's where it is."

He also pointed out one other real danger, for his team anyway.

"Yeah, obvious risks, they stunt or whatever and you false-start, you go backwards, you look at all that," Eberflus said.

The Bears are tied with Buffalo for most false starts with 19, according to NFLpenalties.com.

"You run an outside play, they call holding," he said. "You throw a pass, it gets tipped, whatever it is.

"You feel good about your decision there (to kick), and the wind conditions and what the conditions are at that point and where you are on the field, and you feel good about it and you take it down and you kick it. And we felt good about it."

Twitter: BearsOnSI

Published |Modified
Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.