Bear Digest

Day for Second-Guessers Leaves Bears Coaches with a Defeat

Tough decisions nade all seemed to go against the Bears late in 21-16 loss to the Colts.

Gene Chamberlain

Colts safety Julian Blackmon denies running back D'Andre Swift on a key carry in Sunday's 21-16 Bears loss.
Colts safety Julian Blackmon denies running back D'Andre Swift on a key carry in Sunday's 21-16 Bears loss. / Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
In this story:

On this day the gaffes didn't belong to Velus Jones Jr. for once.

He was only to be found on the inactive list.

Instead, it was Bears coaches getting the criticism for decisions in play-calling and for how they used timeouts or even how they approached the next play up in a 21-16 loss to the Colts.

About all the players could be cited for was being overly exuberant after Caleb Williams' first career touchdown pass.

Williams and receiver Rome Odunze were among the players celebrating after the 1-yard TD pass drew the Bears back within 14-9 in the fourth quarter, but the play clock was being set and they needed two points to pull within a field goal. So the two-point try seemed obvious.

On the sideline, cameras caught a somewhat chaotic looking situation, as well, and there were signs with one finger up to kick, then two when it seemed everyone realized late in the process they needed to go for two.

No problem. They used a timeout then went for it and failed to get the conversion on an incomplete pass. However, it wasn't so simple because the Bears had to burn a timeout to get the extra point off and later needed that timeout.


'First of all, it was, it wasn't as as good as it should be in terms of our communication there, but we wanted to get a good play on there as well," coach Matt Eberflus admitted.

"But again, we have to be better, stay ahead of it, better be better there when you see communication."

Asked if he meant a player standpoint or coaching standpoint, Eberflus wasn't pointing at any of the players.

"No, that's, that's on the coaches," he said. "On the coaches.

"We got to be better there from the from the top to the bottom, you know, from upstairs down to the bottom. So we got to do a better job there."

Eberflus, himself, was in for some second-guessing when he used a timeout with 5:25 left and the Colts at the Bears 2-yard line after Caleb Williams had lost the ball on a strip-sack. The Colts were on the verge up going up 21-9 and the Bears were going to need every possible timeout.

Yet Eberflus called one at this point.

"I was just conserving time there to give us a chance," Eberflus said.

It proved out they were able to get the ball back for a final drive and would have even had a chance to get the clock stopped for it despite his decision to burn a timeout because the Colts unwittingly downed it in the end zone on the kickoff after Caleb Williams threw a TD pass to Cole Kmet without letting the clock run past the two-minute warning.

WASTEFUL BEARS TOSS AWAY OPPORTUNITIES IN LOSS TO COLTS

CALEB WILLIAMS SEES SIGNS IT'S COMING TOGETHER BUT NOT IN TIME FOR WIN

Still, that timeout might have been valuable.

Their most controversial decision was a simple play call. Three straight Khalil Herbert runs failed to get it into the end zone from the 4-yard line just before halftime. Then they ran an option toss outside to D'Andre Swift. Williams had defensive players in the backfield barely before he could make a move left in order to pitch it, and Swift was creamed after eluding a few tacklers on a 12-yard loss. The lack of points there was huge, but particularly not getting the touchdown.

"The first one, you know, (we) ran a couple dive plays in there and got it to the to the inside the 1, just just inside the 1, there and you know they were in big people (personnel) and we liked the play," Eberflus said. "We just got to get to the second level, get to the linebacker there, zone up to him and get him there on that."

Eberflus wasn't going to criticize anyone in this situation other than the execution.

"But I know the design of the play was to go against that personnel group time out there for that first touchdown," he said.

Twitter: BearsOnSI


Published
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.