Bear Digest

One More Chaotic Disastrous Defeat for the Chicago Bears

Comeback from 16-0 deficit ends in 23-20 defeat after Caleb Williams and the offense had it 25 yards away with 43 seconds to play against Detroit.

Gene Chamberlain

Caleb Williams is sacked by Za'Darius Smith in the closing moments of the Bears' 23-20 loss to the Detroit Lions.
Caleb Williams is sacked by Za'Darius Smith in the closing moments of the Bears' 23-20 loss to the Detroit Lions. / Kimberly P. Mitchell / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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It happened again. Of course it did.

What else does anyone expect at this point.

The Bears rallied, were knocking at the door of an unlikely Thanksgiving Day win over the Detroit Lions no less, and fate intervened.

Or as wide receiver DJ Moore so appropriately put it for reporters afterward: "We keep coming back in these games and be having time to actually win the game, and we just (blank) the bed."

He didn't say wet.

The Bears' wild second-half rally from a 16-0 deficit ended with a deep pass by Caleb Williams to Rome Odunze nowhere near a completion after they had been at the 25 with a first down, 43 seconds left and in possession of a timeout.

Their 23-20 loss on Thanksgiving could just be tacked on to the Hail Mary pass, the blocked field goal and the overtime loss to Minnesota as a new and creative way to fail in the closing seconds.

"We're right there and we've just got to keep plugging along and it's going to crack," coach Matt Eberflus said. "It's one more crack of the hammer and it's going to crack."

The Bears (4-8) are always the ones who crack, though, and did for the sixth straight time. It all leads to the question of whether Eberflus is going to be around long enough to see the time when the Bears no longer crack under the pressure of game's end.

"This is the NFL," Eberflus said. "You know, 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. So that's what we do."

Will they even ask him to grind for them again?

This one looks like as good reason for termination as any.

Williams had already thrown three second-half touchdown passes and they drove from inside their own 1-yard line after a punt to the Lions 25. The last gain came on a fourth-and-14 pass interference call against former Bears cornerback Kindle Vildor defending DJ Moore. The Bears still had 43 seconds left and got up to the line, but had to call their second timeout to get organized.

Apparently it wasn't much of an organizational meeting.

Out of the shotgun, Williams threw a short pass that Keenan Allen too 13 yards to the 12 before going out of bounds, but Teven Jenkins got flagged for illegal hands to the face.

It meant a 23-yard difference from where the ball would have been and when Williams took a 6-yard sack on the next play, the clock was running and they were out of field goal range at the Lions 41.

Williams took too long at the line of scrimmage getting the next play off even though they had a timeout to use and about 18 seconds left before the third down play at the Detroit 41, then he changed the play at the line and threw toward Odunze as time expired.

"We got lined, up, got the play and then I made an adjustment because I saw the clock running down, knowing that if we complete a ball inbounds or anything like that we won't have time to kick a field goal or anything like that," Williams said. "So I made an adjustment, and knew Rome was either going to be one on one or he was going to beat the safety and be one on one there and tryin go give him a shot and we got the shot and missed."

A tying field goal attempt at the worst had suddenly become a game-ending long, incomplete pass.

"I can take timeouts," Williams said. "But in that situation we had a call. I got the call in. I'm trying to get the guys back.  So focused on making sure everybody gets back, gets lined up. I know we don't have much time left. So, trying to get everybody back I don't really have a mic to speak to coach or anything like that."

In many ways this seemed so much worse than the other tight losses because their comeback seemed even more unlikely than the one against Minnesota last week.

Their offense had arrived DOA and the defense was getting steamrolled by the Detroit running game. The Lions ran for 144 yards in the first half to 19 yards by the Bears. The Lions had passed for 145 yards in the first half to 34 by Williams, and they led 16-0 because the defense managed to turn four Lions red zone possessions into a touchdown, three field goals and a lost fumble.

Then they came to life with a 74-yard drive to start the second half, ending with Allen's 31-yard catch up the middle. Although the Lions came back with a Sam LaPorta TD catch, the Bears kept on coming the fourth quarter.

Williams hit Allen again, from 9 yards, and then Moore caught a 31-yard TD with 5:36 remaining to make it a three-point game. The ensuing three-and-out allowed for the final Bears possession with 3:31 to go on their final drive.

"I mean it's tough," tight end Cole Kmet told reporters. "We came in here, guys are pretty PO-ed.

"It's tough when you've gone out against three division opponents, three really good ones, and I think all three we could have beaten."

If Williams takes the timeout, or if he gets them lined up and quickly runs a play, they get a better shot at the tie. If he simply throws the ball away instead of taking a sack, they have time left. 

On the final play, they called it for Williams to run quickly with an escort, call the timeout and kick the field goal. Letting too much time run off until they got the play they wanted wiped out their chance of running that play and they had to throw to Odunze instead.

The clock ran out, but they've still got that timeout as they boarded the plane for Chicago.

"My job is to get everybody lined up and that sit, win games. We didn't do that today," Williams said.

A 256-yard, three-TD effort and rally were wasted. Williams should learn. Time is on his side.

Whether it's with this coaching staff, this head coach who teach him, are the questions to be answered soon, if not within the next day.

Twitter: BearsOnSI

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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.