Matt LaFleur’s Timeout Gave Bears Chance to Upset Packers

That Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur took the blame for a last-minute timeout was of small consolation following a 24-22 loss to the Chicago Bears on Sunday.

Chicago Bears kicker Cairo Santos (8) celebrates his 51-yard game-winning field goal against the Green Bay Packers. / Dan Powers/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

GREEN BAY, Wis. – In the end, it meant nothing from a playoffs perspective, but Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur’s late-game timeout probably cost his team a momentum-building victory over the Chicago Bears on Sunday.

With the Packers trailing 22-21 at the 2-minute warning, Carrington Valentine forced a fumble that Javon Bullard recovered at the Bears’ 43-yard line.

During pregame, Packers kicker Brandon McManus drilled a 58-yard field goal in that direction. To get in range for a 58-yarder, the Packers needed to gain 3 yards.

They got it right away when Malik Willis completed a pass to Malik Heath for 6 yards. Emanuel Wilson gained 2 yards on second down and lost 2 yards on third down.

Instead of letting the clock run down or, more likely, forcing the Bears to burn their final timeout to preserve what was left on the clock, LaFleur called a timeout with 58 seconds to go.

“I wasn’t anticipating that,” LaFleur said of Wilson’s negative-yardage run, “but that was the circumstance and that’s why I called the timeout because we went backwards, because I was planning on going for it right there.”

But why even consider going for it based on McManus’ pregame kicks?

Even with Wilson getting stuffed, the Packers were in position for a 55-yard field goal – the same distance that McManus connected from on a cold Monday night against the Saints two weeks ago.

McManus blasted it through the uprights, a kick he celebrated with the ball in midair.

“If I would’ve had no thought about him kicking that, I wouldn’t have called the timeout,” LaFleur said. “But, obviously, I was a little hesitant there, and that’s where I’ve got to be better, more on the same page with exactly where we were, because then I don’t think the result is what it is right now.”

With 48 seconds left, the Bears took over at their 20-yard line after Valentine ruined the Bears’ trick-play return.

That’s not much time – but the Bears still had that one timeout in their pocket.

On first down, Kingsley Enagbare was flagged for a horse-collar tackle on quarterback Caleb Williams, which moved the ball to the 35 with 40 seconds to go. On the next play, Rome Odunze made a sensational catch at the sideline for a 15-yard gain to midfield.

Then came what turned out to be the pivotal moment. Williams, under pressure, scrambled up the middle and was taken down between the hashes by defensive linemen Kenny Clark and Colby Wooden after a gain of 4.

With 28 seconds remaining, the Bears called the timeout they shouldn’t have had.

On second-and-6, Arron Mosby missed a sack and Edgerrin Cooper forced Williams into a throwaway. On third-and-6, Williams connected with D.J. Moore for 12 yards to the Packers’ 34 but Moore was flagged for an illegal shift.

That made it third-and-11 with 15 seconds to go. The Bears lined up with three receivers to the right, one behind the other, and the Packers called timeout.

Chicago lined up in the same formation. Moore, the lone receiver to the left and matched against Valentine, ran a slant for a gain of 19. The Bears hustled to the line of scrimmage and clocked the ball with 2 seconds to go.

Cairo Santos, whose game-winning field goal against the Packers at Soldier Field in Week 11 was blocked by Karl Brooks, booted a 51-yarder to win the game.

“It sucks,” Valentine said. “But it’s not just that one play. It’s a string of things that happened throughout the game. Looking from the outside, it looks like it's just that one play. But if you go back and watch the game, it will be a string of things.”

A string of things, yes, but the biggest knot on that string was LaFleur’s ill-advised timeout, which ruined his 100th career regular-season game as well as his perfect 11-0 record against the Bears.

Ultimately, from a standings and playoffs perspective, the loss doesn’t matter. Because the Washington Commanders outlasted the Dallas Cowboys, Washington would have been the No. 6 seed, regardless.

But going into the playoffs with a last-minute win would have the Packers feeling a lot better about themselves than going to Philadelphia with a two-game losing streak.

“At the end of the game, that’s squarely on me,” LaFleur said. “Just got caught in a situation where we were planning on going for it. They felt like Brandon could make that field goal.

“Hindsight’s 20/20, and I wish I wouldn’t have taken the timeout because it gave them, obviously, way too much time to go down and operate. Like I told the team, that’s on me, that can’t happen.”

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For insult, the #Packers lost to the Bears.

For injury, they lost Christian Watson and Jordan Love with the playoffs coming up next week. ⬇️https://t.co/bYhe5L3lmI

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) January 5, 2025

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