The Chicago Bears lost in heartbreaking fashion on Sunday when the Green Bay Packers blocked a game-winning field goal attempt as time expired at Soldier Field.
On Monday, head coach Matt Eberflus told reporters that the Bears believe the Packers committed a penalty on the block and are filing a complaint with the NFL. Eberflus also defended his decision to attempt the kick from 46 yards instead of using the time remaining on the game clock to make it a shorter attempt.
What happened
The Bears took possession of the ball at their own 30-yard line on Sunday, leaving 2:59 in regulation as they trailed the Packers, 20-19. They executed a 42-yard drive to the Green Bay 28-yard line, where Cairo Santos attempted a 46-yard field goal that would have won the game.
The Packers defenders gained penetration up the middle from a moment and blocked the kick to secure a win in Green Bay.
Eberflus acknowledged the Bears did a poor job blocking, but believes the Packers made illegal contact with long snapper Scott Daly on the play and wants the NFL to take another look.
“We definitely had to be tougher inside,” Eberflus said of the play. “And again, we’ll turn the game in because they were obviously on our long snapper. So we’ll turn it in and see what the league says from there. But again, we just have to be more steadfast in the execution.”
When asked to clarify what he objected to in the piece, Eberflus said the following:
“We immediately saw him contact him directly,” Eberflus said.
Was the blocked kick a legal action?
Under NFL rules, a long snapper is considered a defenseless player at the time of the snap and is given additional protection. Under these rules, defenders are prohibited from “forcibly striking the head or neck of the defenseless player with the helmet, face mask, forearm or shoulder.”
Daly didn’t raise his head until two Packers defenders came toward him. TJ Slaton jumped over him and knocked him to the ground before Daly could get into a standing blocking position. Whether or not that contact was illegal is subjective. Officials ruled Sunday that a punishment was not warranted.
The Bears made their final offensive play on Sunday with 35 seconds left on the clock. They gained two yards on a run to the Green Bay 28-yard line and opted not to run another offensive play despite having one timeout and 30 seconds left on the game clock.
They ran the clock down to three seconds and called timeout to set up the field goal attempt. Eberflus was asked about the decision again on Monday, a day after defending it at his post-match press conference.
“I feel really good about running the ball there to get it to the 28-yard line and running the clock down to three seconds and going for the game winner there,” Eberflus said.
He also explained the downside risks he considered when choosing not to play again.
“The obvious risks are: if you make a false start, you go backwards,” Ebeflus continued. “You execute an offside, they call holding. You throw a pass and it is tipped.”
Sunday’s loss was Chicago’s fourth straight after a 4-2 start and pushed the Bears further out of the playoffs. And Eberflus is once again faced with a series of tough questions about why a once-promising season has gone off the rails.
