DETROIT — When Caleb Williams threw incomplete to Rome Odunze in the end zone on the final play of the Bears’ 23-20 loss to the Lions on Thursday at Ford Field, the Bears managed the clock so poorly in the final minute that even their own players didn’t realize it was the final play.
“Once I saw the Lions walking on the field, I’m like, ‘Damn [what are] they doing? What’s going on?’ I didn’t realize time had run out,” Bears wide receiver Keenan Allen said. “I’m like, ‘The time was running the whole time … and then you look up an realize we got a timeout [left]. And it’s like, ‘Ah …’”
Ah yes, the Bears did it again.
“I thought the clock had already stopped. But obviously it didn’t,” tight end Cole Kmet said. “We didn’t operate fast enough to get that play in and then have another final play. But … that’s how it ended.”
A wild end to this one. #CHIvsDET pic.twitter.com/zwR7g1Efv9
— NFL (@NFL) November 28, 2024
Trying to explain a confusing, confounding, mystifying finish to a frustrating loss isn’t getting any easier for Bears players, no matter how many times they have to do it. Trailing 23-20, the Bears had a first down at the Lions 25-yard line with 46 seconds left in the fourth quarter — and somehow didn’t even get to attempt a tying field goal, unconscionably with a time out in coach Matt Eberflus’ pocket.
“You’re just like, ‘What the hell?’ Nah, it’s [more] like ‘What the bleep?’ But it is what it is. It’s not ‘it is what it is,’ but we’ve got to find a way to win. We keep coming back in these games and [have] time to actually win the game and we just [bleep] the bed.”
At issue was whether Eberflus should have called time out after quarterback Caleb Williams was sacked by Lions edge rusher Za’Darius Smith for a six-yard loss to set up a third-and-26 at the Lions 41. Instead, the Bears didn’t snap the ball until six seconds remained, and Williams’ only chance was a deep ball to Odunze.
Neither Williams nor his teammates seemed to feel a sense of urgency with the clock winding down. Or if they did, they didn’t respond well. That might be the biggest criticism of Eberflus — he not only didn’t call time out, but didn’t have his players prepared to deal with the urgency of the moment.
“I don’t think we huddled,” Moore said. “We just got right back on the ball and ran a play. I don’t know why we didn’t call a time out. But I know we were on the ball so fast, so it really didn’t matter.”
The Bears got to the line with 13 seconds to go — enough time to run a play and call time out. But with Williams changing the play, the ball was not snapped until six seconds were left.
“Was everybody set?” Moore said. “I don’t even know if I was even set because that’s how fast we were moving. Clock management at the end, we’ve got to be better at and we will be better at it.”
Other players didn’t want to second-guess their head coach.
“That’s above my pay grade. I know that,” guard Teven Jenkins said. “[After the sack], we’re just trying to get back in the huddle as fast as we can and things happened as it happened.”
“It’s the coaches decision regarding the time outs and clock management,” Odunze said. “I’m just out there playing ball.”
“I don’t know,” Kmet said. “I’m just surprised how it ended, honestly. You just see everybody running on the field and it’s over. Just a tough way to end it.”