Everybody in the mainstream media will be talking about the Hail Mary play that pushed the Washington Commanders over the Chicago Bears on Sunday. It’s understandable. So many crazy things happened on the play, from the Bears only rushing three to Tyrique Stevenson being off in his own little world, ignoring the play before losing the guy he was supposed to cover in the end zone. However, several others can’t help but look to the previous play when the Commanders converted a 13-yard pass that got their 48-yard line with six seconds left. This put them close enough to throw the Hail Mary at all. Both head coaches, Dan Quinn and Matt Eberflus, were asked about it.
Eberflus shrugged it off. He stated that the only play he was focused on was the final one (i.e. the Hail Mary). There was little concern about the previous completion. Quinn had a far different perspective. He told Albert Breer of the MMQB that the pass to McLaurin was the critical play of the game. If it didn’t happen, Washington wouldn’t have been close enough even to try a Hail Mary in the first place. The difference in situational awareness between the two coaches is astounding.
And troublesome if you’re a Bears fan.
Top head coaches would’ve recognized right away how important a stop on the previous play would’ve been. It would’ve meant Washington would have to throw down the field and then do a bunch of laterals to try for a miracle touchdown. Instead, they got it to a spot where they could get it close enough to the end zone for a batted ball to create some magic. That is exactly what happened. The fact that Eberflus didn’t recognize or acknowledge this fact suggests his grasp on what being a head coach is continuing to elude him.
Nobody can dispute that he is a terrific defensive coordinator. What he’s done with the Bears’ defense since taking over play-calling last season is admirable. Outside of that, what has he accomplished? Chicago is 3-17 on the road. They’re 1-13 against winning teams. They’ve now had five games where they held a lead with under three minutes left and lost. Eberflus is bad at challenges, bad at timeouts, and bad at finding any coherence on offense. Dan Quinn explained why the Bears may have the wrong guy in one sentence.
