Stop if you’ve heard it before. The Chicago Bears are leading in the 4th quarter. They have a chance to win the game in the final seconds, but a baffling decision by head coach Matt Eberflus enables the opponent to take advantage of an overlooked weakness. Matt Eberflus did it again. In Washington, it was calling soft coverage on defense and failure to call a timeout before the Hail Mary attempt. Now, it was not trying to shorten a game-winning field goal attempt despite having 35 seconds left and a timeout in his pocket.
Green Bay knew Cairo Santos kicked low on longer attempts due to lacking leg strength and that the Bears’ protection was weak. They exploited both to block the kick, sealing their 11th straight win in the rivalry. Eberflus insisted after the game that he was satisfied with the decision to kick. After having 24 hours to look at the tape and assess the decision, has he changed his mind? Nope. The head coach remained stubborn in his argument that no glaring mistake was made.
The excuses were aplenty. He didn’t want to risk losing yardage, a penalty, a fumble, or any other mistakes. Never mind that his young quarterback had the hot hand, and the Packers’ defense was reeling. Just seven more yards would’ve put the Bears in a range where Santos has never missed since coming to Chicago. Meanwhile, Jim Harbaugh is in the same exact situation on Sunday night against Cincinnati. He decides to run one more play, and it busts for a touchdown that proved the difference in the game. That is the difference between a coach who trusts his players and one who doesn’t.
History continues to show that head coaches who play it safe almost always lose. No risk, no reward remains truer than ever in the NFL. That is why hiring Matt Eberflus in the first place was always puzzling. Defensive coaches are conservative by nature, preferring to play ball-control, mistake-free football. The problem is instilling a fear of mistakes inevitably leads to them. This is why Eberflus can never seem to win tight games against good opponents. All of them are more willing to play the odds than him. When he is finally fired in January, that reality will follow him for the rest of his career.
