A Hail Mary has to be the worst way possible to lose a football game. Unfortunately, that is exactly how the Chicago Bears surrendered its only lead of Sunday’s game to the Washington Commanders, losing 15-18 at Northwest Stadium in Maryland to what at the time seemed to be an impossible last gasp attempt by Washington rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels.
At the heart of that heavily-anticipated game, which played out in the NFL’s nationally-televised late afternoon spot on CBS, was a matchup between Daniels and the Bears’ newest prayer of a franchise QB, Caleb Williams — the top two overall selections of the 2024 NFL Draft, as well as potential foundational pieces for two of the NFL’s most storied franchises.
For Williams and Daniels, taking the reins of these two teams means turning around losing franchises each desperate for new relevance. While the ‘24 season is still young, both have given their NFC teams hope for possible playoff appearances, and have rejuvenated reasonably skeptical fan bases.
Unfortunately for the Bears, there’s one off-field element of the game that may very well be the reason they struggle for playoff chances. Head coach Matt Eberflus and his staff were grossly out coached by Commanders HC Dan Quinn and staff.
As fans have had time to digest the heart wrenching loss, one thing stands true. Eberflus, you’re on the clock! In the next coming weeks, the Bears’ head coach will need to prove he is capable of leading a promising young football team to the playoffs in the NFL’s best division.
We all witnessed the decision to hand the ball off to 26-year-old backup offensive linemen Doug Kramer, Jr. at the one yard line in the 3rd quarter, leaving running back Roschon Johnson on the sideline. But it’s really the last 30 seconds of the game that should qualify Eberflus for unemployment. With 25 seconds on the clock, the majority of the Bears’ defense backed up and allowed Daniels to get off two critical completions, making a Hail Mary heave possible.
Now, the Bears players are even starting to be vocal about their concerns.
“I don’t know the reason behind the play call,” Bears wide receiver DJ Moore said on Monday’s “Mully & Haugh Show” about the run play at the goal line to Kramer, Jr. “It’s been up for a few weeks, but I didn’t think we were actually getting it called in a game like this. When I came out of the tent and just seen him running, I was just like, ‘What the hell happened?’”
Bears tight end Cole Kmet also criticized the team’s lack of respect for the game when asked about their defensive strategy on the Hail Mary play.
Not only that, but Bears fans had the luxury of hearing former Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo call out exactly what the Commanders were going to do in the last seconds of the game, given the time on the play clock and space provided by the Bears defense.
After the game, when asked about a pivotal 13-yard reception to Terry McLaurin on a quick out route to set up the Hail Mary attempt, Eberflus said the play “really doesn’t matter.” In post-game interviews, Flus dodged every opportunity to take accountability for what seemed to be more than questionable decisions that were made during the course of the game.
“You’re defending a touchdown there, and them throwing a ball for 13 yards or 10 yards, whatever it is, really doesn’t matter,” Eberflus said Sunday night. “It’s always going to come down to that last play, and it came down to a two-second play to the last play, and we’ve got to execute on that one.”
Moving forward, Bears fans have every right to question the leadership of this team on a coaching level. Chicago ended the game with all three timeouts.
Chicago went into Sunday’s matchup fresh off a bye week with a promising 4-2 record; in their last game on Oct. 13, all of us stateside got up at 8:30 a.m. to watch the Bears crush the Jacksonville Jaguars 35-16 in front of a surprisingly large number of Bears fans in London.
Even with the extra time to travel and prepare for Washington, the Bears looked slow, tired, and rusty. The first two drives of the game for Chicago resulted in two first downs, two pre-snap penalties, and two punts. Chicago’s defense held Washington to 9 points, all from field goals, as they went into halftime. But Williams and the offense were scoreless.
Maybe all the media attention and pressure of returning home to the DMV was a bit nerve racking for Williams, who grew up in Washington D.C. He looked noticeably nervous and unsure of himself at times in the first half.
There’s a lot of pressure riding on the Bears rookie QB. Williams was selected first overall by Chicago while Daniels came in second. Both teams were coming off losing seasons. The Bears were said to have more offensive weapons at receiver for their incoming star. Washington, on the other hand, stayed deep in the lower half of the league with a 4-13 record, but have surged this year as one of the league’s most exciting offenses.
Going into Sunday’s matchup, both QBs had been exceptional on an individual level. Through Week 7, Williams had a completion percentage of 65.3. He threw for 1,317 yards in that time and rushed for 169 yards while passing for nine touchdowns and five interceptions.
Meanwhile, through seven weeks, Daniels’ completion percentage succeeded Williams at 75.6%. He impressed even more as a dual-threat, throwing for 1,410 yards and rushing for 372 yards.
Playing better teams and putting up slightly better numbers, Daniels seems to be leading in the race for Offensive Rookie of the Year, which the Houston Texans QB C.J. Stroud took home last season. Beating the Bears with a 4th quarter drive and last-second Hail Mary might have just put the icing on the cake for Daniels, assuming his numbers will continue to trend positively.
The Bears now head into Week 9 with a 4-3 record, holding down last place in the NFC North, the toughest division in the NFL this year. Moving forward, Williams and this Bears team has the toughest remaining schedule in the league, with multiple division matchups against the Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, and Minnesota Vikings.
There’s a lot for Flus and company to fix before they enter the second half of the season.
Cornerback Tyrique Stevenson, who was seen taunting the Washington crowd just before the success Hail Mary, will have to refocus in practice and prove himself this week as fans and surely members of the organization will be watching his productivity moving forward.
Williams, who didn’t play a great game against the Commanders, ended up showing great competitive character as he helped rally the team to a 15-12 lead just before the Hail Mary.
General Manager Ryan Poles has aggressively made moves to improve the team since he took the position in 2022. But the true question for Poles is this:
Is Matt Eberflus the right fit for this team? Is he the right head coach to develop our star rookie quarterback Caleb Williams?
If Poles doesn’t make some big decisions soon, Williams’ career may suffer from the same coaching incompetence that plagued Justin Fields in Chicago just a year ago.
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