Bears coach Matt Eberlfus somehow found a way to make his hot seat a bit toastier.
Eberflus decided not to run another play to set up an easier field goal with the Bears trailing the Packers by one point Sunday, instead letting more than 20 seconds run off the clock before using his team’s final timeout with three seconds left.
That left kicker Cairo Santos with a 46-yard game-winning field goal attempt that the Packers promptly blocked to seal the 20-19 win and give Green Bay its 11th consecutive victory against Chicago.
The Athletic reported that Packers players were taken back by the Bears’ decision not to run additional plays to get Santos in closer position.
The also noticed that Santos kicked with a low trajectory on longer kicks during film study this week.
“They were loading the box there,” Eberflus told reporters after the game, defending his decision to kick the field goal from 46 yards rather than run more plays on offense. “You could for sure get a couple more yards there. You also risk fumbling and different things there.
“We felt where we were, if we were at the 36 or 35, you’re definitely doing that because you want to get it inside there. I felt very confident about where we were at that time. With the wind and where we were on the field.”
The pressure is rising around Eberflus after the team fired offensive coordinator Shane Waldron last week following two straight games without a touchdown.
The Bears ran just two plays inside Packers territory in the final drive despite getting the ball down there with 1:33 remaining in the game.
A 12-yard pass to sure-handed receiver Keenan Allen got the Bears into field goal range before a two-yard run up the middle by Roschon Johnson moved the Bears to Green Bay’s 28.
The Bears kicked on second-and-8 rather when they still could have run another play.
The loss was the Bears’ fourth straight and dropped them to 4-6.
They’ve lost these four games rather embarrassingly, as they gave up a Hail Mary to the Washington Commanders to start this terrible losing streak.
Chicago followed that up with a 29-9 loss to the Cardinals and a 19-3 defeat to the 3-8 Patriots.
The Bears have a nightmare schedule on tap, with all seven games coming against teams with .500 records or better.