LOL, the Bears suck so badly.
It’s like being neck and neck in the last few strides of a footrace, and you stop to tie your shoe.
That is probably the most pathetic ending to a football game I can remember and if I was a Chicago fan I’d be sick.
I don’t know; a number of the Bears fans I know might actually be satisfied by this ending. They probably see it as more assurance that Eberflus will be canned by season’s end.
Soooooo. What now.
It’s certainly going to be an interesting long weekend at Halas Hall.
I was in the kitchen; what happened?
Down by three with time running out, the Bears drove down the field. They got within field goal range, but then penalties and a sack moved them back, and they let time run down while they still had a time out.
Final drive the Bears down 3 with the ball and two plus minutes.
Drove into FG range. Had about 45 seconds and a first down. Followed by a penalty negating another chunk play. Then a sack to push them out of FG range. 35 second left, 3rd and 26 with a timeout. Caleb wastes 30 seconds trying to get lined up to get back into FG range. Throws a dime to the goal line, but Rome decided to stop running in a lame attempt to draw a flag. Would have been a TD if he kept running. Time expires with a timeout left in their pocket.
So like 5 catastrophic mistakes in 30 seconds. Everyone will pile on Flus for not calling a TO once it was clear they weren’t ready to run a play, but that was just one mistake. They absolutely should have been ready to run a play and having the TO for a last second FG is the right tactic, but when it’s clear it’s going sideways you have to stop the clock and at least run a Hail Mary.
So, not exactly covering themselves in glory, it sounds like. Thanks.
I’ve sometimes wondered how teams make all the calls and substitutions they do with so little time between plays. Does someone on the sidelines hold up fingers for which players are supposed to be on the field or not? Do all the field-goal players hang out together next to the coach on the sidelines so he can tell them when to go in?
That’s basically how it works on every down. An offensive coach holds up fingers to say how many TEs/RBs/WRs are supposed to be on the field. The guys who rotate in stand next to the coach so they are ready for a substitution.
For FGs the kicking unit is composed of some guys on the bench and some starting offensive players, so not everyone rotates onto the field for the kick. When people call for a FG players just need to know their job and get where they are supposed to be.
In late game situations offensive players usually don’t rotate in. You get on the field and you just stay there unless there a stoppage in play. Your 2-minute personnel are usually the guys you stick with.
At that point, they were on the 41 yard line, which is a 59 yard attempt. Very long, but makeable. Just ridiculous play from everyone.
Makeable (and it was in a dome, which would help), but not ideal, obviously. For what it’s worth, Bears kicker Cairos Santos has a career long of 55 yards.
But, with a third-and-26, and over 30 seconds left on the clock, there should have been plenty of time to:
- Run a mid-range pass play, to claw back 10 or 15 yards
- Call timeout
- Try a field goal with a much better success rate
It’ll get lost in all the noise, but Caleb made a perfect throw that should have been a TD in spite of all the chaos. There have been multiple examples this season of our WRs, especially Rome, quitting on routes.
Boy this Giants @ Cowboys game is unimpressive. I feel like I’m watching a preseason game.
All I know is the Giants had better not win this game. They need to draft a quarterback in the worst way.
I think you’ll get your wish. It’s now 27-10 late in the 3rd quarter.
Rookie TE Theo Johnson making some nice plays for the Giants, at least. That was nice to see.
Come on, Dallas. Two first downs wins it.
I was rooting for the Giants just because I was hoping to see Drew Lock get a win (and I love seeing the Cowboys lose), but it was not to be.
The Giants had something like 13 penalties; just no discipline at all.
That offsides followed immediately by too many men on the field was embarrassing.
Yep, seemed like every time they had a play that gained more than 10 yards, there was a flag thrown.
Re: the Bears game - the defense spent almost 10 seconds celebrating the sack on the wrong side of the ball. On the replay, you could see Williams and Skelton(?) trying to hurry everyone up and they all just…moseyed. Don’t get me wrong, Eberflus and Co. deserve a lot of blame for the late play call, that should be an easy run to the line and snap it for a free play at best, or a hurried defense out of position at worst. But that’s on the coaching staff too, because there should be a call ready to go for that situation - just look at what Green Bay does to players offside or out of position. Rodgers did it for almost 15 years, and Love is doing it, too.
The Packers beat the Dolphins in the late Thanksgiving game, at chilly Lambeau Field, 30-17.
Despite holding the lead for the entire game, it never felt entirely like the Packers had put the game away; especially in the second half, Tua was able to pass his way up and down the field, but kept coming up short when it counted.
Green Bay moves into December with a very nice 9-3 record…which is still only good enough for third place in the NFC North.