There’s no excuse for the Chicago Bears’ inexplicable meltdown at the end of their loss to the Detroit Lions. But fans will not see a more entertaining, creative analysis of that disastrous sequence than what the analysts on FS1’s The Facility did Friday.
Every fan who watched the game was stunned the Bears only managed one play in the final 33 seconds as they were only a few yards away from field goal range. The Lions held on to win, 23-20.
For those who missed the game’s ending, here’s CBS Sports announcers Jim Nantz and Tony Romo trying to explain the situation right after it happened.
A wild end to this one. #CHIvsDET pic.twitter.com/zwR7g1Efv9
— NFL (@NFL) November 28, 2024
Afterward, the sports media world blasted Bears head coach Matt Eberflus, throwing around terms such as “firable offense,” “dysfunction” and “coaching malpractice.” (The Bears fired Eberflus Friday.)
On The Facility, however, analyst Chase Daniel pointed out there was plenty of blame to go around for the horrendous end-of-game sequence, including with rookie quarterback Caleb Williams.
Daniel, Emmanuel Acho, James Jones and LeSean McCoy took the studio “field” to act out the play, which was shown on the video screen behind them. There was also a clock ticking down in real time to illustrate what the Bears should have been doing.
Williams got sacked with 33 seconds remaining. Daniel, playing quarterback, went down on the ground to simulate the sack. Jones and McCoy quickly helped him up, and the faux clock started ticking as the three former NFL players tried to show how the Bears should have set up.
Acho called for the clock to pause at 14 seconds.
“At roughly 14 seconds, this is when Chase is saying the O-line was back on the ball, the receivers were back on the ball,” Acho said, “Caleb Williams has now given the play call, but Chase, what happens?”
“Caleb tried to change the play, he’s up there, he’s talking, he’s doing all this, and there’s just no sense of urgency,” Daniel said. “So he’s just sitting there … I’m just sitting there, sitting there …”
“Hey man, hike the ball, man, let’s go!” McCoy yelled.
Acho restarted the clock, and Daniel threw a pass to Jones, and they called a timeout with five seconds remaining.
“So with roughly five seconds left, the Bears should have had the ball around six to seven yards closer,” Acho said.
“Now we showed you what should have happened, for one final time, we will remind ya’ll exactly what did happen,” Acho said.
The video screen showed the replay again, and the four analysts got animated pointing out problems.
“Look at the linemen,” Jones said.
“He should not have to do this,” Daniel said, making the hurry up motion Williams had done.
“Look at Cole Kmet and D.J. Moore, they’re still looking,” Daniel said. “Look at Caleb. The sense of urgency is not there.”
This is EXACTLY what should’ve happened for the Bears at end of the game.
4 former players giving insight you won’t hear anywhere else….@TheFacilityFS1 https://t.co/gNw9fy2boa pic.twitter.com/b7ME8F662v
— Chase Daniel (@ChaseDaniel) November 29, 2024
The Facility analysts did their best to explain what happened, pointing out players shared some blame in not scrambling to get set and run a play. Yet it’s the second time in recent weeks the Bears have lost a game on the final play, following the Washington Commanders’ Week 8 Hail Mary touchdown.
Ultimately, that’s a failure of coaching, and it proved enough to get Eberflus fired.
[The Facility]
About Arthur Weinstein
Arthur spends his free time traveling around the U.S. to sporting events, state and national parks, and in search of great restaurants off the beaten path.