The Thanksgiving football lineup has sparked intense reactions from NFL fans, with Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus finding himself in the crosshairs. Following the Bears’ 23-20 loss to the Detroit Lions at Ford Field, speculation is rampant that Eberflus‘ time in Chicago could be coming to an end.
The criticism stems largely from a controversial decision during the game’s final moments. Trailing by three points, the Bears had one timeout remaining but chose not to use it, allowing the clock to run out. Fans, analysts, and even CBS commentator Tony Romo were baffled by the mismanagement.
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“I can’t believe they didn’t call a timeout,” Romo said during the broadcast, echoing the confusion of many viewers.
Meanwhile, fans didn’t hold back their frustration on social media.
“Fire Eberflus after the game. Do it in front of the entire team. Ruin his Thanksgiving,” one fan wrote.
Another added: “The Bears may not even need to fire Matt Eberflus. With his clock management, he’ll probably miss the flight home.”
Eberflus defends decision
Eberflus defended the decision postgame, suggesting it was the right call under the circumstances. However, his explanation did little to quell the backlash.
“Our hope was, because it was third [down] going into fourth, that we would re-rack that play at 18 seconds, throw it inbounds, get into field goal range and then call the timeout,” the Bears head coach said.
“That’s where it was and that was our decision-making process on that. Again, we were outside the field goal range, so we needed to get a few more yards in there, as close as we can get, and then we were going to call a timeout, and that’s why we held that last timeout.
“I like what we did there. Again, once it’s under 12 [seconds] there, you’re going to call timeout there, you don’t have an option. To me, I think we handled it the right way. I do believe you re-rack the play, get it in-bounds and then call timeout. That’s why we held it and it didn’t work out the way we wanted it to.”
The loss drops the Bears to a 4-8 record on the season, and with frustrations mounting, fans are increasingly calling for change.
