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Courtney Cronin, ESPN Staff Writer
CHICAGO — Bears coach Matt Eberflus defended his decision to not run one final play at the end of Chicago’s Week 11 loss to the Green Bay Packers to get kicker Cairo Santos closer to the south end zone at Soldier Field.
With Chicago trailing by one point, Santos attempted a 46-yard winning field goal as time expired, which was blocked by Packers defensive tackle Karl Brooks. Chicago’s 20-19 loss marked eleven straight to Green Bay, a streak that dates back to the 2018 season.
“We felt good in terms of where the kick line was,” Eberflus said. “The wind was not a factor today, and Cairo has made a bunch of those kicks inside of that range. We feel confident in Cairo and confident in our operation there.”
The Bears’ final drive began with 2:59 remaining from their own 30-yard line. Quarterback Caleb Williams got Chicago into Green Bay territory after connecting with fellow rookie Rome Odunze for a 16-yard reception on third-and-19 and finding Odunze again to convert on fourth-and-3 to move past midfield.
Chicago picked up an additional first down and then ran the ball with Roschon Johnson, who picked up two yards on a play that began with 35 seconds remaining from the Packers’ 30-yard line. The Bears let the clock run down to three seconds before using their final timeout and sending Santos and the kicking team onto the field. Green Bay had no timeouts remaining.
Santos attempted a line-drive kick that was blocked. The Packers sideline erupted in celebration as Green Bay (7-3, 1-2) secured its first division win of the season.
This is the second time in franchise history that the Packers have blocked a potential winning or tying field goal on the final play of the game. The other instance came back on Nov. 26, 1939, against the Cleveland Rams.
“They were loading the box there,” Eberflus said. “You could say you could do that for sure, maybe get a couple more yards, but you’re also going to risk fumbling and different things there. We felt where we were, if we’re at the 36 or 35, you definitely want to do that because you want to get it inside there. I felt very confident where we were at that time with the wind and where we were on the field.”
In Week 7, Santos had a 43-yard field goal attempt blocked in Chicago’s 35-16 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, but it came with tight end Cole Kmet snapping the ball in relief of injured long snapper Scott Daly.
“That was a comfortable range there,” Santos said. “Left hash in that left or right wind, everything felt great and it looked like the line that the ball was going was right down the middle. I hit it solid on my foot. Operation was good, snap, hold. They just made a good play with the penetration there.”
One of the last things Packers players heard on the eve of the game was a message from special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia in the team meeting.
“I will say this: Rich said to our team last night, ‘I will not understand if we come out of this game without a block, whether field goal or PAT,'” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. “So great job from our special teams coaches.”
It stemmed from a vulnerability Bisaccia and his staff saw on film from the Bears’ blocking unit. It just took until the Bears final kick to figure out the best way to exploit it.
“We saw that through the middle [that] we could get a good push through the middle,” said Packers safety Xavier McKinney, who lined up on the edge to Santos’ blindside. “And we believed that the guys that we have were going to play big and be stronger up front and we were able to get that push that we needed and we got it when we needed it at a big-time situation and we got the block. We saw it just studying the film throughout the week and we were able to get it.”
Brooks said he could pinpoint exactly where he got the ball. It was with his left middle finger.
“At first when I touched it, I didn’t think I got enough of it,” said Brooks, who also blocked a field goal against the Vikings last season as a rookie. “And it fell short and that’s when I really celebrated, so it was fun, though, for sure. It was cool. It was a good experience.”
He received an assist from Lukas Van Ness, who did his own version of the tush push.
“I was on the same side with Karl, and I knew that he was going to pressure that inside A gap, so I just got behind him and I pushed him as hard as I could,” Van Ness said. “Before I knew it, I saw his hand go up and I heard, ‘THUNK’ and I heard everybody screaming. Super exciting. I was happy to be out there and do what I could to help this team win.”
Packers rookie linebacker Edgerrin Cooper said the team noticed on film that Santos kicks with a low trajectory compared to other kickers, and they saw it earlier in the game, on Santos’ first field goal, a 53-yarder in the first quarter.
“We’ve been emphasizing it so much this week,” Cooper said. “We just saw how low he was kicking the ball, so we knew we had a real good chance of blocking it.”
Cooper and fellow linebacker Quay Walker were both surprised that Chicago didn’t run another play when they had time to do so to get in shorter field goal range.
“At least one more play,” Walker said. “At least run the ball trying to get closer to the field goal.”
Sunday was the second time since Week 8 that the Bears lost a game on the final play in confounding fashion. Against Washington, Commanders wide receiver Noah Brown caught a Hail Mary pass that was tipped into his hands as he stood unguarded in the end zone. Cornerback Tyrique Stevenson faced intense scrutiny and temporarily lost his spot in the starting lineup after his decision to jaw back and forth with fans caused him to miss his defensive assignment.
“It’s almost comical,” Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson said of the nature of the Bears’ recent losses. “The luck of the damn draw at this point. We’ve got to figure it out, how to be better.”
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