Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus is historically bad at throwing the challenge flag.
In his three years with the Bears, Eberflus has challenged a call nine times. He’s won two challenges. He’s 0-4 on challenges in 2024.
On Sunday, the Bears challenged a 69-yard reception in the third quarter by Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Jordan Addison. Eberflus thought the second-year receiver might have stepped out of bounds after the catch.
The Chicago Bears lost a challenge
However, replay clearly showed Addison stayed in bounds before eventually being tackled by safety Kevin Byard at the Chicago eight-yard line. The Bears’ defense would wind up holding the Vikings to a field goal.
Jordan Addison bounces off a defender for a 69-yard gain!
📺: #MINvsCHI on FOX
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/OVIYAQc3Rk— NFL (@NFL) November 24, 2024
The lost timeout hurt the Bears later in the second half, especially when Eberflus miscommunicated his plans to go for a fourth-down conversion on Chicago’s next possession.
With his special teams unit out on the field with the offense, quarterback Caleb Williams and Eberflus chose not to burn a second timeout early in the third quarter. Williams had to rush to get a snap off and the Bears turned the ball over on downs.
Matt Eberflus: It’s always warrants risking a timeout on a big play
On Monday, Eberflus was asked why he chose to throw the challenge flag. Eberflus thinks it’s wise to challenge any long play.
“First of all, I threw the challenge flag because it was an explosive (play), it’s 69 yards,” Eberflus said. “But when that’s an explosive there we want to make sure we throw that flag…It always warrants a challenge when you have that big of a gain.”
Always?
It would have made more sense for Eberflus to say he thought his defense needed a timeout after giving up nearly 70 yards and thought he had nothing to lose by challenging. Regardless, big plays don’t always warrant reviews, because timeouts are precious.
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