Close Menu
SUBSCRIBE
Football

Bears clock management issues, explained: Late-game execution plagues Chicago again as fans chant ‘sell the team’

News RoomBy No Comments6 Mins Read
Bears clock management issues, explained: Late-game execution plagues Chicago again as fans chant ‘sell the team’

The Bears continued their trend of losing games in the most befuddling ways on the margins, dropping their Week 17 clash with the Seahawks 6-3 (yes, you read that right).

It was a match of very few highlights. The wind was brisk. The cold was biting. And the football was dour, particularly in the game’s final moments.

Chicago has struggled mightily in late-game moments this year. The Bears have seven single-score losses this year, a harrowing total. From their Hail Mary defeat to the Commanders to their late-game foibles against the Vikings and Lions, late-game execution has been a sore spot for Chicago throughout the 2024 campaign. On Thursday, that flaw reared its ugly head once more.

Here’s what you need to know about the Bears’ latest frustrating finish.

NFL HQ: Live NFL scores | Updated NFL standings | Full NFL schedule

Bears clock management issues

Seattle and Chicago authored up one of the most listless performances in recent NFL history. It was only right that such a display would end in similar fashion.

Down three with a little more than two minutes left, all interim coach Thomas Brown’s side needed was to get itself into field goal position to extend the game. Facing 4th-and-1 from their own 39, that target seemed a little less likely. The odds got even worse after offensive lineman Jake Curhan was flagged for a false start.

Now, Chicago was tasked with converting on 4th-and-6. Someone forgot to tell Brown, however, who proceeded to send the punt team out in one of the game’s more baffling moves.

MORE BEARS: Why Pete Carroll is interested in the Chicago head coaching job

Brown soon realized the error of his ways. Unfortunately for the Bears, he had to burn a timeout to do so, sending Williams and Co. back onto the field only after seeing one of those precious gemstones dissolve into the ether.

Seattle dialed up a blitz, sending a cavalry of pass rushers toward the rookie hurler. Williams responded well, darting out to the right before firing a bolt into DJ Moore’s grasp. First down Chicago.

The Bears were on the brink of breaching Seattle territory. Williams knocked them back on the very next play, muffling Coleman Shelton’s snap before being enveloped by Seahawks rushers. It was the seventh time he had been dropped behind the line of scrimmage, pushing his league-high total to 67 this season.

Williams produced another gem of a throw two plays later, launching an arrow to the waiting grasp of Rome Odunze, who slid to corral his QB’s effort beyond the sticks.

Chicago seemed in no hurry, though, using nearly all of the play clock before getting its next play off. Williams explained later he had been hit in the throat, but it’s fair to wonder why Chicago didn’t call a timeout then. Williams assumed the coaches simply didn’t see him licking his wounds on the play.

An incompletion on the ensuing play — prompted by another Seattle blitz — stopped the clock with 37 seconds left. Chicago was at the Seahawks’ 40, five or so yards from field-goal range.

Then, chaos: the Bears relieved themselves of another timeout unprovoked.

Williams returned to the field on second down and fired a deep shot toward Odunze, who had created a few paces of separation along the sideline. No dice.

MORE BEARS: Did Chicago post its head coaching opening on Indeed?

On third down, it seemed likely that Williams and the Bears would try to salvage a few yards and set up Cairo Santos for the game-tying field goal. Instead, Williams airmailed his pass attempt, putting Chicago in a fourth-and-long hole.

The final play of the game was a predictable one. Seattle sent the house toward Williams, who tried to hit Keenan Allen off his back foot. The ball limped through the air, eventually landing into Tariq Woolen’s grasp. The Seahawks had captured the ugliest of victories, and Williams and Co. were forced to reckon with more spotty end-of-game execution.

“I think we simply didn’t execute,” Williams said postgame. “There’s times when you can have a better call, want a better call, things like that. But, you know, we didn’t execute, I didn’t execute on many different occasions this game and it’s frustrating.” Williams also added that it didn’t necessarily feel like “deja vu” of the Thanksgiving ending vs. Detroit because of the different coaching staff. 

Seattle’s move to send a zero blitz on Williams worked a treat. Brown explained that Chicago didn’t have a ton of answers for such a play, outside of calling designed QB runs for Williams, that is.

“They were zeroing us out,” Brown said. “So, there’s not many [plays] — other than running the quarterback, designed quarterback runs — that are great answers for zero coverage.

“Overall, wasn’t good enough as far as the game plan I had for these guys and also didn’t have the offense ready to go.”

MORE BEARS: Best head coaching candidates for Chicago’s opening

Bears fans’ ‘Sell the team’ chant, explained

For the second time in as many prime-time games this week, the Bears were the subject of an unsavory chant at an NFC North ground. This time around, it was Chicagoans themselves delivering the polemic, as Bears fans en masse called on longtime owners the McCaskey family to part ways with the franchise.

Those packed into Soldier Field also offered their thoughts on Chicago’s recent performances, soundtracking the Bears’ latest defeat with a fairly familiar melody: the sound of boos.

“Their frustrations go way longer back then I’ve been here,” Williams said. “My job is to go out there and win games. We don’t focus on the outside noise.

“The fans are going to cheer and maybe boo sometimes and you can’t react to that, it’s not something that we react to. We have a job to do.”

MORE NFL WEEK 17:



Read the full article here

Share.

Related Posts

Add A Comment
Leave A Reply