Chicago Bears coach Matt Eberflus and two players met with reporters Monday at Halas Hall after the 30-27 overtime loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday.
The Bears have a quick turnaround before Thursday’s game against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field. They were set to have team meetings and a walk-through Monday afternoon before resuming practice Tuesday to prepare for the 10-1 division leaders.
Here are four things we learned from Eberflus and his players.
1. Wide receiver DJ Moore expected discussion later Monday about the botched fourth-down play.
The Bears hadn’t held their team meeting when Moore met with reporters, but he expected to find out exactly what went wrong when the Bears decided to go for it on fourth-and-4 at the 27-yard line in the third quarter.
Kicker Cairo Santos initially ran onto the field before coming back off, and brief confusion caused the play call to get in later than desired. Quarterback Caleb Williams said he misheard what offensive coordinator Thomas Brown said, and he threw an incomplete pass to Keenan Allen.
“Everybody was pretty confused because I think we got the wrong play call in,” Moore said. “I mean, Caleb said that yesterday. But that moment was just like a ‘What is going on?’ moment that we could have avoided.”
Eberflus said Sunday night he has to do a better job of communicating the plans to everybody so the call doesn’t come in late.
2. Cornerback Jaylon Johnson relayed what officials told him about his two pass-interference penalties.
While Vikings wide receiver Jordan Addison broke out with eight catches for 162 yards, star receiver Justin Jefferson totaled two catches for 27 yards.
But Jefferson did prompt two pass-interference calls on Johnson.
The first was a 35-yard penalty midway through the second quarter that negated a Jonathan Owens interception. The Vikings scored two plays later. Johnson said the official told him he pulled Jefferson’s jersey.
“I’m not saying that I didn’t quickly tug his jersey,” Johnson said. “I don’t think it was enough to impede his progress on getting to the ball, and again, as he’s pushing off of me, I don’t see it as me just impeding his progress to the ball. But he called it.”
The second came in the third quarter, a more questionable 10-yard penalty on a drive in which the Vikings didn’t score.
“I was in position,” Johnson said. “He made contact at the top of the route. (The official) said I knocked him off balance. Of course he’s going to get knocked off balance. That’s running into each other.
“At the end of the day, the calls didn’t come my way. They have their reasons for calling it, and it is what it is.”
Johnson said frustration is of course growing after the Bears defense gave up 452 yards against the Vikings. He pointed to their run defense — which allowed running back Aaron Jones to rush for 106 yards — and their inability to stop explosive plays as the two most glaring issues.
“I don’t walk around with a smile on my face,” Johnson said. “There ain’t nothing to be happy about. So, I mean, obviously my frustration is at a high. Everybody’s frustration is at a high.”
3. Matt Eberflus again pointed to ‘technique’ on the second blocked field goal in two weeks.
A week after the Green Bay Packers blocked Santos’ potential winning field goal, Vikings defensive lineman Jerry Tillery batted down Santos’ 48-yard attempt in the second quarter.
Like the one by the Packers, the block came against the left side of the Bears line but a little more outside.
“I just think it’s technique,” Eberflus said. “It’s getting your foot down, bracing up there, staying lower. We just have to do a better job there with that.”
Eberflus said the technique issue was emphasized in practice last week. Santos said Sunday night he is taking a look at his operation too.
4. Eberflus was pleased with the way Caleb Williams handled the Vikings defense.
Much talk leading up to Sunday’s game was about how Williams would handle the Vikings pressure, and Eberflus thought the rookie quarterback excelled at that tough test as he threw for 340 yards and two touchdowns while taking three sacks.
“Last week was a big challenge in terms of front variation, coverage variation,” Eberflus said. “The pressure looks and then dropping out. Pressure looks and then pressuring. And then being able to handle that, get the ball out in a timely manner, to be able to check to the protections at times when he needed to, which is really good too.
“And then being able to strike the ball down the field because that’s where the open spaces were, based on what they were presenting to us during the season and then yesterday too. Really good job with the tight-window throws and getting the ball in space. Decision-making was really good.”
Williams was especially effective in the fourth quarter as he led three scoring drives to help the Bears force overtime.
Moore said the offense now has to put it together for a full game.
“If we could do that the first three quarters, it’s going to be amazing to see what we put up in points and how many games we win,” he said.
