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It was a different version of the same thing for the Chicago Bears in their Week 9 loss to the Arizona Cardinals.
In their second straight defeat, the Bears failed to find the end zone on offense while also surrendering a season-high 29 points on the defensive side in Arizona’s decisive 29-9 victory.
Rookie quarterback Caleb Williams completed 22 of his 41 passes for 217 yards, no TDs and no interceptions in the loss. Despite netting decent yardage, Williams struggled with accuracy and got little help from an injury-plagued offensive line that surrendered 6.0 sacks to an Arizona defense that was ranked 27th out of 32 teams heading into the matchup.
The loss to Arizona followed Chicago’s disastrous Week 8 defeat at the hands of the Washington Commanders, which ended on a successful Hail Mary attempt by Commanders QB Jayden Daniels. That final play, which was the result of multiple defensive gaffes by head coach Matt Eberflus and the secondary, has been difficult for the team to get past. When asked how the team could have bounced back better after last week’s loss, Williams’ reply didn’t look great for Eberflus in particular.
“Early on in the week, I think we could have done better overall of bouncing back after that,” Williams said. “I know it’s a tough loss. It’s tough regardless of who you are in the facility. If you are out there making plays or if you’re making decisions up top. Being better at that, understanding that we have many more games left after that. Being able to be one, be a family, and move on from that. And have the right leaders, which we do. We have the right guys to do things like that, which is bounce back from something like that. We got to do it this week.”
Caleb Williams’ Comments Don’t Paint Matt Eberflus, Bears Coaching Staff, in Flattering Light
While Williams did say he believes the team has the right leaders in place, he’s not going to start a controversy by throwing his coach under the bus. The rookie QB’s acknowledgement that the team could have done a better job of moving on shines a light directly on Eberflus, whose job it is to help the team move beyond previous losses.
Eberflus also received criticism for keeping Williams in for the game’s final minutes, as the rookie signal-caller was injured during what was essentially garbage time.
When asked why he was still playing with his team down 20 points in the final seconds, Williams noted it wasn’t his decision.
“You fight to the end of the game, if you’re in the game,” Williams said. “If not, [the] coach makes a decision like that. You have to deal with it and figure out the next steps. But yeah, not my decision.”
Fortunately, Williams’ injury doesn’t appear to be serious, and Eberflus is lucky if that’s the case.
Eberflus Weighs in After Bad Loss to Cardinals
For his part, Flus did take some accountability after the loss to Arizona.
“Overall, it’s just not good enough,” Eberflus said after the game. “Not good enough by the players and coaches, by the staff. Everybody’s involved, and that’s what I said to the guys in there. It starts with the coaches putting you in a position to make plays. We didn’t do a good enough job of that today. We have to take an inward look, everybody, as we go forward here.”
It’s a team sport, and execution by the players absolutely matters. But putting players in the best position to succeed also matters, and it matters a great deal.
“We’re 4-4 right now, halfway through and starting a new season right now,” Eberflus added. “To me, it’s about getting this first victory and being 1-0 this week.”
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