Eberflus: Bears' clock management handled 'the right way' - ESPN

DETROIT — With 36 seconds remaining, trailing by three points after putting together a furious second-half comeback, the Chicago Bears were in position to tie or defeat the Lions on Thanksgiving Day.

But late-game clock mismanagement assured the Bears would not get the chance to complete a come-from-behind victory against their division rival. As time ran out on Chicago to solidify a sixth consecutive loss in a 23-20 defeat, coach Matt Eberflus defended his decision for not calling a timeout in the final moments of the game.

«We're at 36 seconds right there and our hope was, because it was third [down] going into fourth [down], that we would rerack that play at 18 seconds, throw it inbounds, get it in field goal range and then call a timeout,» Eberflus said.

Upon getting the ball back at Detroit's 1-yard line with 3:31 to play, the Bears ran 13 plays before facing second-and-20 from the Lions' 35-yard line. Quarterback Caleb Williams was sacked for a 6-yard loss with 32 seconds remaining as Detroit defensive end Za'Darius Smith went untouched to bring the rookie down.

Instead of calling a timeout ahead of what became Chicago's final play while facing third-and-26 from Detroit's 41-yard line, the Bears let the clock wind down. About 10 seconds passed before Williams frantically alerted the offense to get lined up for a pass play, and the ball was not snapped until there were six seconds remaining.

Williams launched a deep ball to rookie wide receiver Rome Odunze that bounced off the turf inside the 5-yard line as time expired.

«I knew when we snapped the ball that the [clock] was going to run out, so I was trying to get to the end zone,» Odunze said «We just didn't get a great coverage for it. Moving forward, I'll know