Matt Eberflus is a genius. Rather than blame himself after his conservative play-not-to-lose strategy backfired when Karl Brooks blocked a potential game-winning field goal, he has pointed the finger at the Green Bay Packers.
It's not Eberflus' fault, but the Packers' for cheating. In the NFL equivalent of a little brother complaining to their parents after losing a game of Madden, the Bears plan to inform the NFL of how badly the Packers cheated them out of victory.
According to Eberflus, the Bears will send the film to the league office because he thinks the Packers were breaking the rules by pushing their long snapper.
Maybe he has a point. I mean, it's a great way of deflecting blame, and while he's at it, maybe he can send these plays to the league office, too.
Matt Eberflus should send these plays from Packers-Bears to the league office
Referees hand Bears a free first down after Caleb Williams flop
Eberflus, known stickler for the rule book, bizarrely didn't seem to have a problem when Caleb Williams flopped over to fool the referees into thinking he was shoved out of bounds by Xavier McKinney.
The Packers' safety barely touched Williams, who dramatically fell to the ground on the Bears' sideline. Matt LaFleur understandably didn't like it. According to astute lip-readers, LaFleur called it a "soft a-- call." He's not wrong.
Instead of facing a 3rd-and-6, the refs handed the Bears a free 15 yards to move the chains. Maybe Eberflus can send this one in first.
Unlike Caleb Williams, Josh Jacobs actually gets illegally shoved out of bounds
The officials were quick to throw a flag when Williams flopped over on the Bears' sideline, but they failed to maintain that energy when Josh Jacobs actually got shoved when he was already out of bounds.
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Midway through the second quarter, Jordan Love hit Jacobs on a checkdown. He picked up 23 yards before Jaylon Johnson tackled him out of bounds. Then, Elijah Hicks came in to give him a late shove for good measure. Despite an official standing 10 yards away with a clear view of what happened, he let it go.
It came after the Williams' penalty, making the non-call even worse.
D'Andre Swift's missed false-start penalty
You know the sign of a blatant penalty? When five defenders immediately point it out to the officials.
And it came at a crucial moment. The Bears had a 2nd-and-4 with a five-point lead and a little over seven minutes remaining. D'Andre Swift made the most obvious false start you could ever see. So, obvious, in fact, that he didn't move at the start of the play and almost fumbled the ball. Even Swift knew it was a penalty.
The refs didn't call it, and the former Lions running back picked up two yards to make it 3rd-and-2 (which the Bears converted) instead of 2nd-and-9.
We sending that one to the league office, Eberflus? Leave it to Matt LaFleur to be the voice of reason when asked about Eberflus' comments.
"I've seen a lot of plays where I thought a penalty should've been called, and it didn't happen," said LaFleur. "I thought there were multiple plays in that game. That's why you don't want to leave it in the hands of the officials."
Well said.