CHICAGO (670 The Score) – In the aftermath of a historic collapse, Bears head coach Matt Eberflus stood by his pivotal decision to go for it on fourth-and-1 rather than kick a potential go-ahead field goal late in a 31-28 loss to the Broncos on Sunday at Soldier Field.
With the game tied 28-28 with 2:57 remaining, the Bears were looking for the go-ahead score as they lined up on fourth-and-1 from the Broncos' 18-yard line. Initially, quarterback Justin Fields – who’s often in shotgun – moved under center and attempted to draw the Broncos offsides with a hard count before Eberflus called a timeout.
The Bears’ offense returned to the line of scrimmage following the timeout, and Fields handed off to running back Khalil Herbert on a read-option play out of shotgun. Herbert was stopped for no gain up the middle as Chicago turned it over on downs.
“Just because of the way we were running it,” Eberflus said of the decision to go for it. “It was a half-a-yard. So, I felt very confident about getting it right there. Every situation is different. You got to look at the game in its entirety. I felt that the way we were running the football and the confidence we had on offense in that moment, I would say that we’re going to do that right there.
"There’s a lot of plays that you can run there. You can run a bunch of different plays. That’s the play we chose. That’s the play we thought was best at the time.
“It’s about moving people off the ball, as we had been doing all day. We just got to execute in that moment.”
The Bears (0-4) rushed 31 times for 171 yards Sunday, an average of 5.5 yards per carry.
The Broncos (1-3) quickly responded by droving 48 yards in five plays to kick the go-ahead field goal with 1:51 remaining in the game. Fields was intercepted on the ensuing possession, and Denver ended the game with quarterback Russell Wilson taking a knee.
Fields and the Bears were confident in the decision to go for the first down rather than kicking a field goal.
“If you get it, the game is over most likely,” Fields said. “You got to make them use their timeouts, probably get past the two-minute warning at least and then we’re kicking a field goal with under a minute left. I love the decision. It shows that coach has trust in us to convert on that in that situation. We just got to execute.
“If we would’ve got it, then I would be up here talking about how great of a call that was. It just didn’t go our way.”
Chris Emma covers the Bears, Chicago’s sports scene and more for 670TheScore.com. Follow him on Twitter @CEmma670.