(670 The Score) Holding a 24-16 lead over the Cardinals with just more than five minutes remaining Sunday, the Bears faced a pivotal third-and-1 play at their own 34-yard line as they looked to extend their drive and burn clock. With the Bears using a wildcat formation, rookie running back Roschon Johnson took a snap directly and was stuffed at the line of scrimmage for no gain.
That forced the Bears to punt, and they flirted with disaster before pulling through for a 27-16 win. While the end result was what the Bears wanted, their short-yardage failure felt similar to others that contributed to them losing games earlier in the season. With that in mind, Bears coach Matt Eberflus is hoping for improvement in those situations moving forward.
“We have to do a better job with short yardage,” Eberflus told reporters Tuesday at Halas Hall. “There’s no question about that. You have to have a staple, something that you go to. It's usually the sneak or the wedge or the rugby, whatever you’re calling that, the Philadelphia play, and we’ve done that a couple times. But we need to be more effective with that. We’re looking to be more effective at that. Because you need something like that where you can always go to that.”
The Bears had maddening troubles in a short-yardage situation in a 20-17 loss to the Browns on Dec. 17. Early in the second quarter, safety Eddie Jackson returned an interception to the 1-yard line. It took the Bears eight plays – with four negated by penalties – to score a touchdown, and that came from the 6-yard line after a great scramble and throw by quarterback Justin Fields.
The Bears (6-9) host the Falcons (7-8) on Sunday at Soldier Field.