The Chicago Bears had themselves yet another stunning defeat in a season full of them on Sunday. This time, they fell as the Green Bay Packers blocked a would-be, game-winning field goal by Cairo Santos.
In the aftermath of the loss, Bears coach Matt Eberflus defended his decision to kick the 46-yard attempt rather than run an additional play. But come Monday, Eberflus turned his attention to another aspect of that blocked field goal:
He thinks the refs missed a penalty.
According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, Eberflus is turning video over to the league to argue that the officials missed a penalty on the Packers for illegally initiating contact with the long snapper.
#Bears coach Matt Eberflus says they’ll turn in Sunday’s game-sealing blocked field goal to the league office because the #Packers “were on our long snapper” and felt a penalty could’ve been called. No flag was thrown.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) November 18, 2024
NFL rules prohibit defenders from making contact with the long snapper when his head is down and within one second of the snap. And sure, Eberflus does appear to be right as contact was made on long snapper Scott Daly in a vulnerable position.
But what is he hoping to accomplish by protesting to the league? The game is over. That’s not going to change.
By protesting the call, it just brings more focus on his decision to kick before they needed to. That won’t help him at all with Bears fans or his players.
