CLEVELAND — Slumped deep in his locker, a forlorn and morose Eddie Jackson looked as if the weight of five frustrating seasons trying to recapture lost glory had finally taken its toll on the former All-Pro safety.
For a moment Sunday against the Browns, Jackson and the Bears were there again — an attacking defense dominating the line of scrimmage, harassing a quarterback, taking the ball away, scoring, celebrating and carrying the Bears to a victory against a quality opponent on the road that would make them serious playoff contenders. It was just like old times. Or close, anyway.
And then, as teammate Tyrique Stevenson said, “football happened.” The once-dominant defense lost its mojo, quarterback Joe Flacco recaptured some past glory of his own and made uncanny plays. In an instant, Jackson went from the glory of 2018 to Week 2 against the Buccaneers. Or Week 4 against the Broncos. Or Week 11 against the Lions. A monumental victory turned into an excruciating, brutal 20-17 loss.
“I don’t know what to say, bro,” Jackson said softly, still deep inside his locker. “Defensive plays I wish we could have had back, man. But it just … I don’t know man.”
Jackson looked like a man who has been here before.
“This one cuts deeper,” Jackson said. “It’s just crazy because we came out fighting. We knew what was at stake with this. It’s like we keep preaching, ‘Finish. Finish. Finish.’ And we were so close. We’ve just got to finish. It’s crazy, man.”
For three-plus quarters, the Bears’ defense was doing it all. When Justin Fields and the offense struggled early, Jackson intercepted a Flacco pass and returned it 27 yards to the 1-yard line to set up the Bears’ first touchdown. Tied 7-7 in the third quarter, linebacker Tremaine Edmunds intercepted Flacco and returned it 45 yards for a touchdown that gave the Bears a 14-7 lead.
When Trent Taylor muffed a punt to give the Browns possession at the Bears’ 20 with the Bears leading 17-7 in the third quarter, Stevenson made a dazzling interception on the Browns’ first play to end the threat.
But the defense finally wilted in the fourth quarter. With 5:18 to play and the Bears leading 17-10, the Bears had held the Browns to 222 yards and 4.1 yards per play. In that final 5:18, the Bears allowed 148 yards on 13 plays (11.4 yards per play), including Flacco’s 51-yard touchdown pass to Amari Cooper that tied the game at 17 with 3:08 left; and Flacco’s 34-yard pass to tight end David Njoku on third-and-15 from the Browns’ 47 that set up Dustin Hopkins’ 34-yard field goal with 32 seconds left to win it.
The third-and-15 pass to Njoku seemed to be the one the Bears rued the most. They blitzed safety Jaquan Brisker and cornerback Kyler Gordon and had defensive tackle Justin Jones drop into coverage. Flacco beat the pressure and found Njoku open over the middle.
“It’s one of those pressures that’s like, if it don’t get home, it’s going to hit big,” Jackson said. “And that’s what happened.”
It was a risk Eberflus obviously felt worth taking.
“It’s Coach’s decision [to] call the plays,” Jackson said when asked if he liked pressuring the quarterback in that situation. “As players, we just go out there and execute. Whether we like it or not, you’ve got to go execute.”
Last week, Jackson said the Lions loss was the worst feeling this season. This one beat it.
“This one, it just sucks. I don’t know what else to say,” a disconsolate Jackson said. “We thought we had it. When you see a defensive game like that — how many defensive games do you see played like that?
“We knew it was going to be a defensive game. We weren’t looking for offense to put up points. We were just looking to get turnovers, stops and score on defense — which we did. Just at the end, we couldn’t finish.”
