Matt Eberflus, Bears cry foul to NFL on game-deciding FG block

Field Level Media|published: Mon 18th November, 14:47 2024

Nov 17, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Bears kicker Cairo Santos (8) looks on after his game winning field goal attempt is blocked by Green Bay Packers defensive tackle Karl Brooks (not pictured) during the fourth quarter at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Bartel-Imagn Images

Pictures and video point to a clear penalty on the Packers' game-deciding blocked field goal on Sunday, Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus said the day after Green Bay escaped with a 20-19 win.

Eberflus said the Bears are sending a report and video of Chicago's field-goal try as time expired to the NFL to repeat the complaint he shared with officials in real time on Karl Brooks' block of Cairo Santos try for a game-winning 46-yarder.

"(The Packers) were on our longsnapper," Eberflus said Monday, a violation of the NFL rule that defenses must leave the snapper "uncovered" on placement kicks.

The result of the play was Green Bay holding on for a 20-19 victory extending the Packers' streak of wins over the Bears to 11 under head coach Matt LaFleur. Eberflus is 0-5 against the Packers and the Bears are 4-6 after starting the season 4-2.

Brooks said he only got his middle finger on the ball and was concerned upon contact that he didn't slow the ball down enough. The play was the focus of special teams coach Rich Bisaccia in last week's practices according to LaFleur. LaFleur said Bisaccia told the team he "wouldn't understand" if they didn't come out of the Week 11 game at Soldier Field with a blocked kick because of Santos' penchant for lower, line-drive angles on longer kicks.

"We were going to block it," Green Bay defensive lineman Kenny Clark said of what the Packers discussed on the final play. "We talked about TJ (Slaton) or KB (Brooks) blocking the kick all week. They've got holes in their field goal protection and a couple of them they got close. So we've been talking about that all week. It was a problem, so, coach Rich has been telling them all week and we ended up getting one."

Eberflus repeated Monday that he didn't regret not running another play to shorten the length of the field goal try on second down. Santos has never missed a field goal from 40 yards or closer, making all 71 of his tries from that distance with the Bears.

"We didn't want to risk a fumble or a holding penalty. We felt good about where we were at on the field to kick the field goal," Eberflus said Monday.

--Field Level Media

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