CHICAGO – Bears coach Matt Eberflus defended his decision not to make a final play at the end of Chicago’s Week 11 loss to the Green Bay Packers to get kicker Cairo Santos closer to the south end zone at Soldier Field.

With Chicago down by one point, Santos attempted a 46-yard field goal, which was blocked as time expired by Packers defensive tackle Karl Brooks. Chicago’s 20-19 loss on Sunday marked 11 consecutive losses to Green Bay, a streak dating back to the 2018 season.

“We felt good in terms of where the kick line was,” Eberflus said. “The wind wasn’t a factor today, and Cairo made some of those kicks within that range. We’re confident in Cairo and confident in our operation there.”

The Bears’ final drive started with 2:59 left from their own 30-yard line. Quarterback Caleb Williams took them into Green Bay territory by connecting with fellow rookie Rome Odunze for a 16-yard reception on third-and-nine and finding Odunze again to convert on fourth-and-3 to get past the to reach midfield.

Chicago picked up another first down and then ran the ball with Roschon Johnson, who picked up 2 yards on a play that started with 35 seconds left from the Packers’ 30-yard line. The Bears ran the clock down to three seconds before using their final timeout and sending Santos and the kicking team onto the field. Green Bay ran out of timeouts.

Santos’ attempt was blocked and the Packers’ sideline erupted in celebration as Green Bay (7-3, 1-2 NFC North) secured the first division win of the season.

This marks the second time in franchise history that the Packers have blocked a potential game-winning or tying field goal on the final play of the game. The other one came back on November 26, 1939, against the Cleveland Rams.

“They were loading the box there,” Eberflus said. “You could say that you could certainly do that, maybe get a few more meters, but you also run the risk of clumsy things and other things there. We felt where we were, if we are on 36 or 35, then Definitely I want to do that because you want to get it in there. I was very confident where we were at the time with the wind and where we were on the field.”

In Week 7, Santos had a 43-yard field goal attempt blocked in Chicago’s 35–16 victory over the visiting Jacksonville Jaguars, but it came with tight end Cole Kmet snapping the ball in relief of injured long snapper Scott Daly.

“That was a comfortable range there,” Santos said. “Left hash in that left or right wind, everything felt great and it looked like the line where the ball was going was right down the middle. I hit it solid on my foot. The service was good, snap, hold. They made just a good game with the penetration there.”

One of the last things Packers players heard on the eve of the game was a message from special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia during the team meeting.

“I will say this: Rich told our team last night, ‘I won’t understand if we come out of this game without a block, whether it’s a field goal or a PAT,’” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. “So great job by our special teams coaches.”

It stemmed from a vulnerability Bisaccia and his staff saw on film from the Bears’ blocking unit. It only took until Chicago’s final kick to figure out the best way to exploit it.

“We saw that we could get a good push up the middle,” said Packers safety Xavier McKinney, who lined up on the edge of Santos’ blind side. “And we believed that the guys we have would play big and be stronger up front and that we would be able to get that push that we needed. And we got it when we needed it in an important situation, and we got the block. We studied it all week through the film, and we were able to get it.”

Brooks said he could pinpoint exactly where he got the ball. It was with his left middle finger.

“At first when I touched it I thought I couldn’t get enough of it,” said Brooks, who also blocked a field goal against the Minnesota Vikings last season as a rookie. “And it failed, and then I really celebrated it. So it was definitely fun. It was cool. It was a good experience.”

Brooks got an assist from Lukas Van Ness, who did his own version of the tush push.

“I was on the same side as Karl and I knew he was going to apply pressure inside the A gap, so I just got behind him and pushed him as hard as I could,” Van Ness said. “The next thing I knew, I saw his hand go up and I heard ‘thump,’ and I heard everyone screaming. Super exciting. I was happy to be there and do what I could to help this team win.”

Green Bay rookie linebacker Edgerrin Cooper said the team noticed on film that Santos kicks with a low ball flight compared to other kickers and that the Packers saw it earlier in the game, on Santos’ first field goal, a 53-yarder in the first quarter .

“We put so much emphasis on it this week,” Cooper said. “We just saw how low he kicked the ball, so we knew we had a good chance to block the ball.”

Cooper and fellow linebacker Quay Walker were both surprised that Chicago (4-6, 0-1) didn’t make another play when it had time to get into shorter field goal range.

“At least one more play,” Walker said. “At least let the ball try to get closer to the field goal.”

Sunday’s performance marked the second time since Week 8 that the Bears lost a game in confusing fashion in the final game. In Washington, Commander wide receiver Noah Brown caught a Hail Mary pass tipped into his hands while standing unguarded in the end zone. Bears cornerback Tyrique Stevenson faced intense criticism and temporarily lost his spot in the starting lineup after his decision to talk back and forth with fans leading up to the game caused him to miss his defensive assignment.

“It’s almost comical,” Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson said Sunday about the nature of the Bears’ recent losses. ‘The luck of the damn draw at this point. We have to figure out how to get better.”