Bears coach Matt Eberflus defended his decision to attempt a 46-yard field goal Sunday instead of another play in an effort to get Cairo Santos even closer to the uprights of the south end zone.

With 35 seconds to play and the ball at 30, the Bears passed the ball to Roschon Johnson for two yards. Instead of doing something similar again, the Bears ran the clock down to 3 seconds before taking a timeout and sending Santos onto the court. His kick was blocked.

“That’s where they were loading the box,” Eberflus said after the game. “You could say you could certainly do that, maybe get a few more yards, but you also risk clumsiness and other things there. We felt where we were…if we were at 36 or 35, you definitely do that because you want to get it in there. I felt very confident … with the wind and where we are on the field.

With good reason.

Santos had a 43-yarder blocked in London with Cole Kmet snapping the ball to give the Bears a 19-point lead in the final minutes of last month’s game. Otherwise, his last miss of less than 48 yards came in New Orleans on Nov. 5, 2023, when he hit the upright on a 40-yard attempt.

The Bears defense needed one more stop to pull out a win on Sunday. Instead, they gave up a 60-yard completion to Packers receiver Christian Watson.

By means of Patrick Finley

He looked solid — not great, but certainly a step forward — from start to finish, completing 23 of 31 passes for 231 yards and a passer rating of 95.0. He also ran nine times for 70 yards, including four times on third or fourth down.

By means of Jason Lieser

A blocked kick by Cairo Santos gives Green Bay a 20-19 victory.

By means of Rick Morrissey