A Two-Minute Warning

Why did the Bears lose 42-38 to the 49ers last night on the road? Because they get clock-clueless around the two-minute warning. After D’Andre Swift picked up a first down at the Bears’ 31-yard line with 2:31 left in the half, the Munsters ran off zero plays until the warning. The possession ended with a punt and the Bears still down by seven. The 49ers pulled ahead with 2:15 left in the game. The ensuing kickoff went into the end zone for a touchback. The Bears had all three timeouts left plus the two-minute warning, which they proceeded to squander on a run play. Wait, there’s more. There was 1:01 left after quarterback Caleb Williams completed a fourteen-yard pass to Luther Burden III at the San Francisco 31. Williams, whether on his own or per instructions, wasted sixteen seconds before calling the next play. Only then did the timeouts start. Too bad the Bears were all out of them by the time they had the ball at the 2-yard line; you don’t have any room for error with just four seconds left. Maybe if they’d managed the clock a little smarter… Oh, and maybe if Pro Bowl guard Joe Thuney hadn’t just stood there and instead blocked Yetur Gross-Matos in hot pursuit of Thuney’s quarterback, Williams could’ve set himself instead of throwing off his back foot and bouncing the ball to an open Jahde Walker in the end zone. Oh, well. Let’s call the loss a learning experience, and leave it at that. Until and unless it happens again.