3 reasons the Bears' loss to the Packers was actually a good thing

I'm a rationalizer, which means that even after the most heartbreaking of losses, I always try to find a silver lining. It's something I have to do since I care so much about sports but don't want to be driven insane as my teams spectacularly disappoint me year after year.

As a fan of the New York Mets and Chicago Bears, trust me when I say that it's a necessary survival mechanism. Normally it's the Mets who invent creative new ways to lose and drive me to the edge of despair, but after a deep postseason run filled with improbably victories, the tide seems to be shifting at Citi Field. Fear not though, because the Bears are picking up the slack.

The past month has delivered one gut punch after another, and this Sunday was just the latest weekly example. Just as I was when Noah Brown caught the game-winning Hail Mary for the Commanders, once again I was left standing in front of the TV in slack-jawed disbelief as the Bears lost. This time it was when the last-second field goal attempt by Cairo Santos was blocked and fell harmlessly to the turf.

Spooky season may be over now that Halloween has passed, but it was eerie how similar the ending of this game was to the infamous "Double Doink" playoff loss to the Eagles. In both games, a vaunted Bears defense was unable to hold a late lead, and in both games, a young Bears quarterback led the team down the field and put them in position to win. Each time, the Bears settled for a long field goal rather than try to get more yards. Unfortunately, we know how each game ended.

Now that I've had almost 24 hours to come to grips with the Bears' 11th straight loss to the Packers, I'm doing what I always do and rationalizing it, trying to find some way to talk myself off the ledge.

Obviously we as fans want to win, especially against an archrival that's had our number for so long. Chicago came into the game 4-5, and despite having a nasty remaining schedule, were still in the playoff hunt. A win over Green Bay would get the Bears to within a game of the Packers, with an inside track on the tiebreaker. Maybe I'm crazy, but here's what I think — the way this game played out was the best thing that could have happened to this franchise. Here are three reasons why.

This game was proof that Shane Waldron was a bad fit

The Bears shook things up this week when they fired offensive coordinator Shane Waldron and promoted passing game coordinator Thomas Brown to take his place. Even though Waldron was only halfway through his first year on the job, the move came not a moment too soon, as there was no way to explain how an offense with so much talent could be held to just one touchdown in three weeks.

Brown briefly called plays for the Carolina Panthers last year, and he has a sterling reputation around the league. It's easy to see why after Sunday.

Brown's gameplan actually made sense. He identified the strengths and weakness of his offense, and he geared his playcalling around that. The Bears have an offensive line that is both bad and injured, so Brown called a lot of quick reads to get the ball out of Caleb Williams' hands fast.

Brown employed the bruising running style of Roschon Johnson between the tackles. He used the open-field ability of D'Andre Swift on the edges, which yielded a beautiful 39-yard touchdown near the end of the third quarter. He drew up plays for every Bears receiver, and unlike Waldron, he didn't forget about Cole Kmet.

Waldron was just not in sync with this team, which is why the rhetoric from Bears players this week and their body language during the game was much better with him gone. The Packers have a good defense, but with Brown calling the shots, the Bears were able to move the ball and control the game. If defense and/or special teams had kept up their end of the bargain, the Bears would have won.

This game was proof that Caleb Williams is the real deal

As fans, we're prisoners of the moment, especially when it comes to negative results. We see one bad performance from a rookie quarterback and we're ready to label him a bust. It's not a healthy way to operate.

Caleb Williams has had his ups and downs during his rookie season. His play has been picked apart, and he's been relentlessly compared to fellow first-round rookies Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye and Bo Nix, two of whom he's played against and lost to.

Caleb came into Chicago with the hopes of an entire city on his shoulders, which is just an unreal burden to bear for anyone, even someone with as much talent as he has. He's handled the pressure admirably though. Any worries that he would be a diva or a locker room problem waiting to happen have been proven completely false. Through thick and thin, he's left it all on the field, even as the Bears have failed to protect him with a lackluster offensive line and inadequate gameplans.

The number one goal of this season wasn't to win the Super Bowl or make the playoffs or beat the Packers. It was to make sure that Caleb Williams would be the guy. The Bears had 17 games to prove that they had finally solved their franchise quarterback dilemma.

It's been so frustrating to hear and read all of the criticism directed at Caleb in recent weeks. Don't you see that he has no protection? Don't you see that Shane Waldron doesn't know what he's doing? Yes, there are areas where Caleb can improve, such as his deep ball accuracy and his tendency to hold the ball too long sometimes. That's rookie stuff that can easily be improved as the game slows down for him.

Caleb has made some special plays this year, but this game against the Packers should finally put every Bears fan's mind at ease. We have our guy. We finally have our guy.

Caleb got the ball out of his hands quickly all day. He made quick, decisive reads and took what the defense gave him. He put the Bears in a position to win, and when the defense let it slip away, he responded once again.

Caleb was sacked on first and second down on Chicago's final drive, but he managed to show every tool in his vast toolbox from that point forward. On 3rd and 19 he was in danger of being taken down yet again, but he evaded pressure and rolled to his right before firing a bullet to Rome Odunze for a gain of 16.

One 4th and 3, he looked Odunze's way again, this time feathering a perfect back-shoulder throw up the sideline for a gain of 21. Caleb hasn't been accurate with that kind of throw yet this season, and in fact badly missed almost the exact same throw on the final play of the loss to the Texans in Week 2, but this one was right on the money.

The Packers then threw an all-out blitz on him, but he stayed calm and found Keenan Allen to get into field goal range. Watch the entire sequence here and tell me that this kid isn't going to be special:

Caleb checked every box on this sequence. He overcame negative plays. He showed his ability to escape pressure and throw on the run. He demonstrated his arm strength, touch and ball placement. And he was fearless in the face of an all-out blitz.

Whatever happens between now and the end of the season, the Bears can rest easy knowing that they've finally solved their quarterback situation. I'm happy for Daniels, Maye and Nix and wish them continued success, but there's nobody I'd rather have as my team's quarterback than Caleb.

This game was proof that Matt Eberflus is not the answer at head coach

Just when we think we've run out of ways to illustrate how unfit Matt Eberflus is to be the Bears head coach, he goes out and does it again, letting victory slip away because he coached scared.

Watch that video above again. Caleb completed his throw to Keenan Allen with 49 seconds left. The Bears had a timeout, but they ran only one more play before Cairo Santos came out to try and win it from 46 yards away, and that was a short run from D'Andre Swift. That is coaching malpractice.

We're in a golden age of kicking in the NFL, but any Bears fan could tell you that a 46-yarder, against a team that has owned them for decades, at the buzzer, in Soldier Field, in THE WINDY FREAKING CITY, for a team that has had traumatic experience with late field goals before, is the farthest thing from a sure thing there is.

Cairo Santos is a very good kicker. Was I confident that he would bang home that kick? I was not. I would describe my mood as "hoping against all hope." When the kick was blocked, the only person watching that was surprised was Matt Eberflus.

Santos' previous kicks on the day were all low. That's typically how he kicks it, especially when he needs any distance. The Packers knew this, which was why they were confident that they could get a hand on one of his attempts.

Santos has never missed from inside 40 yards since joining the Bears. Running another play or two to virtually guarantee victory should be a no-brainer, but instead Eberflus was happy to settle for a longer kick.

This was just another example of Eberflus being too afraid to maximize his team's chances of winning. We've seen it countless times, and the evidence is overwhelming. In late game situations, he is objectively terrible.

Eberflus is now 14-30 since taking over for Matt Nagy in 2022. He's also 5-17 in one-score games per Paul Hembekides of Get Up, an unimaginably terrible stat that shows that not only does he lose much more than he wins, he inflicts maximum pain on Bears fans while doing it, getting our hopes up before falling just short.

The Bears are 4-6 and all but eliminated from the playoffs. We know Caleb has the goods. This is the third year of the Matt Eberflus experience, and we've been given more than enough reasons to know that it's just not going to work out. If any good comes from Sunday's heartbreaking loss, it's that he won't let us forget that.