A Chicago anthem returns: Does anybody really know what time it is?

The clock and the Lions both beat the Bears, 23-20, but it didn't soothe Detroit fans either.

Caleb Williams

There were widespread reports Thursday afternoon of Bears fans sullenly gathering around the dining room table and asking, “So, do you want to talk about the election?”

Watching the Bears lose the 60th minute yet again was ample reason to change the subject to politics, the White Sox, the greatest hits of Nickelback, colonoscopy prep or salamander communication.

Chicago is a very expensive sports desert these days, and the Bears probably remain the best team in town. They also remain the most frustrating. After this 23-20 loss in Detroit, they are 4-8, and coach Matt Eberflus was informed Friday morning that his services were no longer required. One wonders how many new ways they can invent to crash-land. Against the Packers they had a field goal blocked at the end, and against the Commanders they allowed a game-losing Hail Mary, and against the Vikings they made a frantic comeback to get to overtime, even recovered an onside kick in the process, but allowed a sack in OT that crushed the only possession they would have.

Now they had to go to Detroit on a short week to face the team with the best NFC record. Again Caleb Williams rounded up the tattered regiment and led a second-half comeback, with three touchdown passes in the second half. Byron Cowart, on his fifth NFL team, stuffed David Montgomery on third-and-one and forced a Detroit punt. Granted, the Lions downed that punt on the one-yard-line, but the Bears had all three time-outs and only needed a field goal to tie it. And Williams, on third-and-seven, hit D.J. Moore for 25 yards.

The drive continued, just as Lucy began to position the football for Charlie Brown’s kick. On fourth-and-four from the Lions’ 44, Williams hit Moore for 21 yards, but Cole Kmet was whistled for pass interference. The game seemed over when Williams missed Moore, but Detroit’s Kindle Vildor interfered on the play. At that point the Bears had the ball on the 25 and Cairo Santos was warming up his leg for the tie, but a win was a strong possibility, too. The Bears called their second time out with 0:43 left.

Then the game turned into a bomb cyclone for Chicago. A 13-yard completion to Keenan Allen was scotched when Teven Wilkins was flagged for hands-to-the-face. Then Za’Darius Smith sacked Williams on the Lions’ 41. That meant Santos’ field goal attempt would be 59 yards. But with 0:36 left and still holding onto the time out, Eberflus would have several options. Right?

No, not when the rest of the Bears were dawdling on the way back to the huddle, and Williams was anxiously gesturing for them to get in line. The ball didn’t get snapped until :06 remained, and Williams went downfield to Rome Odunze, who was double-teamed and had no chance. The clock relentlessly reached zero, to the open-mouthed shock of several Bears.

Eberflus’ attempt to defend this was too incomprehensible to decode. He said the Bears would try to “re-rack” the play with about 18 seconds left, “throw it inbounds, get into field goal range and then call the timeout.” Williams said he made an adjustment on the play call, which explained why so much time elapsed, but said he didn’t feel he had the authority to call time. It was up to the coach to stop the clock when he saw that the 11 white uniforms weren’t going to line up in a timely manner.

The Bears do not play until Dec. 8 but fired Eberflus before lunch on Black Friday. The players have shown they’re capable of beating anyone on the schedule. And in terms of toughness and his startling ability to make any throw from any angle, Williams will be what the Bears thought he was, sooner rather than later.

Lions’ fans suffered indigestion too. Their club had 15 first downs in the first quarter alone and held the Bears to one in the first half, but only scored one touchdown in four red zone trips. Then the Lions scored only seven points in the second half and have now had just five explosive plays in the past two weeks.

Now 11-1 for the first time in their history, the Lions face injury challenges, especially on defense. Aidan Hutchinson and Alex Anzalone will already miss the rest of the regular season, as will Derrick Barnes. Another linebacker, Malcolm Rodriguez, suffered a knee injury Thursday and is out for the year. Defensive linemen Josh Paschal and Levi Onwuzurike may also miss time.

“Does it really matter?” coach Dan Campbell said. “And that’s what I go back to, man, it doesn’t matter. It is or it isn’t, and we get a guy back or we don’t. Worrying and moaning and bitching about it….what does it matter? It’s done. I know this, whoever we have available, we’re going to get them ready to play and we expect them to hold the line, period.”

Admirable, but if you’re looking at this like a horseplayer and you’re judging performance, the Eagles look more like an NFC champ than the Lions do, and Green Bay’s visit to Ford Field on Thursday night will be instructional.

Meanwhile, the Bears face civil disobedience if they don’t make a coaching change. Eberflus will be a defensive coordinator again, which is probably his best role. And there’s nothing wrong with that. But when the equipment managers throw his coaching trousers into the wash, they should be careful. There’s a time out in the back pocket.

Otherwise:

Green Bay 30, Miami 17

— The Packers piled up a 27-3 lead with a stifling defensive show. They held Miami to two 20-yards-plus plays all night and sacked Tua Tagovailoa five times. Their early lead forced Tagovailoa to throw 46 passes for 365 yards and two touchdowns, while Miami ran the ball 14 times for 39 yards. The Dolphins (5-7) haven’t had a 100-yard running game for four weeks.

— Jordan Love keeps making Packer management look brilliant for the way it drafted and developed him and then moved Aaron Rodgers out to play him. Love was 21 for 28 with no picks and a passer rating of 129.2, and got the Packers into the end zone on three of their first five possessions. The defense had nine minus-yardage plays, and Lucas Van Ness, a former first-round pick, had a sack and made his presence felt. Quay Walker was in on 10 tackles, two of them for a loss.

— Green Bay (9-3) has won seven of its past eight. The only loss was 24-14 at home to Detroit, a game in which Love threw a pick-six to Kerby Joseph. He’s not making those mistakes anymore.

Dallas 27, N.Y. Giants 20

— Some young gems are visible in the rubble of the Cowboys’ season. With Dallas down 7-3, linebacker DeMarvion Overshown sniffed out a screen pass, re-routed Devin Singletary, deflected Drew Lock’s pass high into the air, sprinted to catch it, and turned it into a 23-yard touchdown. “It was a good time to turn on the afterburners,” said Overshown, a second-year man from Texas.

— Rico Dowdle was a South Carolina running back who went undrafted in 2020. The Cowboys (5-7) signed him and on Thursday he had his first 100-yard game (22 carries, 112 yards). And although Cooper Rush isn’t that young at 31, he raised his record to 7-3 as a starting NFL quarterback.

— The Giants are 2-10 and have lost seven consecutive games, and Lock was sacked six times. His 28-yard run was the Giants’ longest play of the day. The Giants have big names on their defensive front but they came up with no sacks, and hit Rush only three times. They have only one sack in their past four games, and have given up at least 122 rush yards in each of their past seven games.