A Chaotic Moment
36 seconds remained in the Thanksgiving day game between the heavily-favored Detroit Lions and the Chicago Bears. Trailing 23-20 and hoping to send the game into overtime, the Bears were driving for a possible score. On 2nd-and-20 from the Lions 35-yard-line with 36-seconds and one timeout remaining, Bears rookie quarterback Caleb Williams took a snap and dropped back to pass.
A Critical Mistake
Lions defensive end Za’Darius Thomas was untouched as he sacked Williams for a 6-yard loss. 32 seconds remained. The Bears were still in possible field goal range with the one timeout remaining. However, a timeout was not called. Precious seconds began ticking away. Williams lined up the Bears offense and finally snapped the ball. But only 5 seconds were left. Time was slipping away like water going down a drain. Williams threw a final desperation pass downfield which landed incomplete.
Time had inexplicably run out. The game was over. Confusion, anger, frustration, and a myriad of other emotions then ensued – primarily directed at Bears head coach Matt Eberflus for his lack of leadership and time management.
A Series of Aggressive Admonishments
Fox Sports analyst Jimmy Johnson said, “In 70 years of coaching at all three levels, I’ve never seen dysfunction that cost a team an opportunity to win the game. When Eberflus saw they were off track and there was dysfunction, he should’ve called timeout.”
CBS Sports analyst Matt Ryan noted, “This is unacceptable. From a head coach position, your responsibility is to not panic in critical situations to put your team in best opportunities to win the game. That’s a massive, massive fail by Matt Eberflus.”
The response was not just limited to studio analysts. In his postgame locker room, Bears wide receiver DJ Moore despondently said, “I don’t know why we didn’t call a timeout.” Fellow wide receiver Keenan Allen added, “It’s tough, We did enough as players to win the game.”
However, Coach Eberflus doubled down on his late-game decision-making. He said during his postgame news conference, “I like what we did there… To me, I think we handled it the right way.”
The following morning on ESPN’s Get Up, analyst Ryan Clark said, “There’s no urgency on this team. There’s no preparation on this team. No way they’re understanding what’s happening in the moment. You should have drilled over and over and over again on Fridays in the two-minute drill. You should have drilled this over and over and over again in the mock game on Saturday. They weren’t prepared for this moment and you could tell it’s an organizational failure with Matt Eberflus on down.”
Fellow analyst Mike Tannebaum added, “You always want to hear players say they’re accountable. It is shocking, stunning for Matt Eberflus to get up there afterwards and say we handled it correct. There’s nothing correct about it.”
Tannebaum continued, “If you don’t like your results look at your process. They should have learned from that Washington game (last minute Hail Mary loss)… That is a failure of leadership, or management. That is the essence of what a head coach is. It failed in Washington and they didn’t fix it.”
ESPN reporter Dan Graziano concluded, “You don’t get to bring it (timeouts) with you into next week’s game… Time is more important than timeouts.” He added, “When things go wrong, you have to be able to change your plan.”
The 9-Step Process of a Critical Mistake
From the crew of ESPN’s Get Up program, we learn the Anatomy of a Critical Mistake.
1. Critical Mistakes Happen When You Don’t Learn From Previous Mistakes
Mentioned frequently was the previous failure against the Washington Commandeers on a last-second Hail Mary Pass. You can learn more from that game by reading 4 Things Young Leaders Need To Become Great Leaders.
Failure to learn from smaller mistakes will result in future greater mistakes.
2. Critical Mistakes Happen When You Fail To Prepare
The old saying is true – you will either prepare for repair. Graziano pointed out, “Yes, it’s a chaotic time of the game, but if you have prepared the right way, you can limit the extent to which it is chaotic.”
3. Critical Mistakes Happen When You Don’t Properly Define The Problem
The problem is to properly define the problem. When you do that, the solution becomes obvious. During this game, time was more important than timeouts. Therefore, the proper decision would be to save as much of this scarce resource as possible.
4. Critical Mistakes Happen During Time Of Chaos
Successfully navigating chaos does not create leaders, it reveals them. Leaders in every industry face times of chaos. If chaos is handled poorly, critical mistakes will take place.
5. Critical Mistakes Happen When There Is No Urgency
Passivity and indecisiveness are the fertile soil of critical mistakes. Missed opportunities eventually cause a loss in leadership trust.
6. Critical Mistakes Happen When You Lack Situational Awareness
Clark said the Bears had, “No way they’re understanding what’s happening in the moment.” The ability to “read the room” or understand the times is vital avoiding critical mistakes.
7. Critical Mistakes Happen With Poor Organizational Support
Regarding this specific situation, I do not want to rush to judgment. We have not been made privy to what Eberflus was being advised from his assistant coaches over the headset. However, in general, critical mistakes rarely happen in a vacuum. Closer inspection often reveals critical mistakes are a cultural problem. Many organizational failures lead to critical mistakes.
8. Critical Mistakes Happen When You Lack Accountability
There is a saying that the cover-up of a crime is often worse than the crime itself. Another saying is – when you’re in a hole, stop digging. Eberflus’ credibility was further damaged by doubling-down and not admitting his mistake. It is immeasurable how powerful the words “I’m sorry” and “I was wrong” are.
9. Critical Mistakes Happen When You Fail To Change
You can make a mistake, but you don’t have to live with it. The ability to quickly pivot is critical to future success.
***Update*** The Bears just did this with the firing of Coach Eberflus.
Conclusion
From the comments above, we learn an 9-Step Process of a Critical Mistake:
- Not Learning from Previous Mistakes
- Failing to Prepare
- Not Properly Defining the Problem
- Choas
- No Urgency
- Lacking Situational Awareness
- Poor Organizational Support
- No Accountability
- Failure to Change
Resource for Avoiding Critical Mistakes
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