Bears coach Matt Eberflus’ claim of momentum stays alive — barely

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Then one foggy Christmas Eve, a Soldier Field camera operator panned the crowd of the Bears-Cardinals game looking for cheering fans to put on the Soldier Field scoreboard. The camera settled on fans holding signs in the first quarter Sunday; before it could turn away, a fan held up a sign with three words: “Eberflus gets coal.”

The Bears may soon decide that Eberflus gets on the first thing smoking out of town. Sunday, though, his claim that the Bears have momentum held serve — barely.  

The Bears jumped to a 21-0 lead behind bullying line play but, true to form, made the final few minutes nerve-racking. This time, though, they faced a team that wasn’t equipped to take advantage, and won 27-16, to improve to 6-9.

Eberflus’ team entered Sunday’s game with a well-earned reputation for turning leads into losses — a 21-pointer against the Broncos with about 16 minutes to play, a 12-pointer against the Lions with about three minutes to play and, just last week, a 10-pointer to the Browns with about 13 minutes left. That they didn’t blow another one Sunday is more damning of the Cardinals than anything else.

The Bears’ bar was low entering Sunday’s game ­— the Cardinals were the third-worst team in the NFL, with the second-worst defense — but the Bears treated them the way they were supposed to: with force, quickly. They were up 21-0 by the middle of the second quarter.

The Cleveland loss shoved the Bears to the very outskirts of the playoff picture. Any speculation that they’d roll over with a losing season guaranteed was refuted by Eberflus all week — and then by his players early in Sunday’s game.

Then, true to form, they backed into the win. Playing with a 14-point lead, quarterback Justin Fields inexplicably threw an interception in the end zone on first-and-10 from the Cardinals’ 14 with about 10 minutes to play. The Cardinals took over and drove down the field, but only after safety Jaquan Brisker was called for a holding penalty on a fourth-and-2 incompletion.

Three plays after the Cardinals were given new life, quarterback Kyler Murray threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to Greg Dortch, who weaved up the right sideline and dove across the goal line .

After forcing an incompletion on the two-point conversion to stay ahead by eight, the Bears went three-and-out. Offensive coordinator Luke Getsy was too cute on third-and-1 again, calling a direct snap to rookie running back Roschon Johnson that was stuffed for no gain. The Bears defense forced a turnover on downs after Murray threw his third straight incompletion with about three minutes to play.

Eberflus’ coaching ethos — his secret sauce — is built around extracting effort from his players by grading games and practices with as though they were algebra tests — players had to get the right answer but also work the right way to get there. Having his players quit on him Sunday would invalidate his H.I.T.S. system.

The Bears have won three of four and four of six. That’s not worth celebrating on a day the Lions — the Lions! — won their first NFC North title since 1993. It might not be worth celebrating at all. But for Eberflus, it beat the alternative.