I swear, I’m about to turn this into a mini-series of some sort. Like seriously, how hard can coaching be? Judging by some of the most stupid play calling and decisions I’ve seen, it can’t be that hard, can it? I’d like to always tell myself that I’m obviously joking because there’s no way a normal guy who used to play Madden can ever seriously make it as a real NFL coach, and yet I see some of the most bizarre and idiotic decisions made in real NFL games, and I just lose it. Like seriously, what the heck is wrong with these coaches and decision-makers who make millions of dollars to win games? The latest example I’m referring to is the game between the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers on the last game of the 2024 season on 01.05.25.

The Bears have nothing to play for. Their season is done. The Packers are already in the playoffs, and a win/loss here only affects their ranking. But whatever. I could care less about either team as that’s not the point here. At around the 2-minute mark in the 4th quarter, the Bears were up 21-19 with the ball. They honestly could play it safe by running out the clock and forcing the Packers to spend their three timeouts. But… of course, that’s too fucking hard. They had to throw a quick screen pass to DJ Moore because why not. Unfortunately, the Packers’ defense were alert and quickly made the tackle. In the process, he fumbled the ball, which the Packers recovered around the Bears’ 40-yard line. It looks as if the coach gave Caleb Williams an earful afterward on the sideline. Was it due to him not making the audible adjustment or something else? But you know what, whatever, BECAUSE THAT IDOTIC MISTAKE IS NOT THE POINT FOR THIS RANT. The stupidity goes to a whole new level once the Packers took over.

Being down only 2, they obviously, and I mean OBVIOUSLY, could win with a FG. There were 1:49 seconds left in the game AND THEY HAD 3 FUCKING TIMEOUTS LEFT. SO, CAN SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHY IN THE BLUE BLAZING FUCK THEY WOULD RUSH THE PLAY CALLING AND NOT LET THE CLOCK RUN DOWN? In the first play, they did a quick throw for six yards. Here is where the stupidity happens. They went no huddle and quickly ran their next play AT WHICH THE PLAY CLOCK WAS AT 29 SECONDS. 29 FUCKING SECONDS. It is now 3rd and 2. Once again, they rushed their next play, another running play, WITH THE PLAY CLOCK STILL AT :19 FUCKING SECONDS LEFT. It was a small loss of a few yards but guess what they did immediately after? THEY CALLED A TIMEOUT! THEY SERIOUSLY CALLED A FUCKING TIMEOUT IMMEDIATELY WITHOUT LETTING THE CLOCK RUN DOWN FIRST! NOT ONLY DID THEY NOT FORCE THE BEARS TO USE THEIR 1 REMAINING TIMEOUT BUT THEY DID THEM THE FAVOR OF DOING IT FOR THEM WITH THEIR OWN! The game clock is now at :58 seconds! That is forever in the NFL. Yes, enough for even the 4-12 Chicago Bears, with absolutely nothing to play for but some pride after a miserable season, to mount a game-winning FG. Sure enough, that’s what they did.

Can someone please explain to me why they did this? Can someone also explain to me WHY THE FUCK THE COMMENTATORS DIDN’T SAY ONE DAMN WORD ON THIS ERROR? Do you know why I believe it’s an error? Because if they had shaved even a few more seconds off when they had the ball, like literally a few more, with things playing out the way they did, they would have won. The Bears only had one timeout remaining. They wouldn’t have been able to kick the game-winning FG. I think the commentators not bringing this up made it all the more furious for me. I thought to myself, you know, I’m not a football genius, I only play Madden for crying out loud, but I’m pretty sure you’re SUPPOSED TO RUN THE CLOCK down in that situation for the Packers. If the kicker misses the FG, then OK, he misses the FG and you lose the game. But why in the world would you want to give the ball back to the opposing team with that much time remaining? WHY??? With three timeouts, after the first play, they should have called timeout after running the play clock to near 0 and regrouped. After the next play, repeat and then kick the FG. This would have milked the clock as much as possible prior to giving it back.

Last bit on how sad of a situation this is. So apparently, the head coach doesn’t know the kicking distance of his own kicker. REPEAT: THE HEAD COACH OF A FOOTBALL TEAM DOESN’T KNOW THE KICKING DISTANCE OF HIS OWN KICKER. Notice how he’s stuttering during that part of the answer like he’s even embarrassed and ashamed of how stupid it sounded as soon as he said it. How does this make it worse? Well, if you actually, like for real kind, weren’t confident of your kicker, then wouldn’t it have made more sense to, you know, use a timeout, regroup and, you know, CALL THE RIGHT FUCKING PLAY TO GET CLOSER? I mean I’m just saying, because you know, YOU WERE ALSO PLAYING A BACKUP QB! This probably made my blood boil probably even more than the other idiotic Bears non-timeout calling incident just a few weeks ago.