‘Fire him’ – Caleb Williams breaks Bears franchise record but brutal mistake costs Chicago

The Chicago Bears offense endured an awful first half on Thanksgiving.

Caleb Williams & Co did not manage a first down until there were just 42 seconds remaining in the second quarter.

Williams led a second-half fightback from the BearsCredit: GettyBut the rookie quarterback bounced back after halftime and led a brilliant scoring drive.

Williams’ 31-yard dart to Keenan Allen fired the Bears into life.

It was the first touchdown the Detroit Lions defense gave up since Week 10.

And history was made as Williams broke Chicago’s franchise record for passing touchdowns thrown by a rookie with his 12th score.

MORE ON NFLThe No. 1 pick also passed 212 attempts without an interception – the longest run of any first-season QB in the NFL.

Trailing by 16 at the half, Chicago moved within three points with just over five minutes remaining as Allen and DJ Moore caught brilliant throws from Williams.

The Bears drove up the field and closed in on victory but threw the game away with some shocking timekeeping.

Needing a field goal to tie, Williams let too many seconds run off the clock and Matt Eberflus didn’t call a timeout.

A heave down the field went incomplete and time ran out – an incredible, and unforgivable, series of mistakes at this level.

Fans were torn over who to blame on social media.

Williams and Jared Goff embrace after the gameCredit: Getty”FIRE EBERFLUS! FIRE HIM,” screamed one viewer on X.

“50% Caleb 50% Eberflus,” added another.

They call them rookie mistakes for a reason, and former Dallas Cowboys QB Tony Romo was on the call for CBS Sports and felt Williams’ inexperience shone through.

“Just run this play, run this play, Caleb you gotta hurry up,” he said in the booth – the exasperation at what he was seeing clear in his voice.

“He’s screaming at him, ‘Hurry up, hurry up!’ He doesn’t know there’s 15. Snap the ball. He’s looking around, taking his time, getting everyone set.

“You cannot get it down below 10 seconds there. It’s OK to snap it at 12, 13, but he just lost track of time.”

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Eberflus is 5-17 in one-score games and his decision making at the death will be questioned again.

A blown field goal cost the Bears against the division rival Green Bay Packers earlier this month.

The coach defended his handling of the situation then, and he was bullish again Thursday.

“I think we handled it the right way,” he said, per the Chicago Sun-Times.

“This is the NFL – I know where it is,” he added when asked about his job security. “I’m just going to put my best foot forward and keep grinding.”

Bears fans are not happy with Eberflus’ to be fired’ game-managementWilliams finished with 20 completions from 39 attempts and managed 256 yards through the air, as well as a team-high 39 on the ground.

The Lions had lost seven straight Thanksgiving games but managed to snap the streak to go 11-1 for the first time in franchise history.

Jared Goff had another strong game and drew the praise of Romo early in the first half.

Read More on talkSPORTThe former Los Angeles Ram passed for two touchdowns and became only the second player to throw for multiple scores in their first four Thanksgiving outings – Green Bay Packers icon Brett Favre is the other.

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