When Vikings special teams coordinator Matt Daniels talked to the media on Tuesday, he was rightfully still upset about the key long kick return by the Bears on Sunday that gave Chicago great field position to set up the game-winning field goal. Two days after the loss, Daniels lamented players getting "greedy" on the play and called the breakdown "sickening."
Minnesota's offense, which had struggled for the majority of the game, had just put together a 10-play, 85-yard drive that resulted in a J.J. McCarthy touchdown pass to the give the Vikings a 17-16 lead with less than a minute left on the clock. Bears kick returner Devin Duvernay then took the following kickoff back 56 yards to the Vikings' 40. Three short runs later, Chicago's Cairo Santos converted on a 48-yard field goal attempt, with time expiring, to give the Bears their seventh win of the season.
Devin Duvernay with a big return for the Bears!
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"I've been (coaching) in the league now eight years, played football a long time in this league, and I've never felt the way I felt after that football game. Never," said Daniels on Tuesday.
"You just look at the play, what happened, and again, you just rather get beat a different way and just rather lose a different way. If they took that ball up the sideline and hit it on us, I would be able to live with that," continued Daniels. "But it was tough."
Following the return, head coach Kevin O'Connell was caught by FOX cameras saying, "Are you f***ing kidding me?!" in the direction of Daniels on the sideline. When asked about what happened on the play, Daniels pointed to a lack of discipline and guys getting greedy, looking to make a big play, instead of doing their role.
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"It really boils down to this, we live in a world where attention spans are very, very short. There's this belief of wanting this instant gratification and everyone wants to be the guy to make the play. As a result of that, we're making plays, the crowd is into it, and the 10 guys covering it are thinking 'I'm going to be the guy that's going to make the play,'" said Daniels.
"As a result we lose a bit of discipline in our lane coverage, and as a result the ball winds back to the field and there's the explosive that comes with it. We just got to be better in those moments. Everybody has got to understand that not every single play is yours to make and as long as you do your job, the plays will come to you. Simple as that. Do your job and the plays will come to you."
Daniels was particularly disappointed in the return because he prepared the special teams unit for that particular return throughout the week.
"You'd love for there to have been a different return, that we didn't work on during the week, for it to be an explosive. That's something we can live with. But for us to work stuff, then practice it, and for us to not go out and execute it is something we all have look at," said Daniels.
"It's just unfortunate that we got greedy," continued Daniels. "Guys got greedy out there, looking to make the play. I totally understand and get it, but at the same time there's a level of discipline that we have to have at the most precious moments. And that's every moment for us because, again, it's a one-play phase that carries a lot of weight in the football game."