Following a 5th straight loss and sitting at 4-7 on the season, the Bears aren’t mathematically eliminated from playoff contention but their odds are not good.

Like, less than 1% chance.

It’s not exactly where many thought the Bears might be entering a Thanksgiving Day showdown against the Lions in Detroit.

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The Bears entered the season with a lot of hope and promise coming off a strong finish to the 2023 campaign and a rejuvenated roster that included the additions of the No. 1 overall pick (Caleb Williams) as well as another fellow top 10 pick (Rome Odunze) and veterans like Keenan Allen and Kevin Byard III.

So where did things go wrong for this group?

That’s a complicated question to answer but there was one play during Sunday’s 30-27 loss to the Vikings that served as a perfect microcosm of the team’s issues.

The Bears were trailing 17-10 early in the 3rd quarter and had just held on to force a field goal by the Vikings to open the second half.

Williams responded with a 37-yard strike to DJ Moore to get the Bears into field goal range.

[MORE: The Bears continue to lose games but Caleb Williams has emerged as a reason for hope]

A few plays later, the Bears faced a 4th-and-4 at the Vikings 27-yard line after a Williams incomplete pass.

At first, Cairo Santos and the kicking unit started to come onto the field and some members of the offense looked confused whether they should run toward the sideline.

But Matt Eberflus decided to go for it and new offensive coordinator Thomas Brown was trying to get a play call in to Williams, only to have a communication breakdown occur.

All the while, the play clock was running down and the Bears had to rush to get to the line of scrimmage. Williams saw how the Vikings defense was lining up and tried to check into a new play, ultimately throwing a ball just beyond Keenan Allen’s hands for an incomplete pass and a turnover on downs.

In a game in which the Bears ultimately lost by 3 points, that particular play came under scrutiny.

Why didn’t the Bears attempt what would have been a 44-yard field goal? Why didn’t they call a timeout once the sequence got rushed?

“We felt good going for it there,” Eberflus said after the game. “We really did. That was a green light for us. I got to do a better job communicating to the field goal team.”

[WATCH: Coach Wannstedt saw Williams took another big step in Vikings game]

It proved to be a pivotal moment in the game and to hear Williams’ take on the situation underscores some of the Bears’ issues this season.

“We ended up running up against the clock in that moment,” Williams said. “In those moments, you don’t want to run up against the clock just because you want to get set, have your play, be able to see what’s going on.

“Cairo and them ran on the field. I think the confusion had the play come in a little bit later. We got to the huddle, trying to scramble. I end up mishearing what [Thomas Brown] said. From there, it went downhill.”

[WATCH: Breaking down Williams’ incredible strike to D’Andre Swift]

But why didn’t Williams or Eberflus call a timeout to reset a play that seemed to be going off the rails?

“It was an incomplete pass on a play that I didn’t necessarily want to run, that (Brown) and other coaches didn’t call,” Williams said. “From there, you obviously aren’t going to use another timeout because you know the game is going to be close at the end. We already used one.

“You have to get up there really fast, make a few checks, get the ball snapped. It’s still a matchup league. Go to your best matchup guys. Right then and there, I went to Keenan and we just missed.”

The end result was another “what might have been” play for the Bears in a season full of them.