It was always going to be tough for the Chicago Bears to make the playoffs, and their loss to the Cleveland Browns on Sunday all but eliminated them from contention.

While there’s plenty of blame to go around — lots of players didn’t execute their jobs well — and credit should be given to the Browns’ top-ranked defense, it was poor coaching on both sides of the ball that did the Bears in.

Yes, it’s true that the wide receivers had a case of the drops, especially on an early deep pass to Robert Tunyan and the game-ending Hail Mary that Darnell Mooney failed to corral. Yes, the offensive line struggled to both run and pass block, especially after Teven Jenkins left with a concussion. The secondary dropped two sure picks. And while quarterback Justin Fields wasn’t a huge problem, he also was unable to use his athleticism to create headaches for the Cleveland defense.

Offensive coordinator Luke Getsy once again got too cute in short-yardage situations, calling plays that were easily blown up by Cleveland’s defense instead of simply counting on a physical running game. He also called a deep dropback on second and seven late in the game when the Bears were trying to salt things away. The Bears couldn’t block it and Fields was sacked for an 11-yard loss.

Similarly, Getsy called too many pass plays as the team tried to bleed the clock. Of course, some throws fell incomplete, stopping the clock.