NEWSLETTER
Just when you thought the Chicago Bears were going to put the game on ice, Mitch Trubisky threw an interception that changed the complexion of the game. But just before that, it had appeared that Trubisky had thrown a touchdown to extend the Bears lead to 14 points (or potentially 15 with a pending PAT).
With the offense lined up inside the 5, Trey Burton motioned right and ran a route into an area occupied by Dolphins linebacker Kiko Alonso. Underneath, Trubisky connected with a wide open Tarik Cohen for a touchdown. It would have been Trubisky’s third of the day and ninth in the last two games. But the score was wiped away by an official who threw a flag on Burton for pass interference in what was essentially called an illegal pick play.
Take a look for yourself:
— Jason Glassman (@palacejay) October 14, 2018
When asked about the penalty after the game, Head Coach Matt Nagy showed he wasn’t pleased with the call by backing his player:
Matt Nagy on the Trey Burton “pick” penalty: "Trey did everything I asked him to do.”
— Adam Hoge (@AdamHoge) October 14, 2018
And after being able to sleep on it and watching the film, Nagy maintained Burton was innocent of any wrongdoing:
Matt Nagy, after watching the film, says Trey Burton did what he was supposed to. "Not one thing different" the TE could've done there. Same what he said after the game Sunday.
— JJ Stankevitz (@JJStankevitz) October 15, 2018
Allen Robinson was asked to chime in a day later in his weekly radio hit with 670 The Score:
"I thought Trey played it well … There was nothing else he could've done."
— Allen Robinson on Trey Burton being called for offensive pass interference, negating a #Bears TD yesterday
— 670 The Score (@670TheScore) October 15, 2018
What’s most frustrating about this call is that a similar play ended up being the game-winner for the Steelers against the Bengals:
https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1051565738656436224
And we won’t dive down the rabbit hole of NBC Sports analysts Tony Dungy and Rodney Harrison breaking down the Brown play and saying that the pass interference/pick call isn’t something that is getting called when it literally happened during the same slate of Sunday’s games. Ugggggggh.
Anyway, what might be more annoying is that while there wasn’t a consensus on the legality of the pick play, there was no denying the Sunday’s Bears-Dolphins tilt was poorly officiated.
To be clear, I’m not blaming referees for the Bears’ loss. That would be wrong and short-sighted. Besides, the Bears did enough to lose it on their own merits in every phase of the game, so let’s not start making excuses. But in an overtime game decided by three points, it’s only natural to be miffed by a handful of close calls that didn’t go the Bears’ way. In the case of that particular play above, it led to a 14-point swing, and arguably changed the complexion of the game more than any other penalty.
Unfortunately, there were other penalties that seemed out of place, such as this missed holding penalty on a 3rd-and-11 play in overtime:
So this is ok @NFL pic.twitter.com/aaw35gg4TJ
— Draft Dr. Phil (@FulphilO) October 14, 2018
It’s hard for Khalil Mack to get a sack when he’s being tackled. So instead of a potential replay of a 3rd-and-long situation, it’s a 1st-and-10 on the other side of the 50. Of course, there are no guarantees the Bears would’ve gotten a stop if given a second chance on third down given how they played to that point, but you’d rather take your chances there than deal with the alternative.
And poor Leonard Floyd. Not only did he come into the game slumping, he was the victim of two eyebrow-raising penalties:
https://twitter.com/BN_Bears/status/1051553321494953985
You’ll be seeing this on the NFL highlight shows … and maybe on Monday Night Raw. pic.twitter.com/cPt5MaIdx3
— Bleacher Nation Bears (@BN_Bears) October 14, 2018
Floyd’s body-slam/suplex hybrid gave the Dolphins a first down on their opening scoring drive, but I’m not sure what he was supposed to do there. Because I’m so used to NFL officials blowing early whistles when players are clearly in the grasp, I was upset and disappointed when the penalty was called and enforced – especially since the unnecessary roughness was ruled to have come after the play (even though there was no whistle blown). I suppose we could’ve guessed it would be a long day after that one.
This delay of game was something we didn’t catch right away, but was brought to our attention:
Play that Frank Gore just ran to the 7 should have never happened. Look at the play clock. No delay of game called. This officiating crew has really blown it today and virtually every bad call has gone against Chicago, including taking points off the board. #Bears pic.twitter.com/3D4VxsSZNX
— Ryan. (@HistoricalRyan) October 14, 2018
To be fair to the officials on the field, it’s not as easy to keep an eye on the snap while also keeping an eye on the ball. And because of the human element detailed here, something like this happens more often than anyone would like. I’ve seen it happen at every level having covered high school and college football. It’s unfortunate, and from a Bears perspective, the timing could not have been any worse.
We’ll have to put these calls and game behind us soon because the Patriots are coming to town riding high off a 43-40 win against the Chiefs in a game where they didn’t punt or commit a single penalty. Seriously.
(Aside: I wasn’t sure where exactly to squeeze this in, but I just want to point out that it’s refreshing that the Bears aren’t blaming officials for Sunday’s loss. I feel as if that’s a sign of a maturing team that understands accountability and takes it in a situation when it would be easy to point the finger and play the blame game. Good on you, Bears. Let’s move on.)
