All the obligatories at the top: it doesn’t mean the play call was right. It doesn’t mean the Chicago Bears would’ve won. It doesn’t mean the offense and Fields don’t need a lot of work.
OK? Not saying any of that.
I’m only saying that, on replay, it’s clear Justin Fields scored that touchdown.
It’s extremely hard to see where the ball is in that mess, but it was not impossible if you use a little enhance-enhance-enhance type stuff to create contrasts. Do I get why they didn’t overturn it? Yes. It was not immediately obvious on quick looks on replay. But do I think they should have the technology available to see this stuff quickly and make the correct call on replay? I do.
Below, I outlined the visible portions of the football in red, and the split in the middle is where Justin Fields’ thumb is visible on the ball. As you can see, his thumb is right there on the front of the goal line, and there’s a considerable portion of the football that gets past the line. You can even see his right finger tips touching the nose of the football as he tries to keep it secure:
In a world where the call is corrected, and the Bears are suddenly down by only a touchdown in the 4th quarter, maybe things proceed differently from there. You can’t question that the Packers’ goal line “stand” was energizing for them and deflating for the Bears.
Buuuuuut, it probably wouldn’t have changed the ultimate outcome of the game. There is still a pretty clear talent deficit among these two rosters, and also still a whole lot of developing to come – we hope – for this Bears offense. Maybe a botched goal line call some day down the road won’t be such a critical point of discussion.