The Chicago Bears were once again pushed around by the Green Bay Packers on the prime-time stage in a 27-10 loss on Sunday night.
While you can’t blame the loss on just one play, there’s one controversial call that people are talking about. With the Bears facing fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line, quarterback Justin Fields took the snap and ran it right up the middle. He was ruled short of the goal line.
But after closer inspection — and some help from the broadcast crew — you could see the ball break the plane. Chicago challenged the call, but the call stood, and that officially ended any hopes of another second-half comeback.
When asked if he thought he scored, Fields kept it short and sweet.
“Yeah,” he said.
Bears coach Matt Eberflus thought the same, which is why he challenged the call.
“We felt we had a good look at it, so we made the challenge,” Eberflus said. “They thought otherwise, and that’s the way it goes sometimes. But we thought it was the best play we had at that point right there for us to score. If we score there, it’s a different ballgame. It’s a one-score game at that point, and we still got a chance right there to win.”
Pack defense holds strong at the goal line!
📺: #CHIvsGB on NBC
📱: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/OZNdRHH6Rv pic.twitter.com/IXJBm8BEX3— NFL (@NFL) September 19, 2022
Throwing the missed call out the window, there were questions about the play call itself. With the Bears just inches from the end zone, offensive coordinator Luke Getsy had Fields lined up in shotgun on fourth-and-goal — a good five yards back from the end zone.
Eberflus explained why the Bears operated out of shotgun on fourth-and-goal.
“A lot of times what you do is you outnumber the box. So, you’re using your quarterback as a runner, you got an additional blocker and you like your numbers in the box there,” Eberflus said. “That’s why we called it. It was the best play we had right there at the time.”
If the play was ruled a touchdown — as it should’ve been — we likely wouldn’t be having this conversation. But it wasn’t, so there’s going to be some fair criticism thrown Getsy’s way.
