The NFL referees, for the second time in 3 weeks, gave the bears a “victory” when a loss would have all but ended their playoff hopes. Let’s briefly review the last two weeks, and then review yesterday’s game.
Two weeks ago, had the bears lost to the Packers, they would have been 4 games out and no team in NFL history has ever overcome a 4-game deficit. The refs made a number of bad calls to give the bears the game, including the illegal formation call that gave the bears their first “TD.” This call and the bear “touchdown” was called a gift by the announcers and was so bad that Packer coach Mike McCarthy showed a picture of the play to the refs during the game and said he might send it to the league office. Chicago radio announcers also talked about what a horrible call it was.
Last week, in an effort to keep the bears close, the refs stole 2 TDs from the Packers, both of which were acknowledged by a CNN writer and one of which was admitted by the league, which nearly cost the Packers the Washington game.
Now, for this week. A loss puts the bears at 2-5 in the newspapers (1-6 in reality), and basically ends their playoff hopes. With 2:24 left in the game and the bears out of timeouts, Westbrook ran for 10 yards on third-and-eight. This first down effectively ended the game, as all the Eagles would have had to do from that point was kneel down a few times and the game was over. However, the ref called holding on the Eagles’ Todd Herremans against Lance Briggs, nullifying the first down, and subsequently forcing the Eagles to punt with 2:00 left, giving the ball back to the bears for the “winning” TD drive. The replay clearly showed that not only was it not a hold, but the two players involved weren’t even physically engaged. The announcers talked about what a bad call it was. Last year, the refs were instructed to not call holding unless they actually saw it, and there is no way anyone could possibly perceive this as a hold based on the position of the players. It was an invented call, and prevented the game from being over.
On the “winning” TD pass with 0:09 left, a sack would have ended the game with an Eagle victory. Let me quote the Chicago Sun-Times, which is quoting a bear player:
“…until the decisive play in the bears’ 19-16 victory Sunday. Right tackle Fred Miller saw it right away when reserve edge rusher Juqua Thomas fired out of his stance. Thomas had turned the corner and was headed toward Griese with less than 15 seconds to play and no timeouts. A sack likely would have ended the game. “I gave a veteran hold,” Miller said smiling. “I gave a little tug, and he fell down. That’s the way it goes. I looked around to make sure there were no flags and started celebrating.” The key, Miller explained, is to act as if it’s business as usual. “Normally, if it’s a hold like that right at tackle, you’ll see [the flag] at your feet somewhere,” he said.”
So, first we have a blatant non-hold called a hold to prevent the game from being over with a bear loss, then we have a blatant hold (which is very visible because it was around end and not in the center of the line) called a non-hold to prevent the game from being over with a bear loss and to preserve a bear “win.”
I guess these calls the last 3 weeks are just coincidences, as have been the calls for the last 25 years that I have the tapes of. AGAIN, THE bears’ SEASON WOULD BE OVER IF ANY ONE OF THESE TWO GAMES WAS OFFICIATED FAIRLY. NOW,THEY BELIEVE THEY HAVE A SHOT AT THE PLAYOFFS.
Let’s also talk about one coaching strategy the Eagles employed, and there were others that were ridiculous. This is Bucky Brooks of CNN:
“The bears’ winning 97-yard drive was aided by Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Johnson’s decision to sit in zone coverage after using a high-pressure approach to slow the bears for most of the game. By sitting in a mixture of two-deep and quarters’ coverage, the Eagles allowed Brian Griese to find open receivers over the middle of the field on his three biggest competions on the drive. And the winning touchdown to Muhsin Muhammad came against a combination zone coverage that left an overmatched Sean Considine isolated over the middle. Johnson’s decision to scale back his aggressive approach cost the Eagles a victory.”
How many games are going to be lost by not putting at least a normal rush on the quarterback before coaches figure this out? As one of the regular readers pointed out, I have been saying for years how terrible this strategy is, but coaches never learn.