Three times the bears faced must-win situations this year in order to keep their playoff hopes alive, slim as they might be. All three times the refs gave the bears “victories” they would not have had if not for the horrible calls. Previous posts discuss the Packer and Eagle games. This post will address yesterday’s Oakland game.
On the bomb to Berrian with a few minutes left that turned a 6-3 Oakland lead into a 10-6 bear “lead,” Warren Sapp was close to sacking Grossman, so he was blatantly held by the bear offensive lineman. This was in the open field and an easy penalty to call, but of course, there was no call. The bears’ play-by-play radio announcer, Jeff Joniak, said immediately after the play that it was holding and a penalty should have been called. Sounds very familiar, as the same thing happened in the Eagle game on the “winning” touchdown pass. Let me quote today’s Chicago Sun-Times:
By the time he reached the locker room after the game, Warren Sapp had cooled off. He was as angry as the mob of crazy Raider fans after Rex Grossman’s 59-yard touchdown pass to Bernard Berrian, adamant he had been derailed by a hold on the part of right guard Roberto Garza. Grossman had just enough time to let Berrian put a slight stutter in his route and blow past inexperienced cornerback Chris Carr. “I turned to [referee] Mike [Carey] and said, ‘C’mon, Mike,’ and Mike [shrugged]. It’s one of those deals. If it’s on the other side, you can see it. You miss those calls sometimes.” Garza tried to hook Sapp, but was all smiles afterward. “They didn’t call it. So that’s all that matters,” Garza said with a chuckle. “Rex made a hell of a play. I had outside help and luckily he got rid of the ball. They didn’t call [holding], so I guess it wasn’t.”
The bears continue to “win” games on bad calls, the Packers “lost” a game on bad calls, but as many readers of this site continue to tell me, these calls balance out. I’m still waiting.