I had no intention of writing about the Bears-Saints game, but too much happened when I tuned in for the last 10 minutes and OT to resist.
I never like fakes when kickers have to throw the ball, but Maynard’s pass looked pretty good. Unfortunately, that wasn’t a good spot for a fake. Teams are always ready for a fake on 4th and 4 from midfield. Also, the overturn was the correct call, but I don’t like that rule. Peterson had the ball and rolled over on his back, yet somehow, it’s incomplete. Also, is there anything more annoying than a coach waiting for the entire TV time out to throw the challenge flag? Then we basically get back-to-back TV time outs; need that rule changed too.
Bears hold after the fake though, absolutely stuffing the Saints on 3rd and 4th and short. The play fake works almost every time on 4th and short, usually for big yardage.
Why are coaches so afraid of using their time outs? With 50 seconds left, Bears complete a pass inbounds, only they don’t use one of their two remaining time outs. That cost them 20 seconds, and of course, the Bears never use their final time out. Well done. Almost seemed like they were playing for OT instead of the win.
And yes, there’s no question Greg Olsen was interfered with late in the game. Not only did the defender grab him from behind with one arm, he smashed him in the facemask with his other hand before the ball got there.
Oh boy, a game-winning pass interference leads to short field goal on 2nd down! How anticlimactic. NFL overtime sucks. If the defender gets his head around quicker, that’s probably not interference.
Why lose three yards trying to center it? Just run it with Forte to the middle, and maybe you’ll pick up an extra two instead of losing three.
Ah, the old timeout-immediately-before-the-kick play. I’m surprised they’re still doing this after it has backfired at least once. Doesn’t matter though; Gould is good, Bears win.
After the game, Purdue coach Joe Tiller, 66, successfully executes the soul shake with his two former quarterbacks, Brees and Orton. My dad, 60, would need weeks of training to pull that off.
