Bears Left Second-Guessing Two Decisions That Backfired
By Chris Emma--
CHICAGO (CBS) -- With 10:10 remaining in Sunday's game and the Bears trailing 17-9 against the Broncos, Chicago coach John Fox felt this was the time to roll the dice.
Rather than kicking the field goal on fourth-and-goal from the Denver 4-yard-line, Fox elected to go for it. He lined up quarterback Jay Cutler in a shotgun, with a rollout play to the right side. Cutler looked for running back Jeremy Langford, but the pass was broken up.
When it was all said and done, those three points from a field goal would've won the game. The Bears fell 17-15 to the Broncos, Fox's former team, after a two-point conversion for the tie failed following a late touchdown.
"We hadn't made many trips down to the end zone," Fox said of the fourth-and-goal decision. "We hadn't scored touchdowns. It had been kind of a field goal game. At that point in the game, we felt that was going to maybe be our last (touchdown) opportunity."
Had Robbie Gould come on to kick his fourth field goal of the game, the Bears would've trailed 17-12 with just over 10 minutes remaining in the game. They would've eliminated the need to go for a two-point conversion in the touchdown still needed to complete a comeback.
But Fox believed the Bears needed to come through with touchdown then, taking a risk for the fourth-down play.
"They scored 17 points and we scored 15 points -- that's not a really high-scoring game in our business," Fox said. "We knew it would be tough, so we had to take advantage of getting points when we had the opportunity."
The Bears had what proved to be one final chance to tie the game, with Langford scoring a touchdown with 24 seconds left in the game. Trailing 17-15, they needed the two-pointer.
Cutler lined up in a shotgun with trips to his left, a play that was designed for an audible if desired. Cutler took that option, electing to run a draw with Langford. However, Bears tight end Martellus Bennett ran a route, and Broncos safety T.J. Ward came through with the stop to save the game.
"Anytime you don't get it done, there is going to be second-guessing," Cutler said. "You look back at those games and think what you could have done differently."
The Bears must now look back at this game as another loss they could've won. Their record stands at 4-6 overall, with Thanksgiving in Green Bay coming up in a short week.