There were plenty of reasons why the Chicago Bears lost the game down in Miami. Being unable to pressure Brock Osweiler. Horrendous tackling that led to 274 yards after the catch. A missed field goal in overtime and three critical turnovers by the offense, two of them in the red zone. You don’t win football games that way. However, head coach Matt Nagy clearly thought there was another reason. Terrible officiating.
There’s no getting around it. The referees in this game were horrible. Not only did they call a bunch of penalties on both teams that weren’t penalties, they also completely missed obvious calls at key moments of the game. Nagy, normally a civil man, couldn’t hide his displeasure when asked about one of their controversial calls late in the game.
It came late in the 3rd quarter. Chicago had already scored three-straight touchdowns to take a 21-10 lead. After Miami made it 21-13 with a field goal, the offense drove down the field again. Inside the 10-yard line, it looked like they had another touchdown when Mitch Trubisky found Tarik Cohen open out to the right. However, the play was called back when the refs flagged tight end Trey Burton for an illegal pick.
Replays showed zero indications of Burton intentionally interfering with the defender. It was at the very least a ticky tack call. It proved to be a crucial one too. On the next play, Mitch Trubisky was intercepted in the end zone.
Subscribe to the BFR Youtube channel and ride shotgun with Dave and Ficky as they break down Bears football like nobody else.
— Jason Glassman (@palacejay) October 14, 2018
Matt Nagy tried his best not to get in trouble when asked about the call
It’s important to remember that while Nagy is a professional and understands officiating is hard, he’s also a fiery competitor. He wants to win and he knows football. That sequence could be called the turning point of the game. To know that it happened because of a questionable penalty make the sting that much worse. He indicated as much with his icy reply when asked about it after the game.
Here’s the full exchange with Nagy re: the Burton PI call:
Q. Did you ask for an explanation about the penalty on Trey?
NAGY: No, I didn't, and I'll leave it at that.Q. With a play like that, is it on Trey to not make contact?
NAGY: Trey did everything I asked him to do.— Kevin Fishbain (@kfishbain) October 14, 2018
If Burton had turned his body towards the defender and made it actually look like a block, then a penalty would’ve been warranted. Instead the play clearly looked like he and the defender collided unintentionally. It was an excellent play design that worked to perfection. It should’ve been a touchdown that could’ve all but iced the game at that point.
His team making mistakes is something Nagy can deal with because that’s something he can work to correct. He has no control over what the refs do, and that’s a big reason he has trouble accepting a call like that.
