There always seems to be some kind of controversy with the officiating at Lambeau Field, and that was the case in the Bears’ 27-10 loss to the Packers on Sunday night.
With the Bears trailing 24-10 in the fourth quarter and facing fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line, quarterback Justin Fields took the snap from shotgun and ran it right up the middle. He was ruled short of the goal line.
But after a closer look, you could see the ball break the plane. Chicago challenged the call, but the call stood, and that officially ended any hopes of another second-half comeback.
Should this have been a TD? pic.twitter.com/Ll4A3GE8Jl
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) September 19, 2022
Fields told reporters that he believed he scored the touchdown. And there was someone else who had a good view of the play: Running back David Montgomery, who indicated that home-field might’ve played a role in the ruling.
“I [saw] a touchdown,” Montgomery said, via Sun-Times. “I was right next to the ball. But, I mean, I wouldn’t expect anything less. We’re not in Soldier Field. Home-field advantage. Next time we’ve just gotta be sure that we put it in, no question marks.”
While that ruling wasn’t the reason the Bears lost the game, it was a huge momentum shift and played a role in the outcome. If Chicago scores there, it becomes a one-possession game with less than seven minutes left.
“We felt we had a good look at it, so we made the challenge,” head coach Matt Eberflus said. “They thought otherwise, and that’s the way it goes sometimes. But we thought it was the best play we had at that point right there for us to score. If we score there, it’s a different ballgame. It’s a one-score game at that point, and we still got a chance right there to win.”
