They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and if that’s the case, the Las Vegas Raiders must think highly of Chicago Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy.
The Raiders trounced the Los Angeles Chargers on Thursday Night Football, winning 63-21 in one of the most lopsided games in recent memory. There were plenty of touchdowns scored by the Raiders in all sorts of ways, one of which appeared to have come straight from the Bears playbook from just last week.
Las Vegas scored their fifth touchdown of the evening on a direct snap to running back Brandon Bolden, who faked the pitch to quarterback Aidan O’Connell and ran up the left sideline for the 26-yard score. But as former NFL quarterback and current analyst Chase Daniel notes, we’ve seen that play before.
STRAIGHT THIEVERY from the Chicago Bears playbook
pic.twitter.com/RZsS6z57kF— Chase Daniel (@ChaseDaniel) December 15, 2023
That’s right, the play came straight from the Bears, who ran it a week earlier in their win against the Detroit Lions. On their opening possession, the Bears had wide receiver DJ Moore take the direct snap, fake a pitch to quarterback Justin Fields, and run up the sideline for the 16-yard touchdown. The Raiders implemented a carbon copy of the play just four days later, from the fake pitch to Fields to the left tackle pulling and leading the way downfield.
DJ Moore takes the direct snap in for the TD!
📺: #DETvsCHI on FOX
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/pWMED8S30C pic.twitter.com/gxR67bauzb— NFL (@NFL) December 10, 2023
NFL teams borrow from each other all the time. It’s already happened a few times this season and in big moments in years past as well. For example, the “Philly Special” in Super Bowl LII was taken from the Bears, who had run it at the end of the 2017 regular season. However, it’s interesting to see a team take a play and successfully implement it less than a week later.
Getsy may not be the most popular offensive coordinator in the league right now, but give him credit for ingenuity that has other teams copying his plays.
