The Bears and Justin Fields were locked in an epic back-and-forth shootout with the Dolphins on Sunday. Every time Tua Tagovailoa and Co. landed a devastating body blow, Fields and his Chicago offensive teammates returned with a massive haymaker.
But for as much as Mike McDaniel makes jokes about his conversation with Fields, Sunday sure felt like it should’ve been a Bears victory rather than a 35-32 Dolphins win. Excuse me, better said: A Bears victory in Fields’ unofficial coming-out party as a star. You see, two crucial fourth-quarter calls centered around pass interference by the officials might have swung the game in Miami’s favor.
The first was a controversial interference called on Bears safety Eddie Jackson. He seemingly did everything perfectly as a defender on a Dolphins’ Jaylen Waddle deep catch attempt, except for not letting Waddle catch it. (Which shouldn’t be a penalty when the defender has as much right to the ball.)
The second came with the Bears trying to piece together a game-winning drive on their climactic possession. When Fields launched a deep jump ball to the newly-acquired Chase Claypool, Dolphins defenders had a complete grasp of the receiver before he even touched the ball. And that, you know, isn’t legal. It wasn’t called.
Here's the no-call — on what should've been pass interference — on the Justin Fields deep ball to Chase Claypool.
A PI call would've given the Bears the ball inside the Dolphins' 25-yard line with 1:29 remaining. Miami won 35-32. 🏈 pic.twitter.com/yqVHhagU6G
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) November 6, 2022
Days after the fact, the NFL admitted the two crucial mistakes of their officials. The interference shouldn’t have been called on Jackson and should’ve been called on Claypool’s play on the ball.
Bears heard back from the league on a few plays they sent in from the Dolphins game.
According to a team source, the league said officials missed on two big penalties.
-DPI against Eddie Jackson should not have called
-DPI should have been called on the Chase Claypool deep ball— Alex Shapiro (@AlexShapiroNBCS) November 9, 2022
It’s nice the league is being transparent about mistakes and “correcting” them after the fact. But, at the same time, it sure would be nice to have some established measure of accountability while games like this are still being played. Especially for late-game interference calls that can almost certainly alter outcomes in one fell swoop.
It’s no guarantee a team like the Bears goes on to win even if both of these calls go in their favor. But that shouldn’t have to be a question or conversation we have — as we are now. NFL officials have to be better and a little more careful (and fair) when it comes to calls that could potentially decide games. For better or worse (probably worse here): That yellow flag has a lot of power.
If it’s any consolation for the Bears and Fields, they have the lowly Lions on tap. In terms of ways to wash a bad taste out of your mouth, beating up on a hapless team is probably the first note on the list.
NFL fans sure wished the league would do more about poor officiating beyond any admissions
League handing out admissions of guilt but never actually improving the process for calling outcome-altering penalties https://t.co/RMmGZeYgPV pic.twitter.com/sYWb8zPya4
— Mark Wemken (@MarkWemken) November 10, 2022
Ah. Well then. https://t.co/NRVwmKP2kM pic.twitter.com/i9X3LNHzOA
— TheGriddler (@Leonard42) November 10, 2022
. @NFLOfficiating “ya we basically screwed up the entirety of that game….” https://t.co/voZ1WZa9hb pic.twitter.com/ooyVTDsiiO
— Elliott V (@elliottv50) November 9, 2022
As I tweeted on Sunday, the League would admit to the errors but big deal, it doesn’t change the outcome of the game. Bears may not have won but at least they would have had the opportunity to tie the game or go ahead. Officials owe the Bears some calls https://t.co/ocVEra4hQ1
— Greg Gabriel (@ggabefootball) November 9, 2022
Not big calls or anything, @NFLOfficiating https://t.co/JX05mr9bF7
— Zack Creglow (@ZackCreglow) November 9, 2022
I mean I was sitting in the stands and could’ve told you @NFLOfficiating clearly missed these calls 🤦🏼♂️ https://t.co/esaFXqu43o
— Colin Baillie (@ColinKfvs) November 9, 2022
Thank goodness these weren't game changing situations or anything. https://t.co/dE7tpDAQKZ
— Duke Coughlin (@ThatPodGuyDuke) November 9, 2022
so like we all knew in real time, bad officiating cost the Bears a chance to at least tie the game on their final drive https://t.co/ztPVE3ZRGU
— Adam the dont stare directly at the sun worm (@trislerstudz) November 9, 2022
The league office sure knows how to make a fan base feel better https://t.co/eyEEGLMBOP
— Nick Schultz (@NickSchultz_7) November 10, 2022
