Replay gaffe costly for not-so-sly Fox & Bears

JOHN FOX made a replay gaffe Sunday that would even make Joe Girardi cringe.

The mishap occurred with the Bears trailing 10-3 with 8:09 remaining in the second quarter.

On second-and-13 at the Packers’ 25-yard line, Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky completed a short screen to running back Benny Cunningham, who was able to turn the play into a 23-yard gain.

Cunningham was ruled out of bounds at the 2-yard line despite extending his arm and hitting the pylon with the football at the same time his foot appeared to make contact with the ground out of bounds.

“Honestly I thought I was in, until I looked up at the review,” Cunningham told reporters, per ESPN. “Just competing, trying to make a play for the team. It was unfortunate, probably a bad decision now looking back on it.”

Instead of accepting the official’s ruling and sending his offense back onto the field for first-and-goal at the 2-yard line, Fox opted to challenge the call in hopes of the play being reversed and ruled a touchdown.

However, rather than awarding the Bears a touchdown or giving Chicago the ball at the 2-yard line, officials determined Cunningham had actually lost control of the ball as he hit the pylon and fumbled. Since the ball rolled out of the end zone, the play was ruled a touchback and the Packers were awarded possession at their own 20-yard line.

“Obviously that’s a play that you’d like to have back but that’s not how it works,” Fox told reporters, per ESPN.

On the bright side, since Fox technically won the challenge, the Bears were not charged a timeout.

Unfortunately for Chicago, the lost opportunity to score a touchdown ultimately proved crucial as the Bears would lose by exactly seven points, 23-16. —Ari Gilberg