WIN AND BEAR IT
Controversial day capped by big play, game-winning run
SUNDAY afternoon at Soldier Field started with possibly the most significant of the protests around the league in the aftermath of
President Trump’s call for NFL owners to “fire or suspend” players who refuse to stand for the national anthem, and for fans to boycott games “until players stop disrespecting our Flag & country.” It ended on Jordan Howard’s touchdown run in overtime, which gave the Bears a 23-17 victory. And in between, there was a sensationally stupid play that brought back memories of Leon
Lett’s blunder in Super Bowl XXVII. As the anthem was being sung, the Bears (including coach John Fox) locked arms on their sideline and the Steelers, or nearly all of them, were in the tunnel.
“My contention was we would not allow politics to divide us. We’re football players, we’re a football team,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. “I asked those guys to discuss it and ... we have 100 percent participation or we do nothing. They discussed it for an appropriate length of time. They couldn’t come to an understanding, so they chose to remove themselves from it. They were not going to be disrespectful to the anthem, so they chose not to participate, but at the same time many of them were not going to accept the words of the president.”
So offensive lineman Alejandro Villanueva stood by himself outside the Steelers’ tunnel, helmet off with his right hand over his heart.
Villanueva is a veteran, an Army Ranger and captain who served three tours in Afghanistan and has a bronze star for valor. It’s a heated, complex issue, and in 2016, Villanueva said he agreed with
Colin Kaepernick’s message about police brutality against African-Americans, but not his form of protest.
No matter one’s political bent, it’s hard to believe anyone would have a problem with this American hero saluting the flag and anthem at “Soldier Field.” And it’s an encouraging sign that on a day when players, owners and ESPN announcers joined forces to bash the president in polite and impolite terms (the Bucs’ DeSean Jackson called Trump a “joke” and a “clown”), that seemingly no one took issue with Villanueva. “We support our guy Al,” Steelers defensive end
Cam Heyward said. “He feels he had to do it. This guy served our country and we thank him for it.”
If there was anything that could steal the spotlight from what went on before the game, it’s what happened just before halftime.
We have a new clubhouse leader for play of the year. The Steelers were trailing 14-7 with six seconds to go in the first half. Chris Boswell’s 35-yard field goal was blocked by Sherrick McManis and recovered by Marcus Cooper at the 29. Cooper was returning the ball for an apparent touchdown when he slowed up inside the 5-yard line and was stripped of the ball by Vance McDonald (a replica of the Lett- Don Beebe play in the Super Bowl 24 years ago) just outside the goal line. The ball caromed into the end zone and was batted over the end line by Steelers holder Jordan Berry.
“I thought I was in [the end zone]. But obviously I wasn’t,” Cooper said, “That was just a mistake on my part. I didn’t think anyone was close to me. I slowed down and the guy made a great play.”
And here’s where it gets really interesting. The original ruling was a touchback and no extra time added. After Bears coach John Fox lobbied for a safety, referee Clete Blakeman consulted with
Alberto Riveron, the NFL’s senior vice president of officiating, in New York, and it was correctly determined the Bears would get the ball at the spot of the fumble plus half the distance to the goal for the Steelers’ penalty.
The Bears put the offense back on the field for one untimed down from the half-yard line, as the Steelers had to race back onto the field from the locker room. After a false-start penalty, the Bears settled for a 24-yard Connor Barth field goal for a 17-7 Bears lead at the half.
As it turned out, the Bears could have used the additional points, needing overtime to put the Steelers away. Howard became the hero in a football sense on a day when more than a hundred stood up against a president and for their beliefs, and Alejandro Villanueva stood alone.
UPSET DENIED
Already in 2017, Deshaun Watson has led Clemson to a victory over Alabama in the national championship game as a near-touchdown underdog. Sunday, he and the Texans were 13½-point ‘dogs in Foxborough against the defending Super Bowl champs in his third NFL game and second start.
Watson completed 22-of-33 passes for 301 yards and two touchdowns and two interceptions, ran for another 41 yards, and had the Texans 2 minutes 24 seconds away from a 33-28 victory. But then Tom Brady took the Patriots down the field and hit Brandin Cooks for 25 yards in the front left corner of the end zone to put New England in the lead and give Brady 378 yards passing and five touchdowns.
BAD BEAT
Incredible finish in Detroit, where the Lions appeared to have pulled off a comeback against the Falcons but were denied by replay and a recent rule change.
Once down 17-6, the Lions trailed 30-26 when Matthew Stafford got the ball for the final drive at his own 12 with 2:23 to go. He had a third and goal from the 1 with 12 seconds left and hit Golden Tate on a slant. At first look, he appeared to fall over the goal line and the Lions were awarded the go-ahead touchdown.
But upon further review, it was determined not only had Tate’s knee hit the ground with the ball at the half-yard line, he was being touched on the shoulder by Atlanta’s Brian Poole. That was the bad news. The worse news for the Lions is because they had no timeouts, and the correct call would have resulted in the clock still running, there would be a 10-second runoff. With only :08 on the clock, that ended the game.
Lions coach Jim Caldwell agreed Tate was down by contact but insisted Stafford would have gotten off another play in the remaining time had the proper call been made originally. “Certainly, we practice it all the time,” Caldwell said. After the game, there was a bizarre fire in a food cart outside the Lions locker room, to which the team referred in a tweet: “Yeah, we’re pretty heated about how this one ended.” The Lions were three-point underdogs, making this four-point loss the most brutal of bad beats.
POST PATTERNS
Less than three full weeks into the season and we are down to just two undefeated teams — the Falcons and Chiefs. The Raiders, Broncos, Panthers, Lions, Steelers, Dolphins, Buccaneers and Ravens all tasted defeat for the first time. ... The craziest penalty (at least outside of Odell
Beckham Jr.’ s peeing dog pose in Philadelphia) was a costly one for the Broncos’ Von Miller. Down 23-16, Miller decked the Bills QB
Tyrod Taylor on an incomplete pass. He then offered to help Taylor up, but withdrew his hand (”psyche!”) and drew a flag for unsportsmanlike conduct. The Bills went on to kick a field goal to salt away a 26-16 victory. “I killed the game today with that play,” Miller said. “I’ve just got to be better than that.” ... Chiefs rookie sensation Kareem Hunt ran 69 yards for a touchdown late in a 24-10 win over the Chargers. He’s the first to have touchdowns of 50+ yards in each of his first three NFL games, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.