Oct. 19--It was the type of game that makes your head spin. The kind that turns big first-half plays into footnotes by the final gun. The kind every armchair head coach dissects well into this week because the difference between victory and defeat was razor-thin and because the Bears ended up on the wrong side.
Their 37-34 overtime loss to the previously winless Lions was as wrenching as it was thrilling as it was complex. And for a city still getting to know its new football coach, hearing John Fox try to process it afterward was, at times, as enlightening as the game itself.
The details were unsavory. The Bears' 31-24 lead with 7 minutes, 54 seconds left in regulation devolved into a 34-31 deficit with 21 seconds to play. They had to counterpunch with a three-play, 69-yard drive to tie the game on a 29-yard field goal as regulation expired.
The postmortem included a slew of disputed officials' decisions and five lead changes. Also of particular interest was how Fox managed the game and the clock at the end of regulation.
With the Bears clinging to a 31-27 lead and the Lions at the Bears 6-yard line, it became apparent Fox did not want to use any of his three timeouts. If that was for reasons related to personnel, substitutions or game flow, he would not say. But with less than 2 minutes remaining, he would let his defense determine the outcome.
The Lions proceeded to score the go-ahead touchdown -- a 6-yard strike to Calvin Johnson -- leaving the Bears offense with 21 seconds to save the day.
"As it worked out, we had enough time to go down and tie the game," Fox said. "So it really doesn't matter."
The Bears, though, kicked the tying field goal on first down from the Lions 11 with 4 seconds left.
Had Fox used his timeouts on defense, or if he had declined the 10-second runoff applied for the Lions' intentional-grounding penalty with 44 seconds left, the Bears might have had about 30 more seconds to attempt the winning touchdown.
"I look at it the other way," Fox bristled. "We went, like, 70 yards in a short amount of time to tie the game."
So why did Fox not decline the 10-second runoff?
"Hindsight, which we all get to do, we wish we probably would have had 10 more seconds," he said.
Fox tends not to sweat these decisions. While they're important, in the mind of this 14-year NFL head coach, as he has explained, the outcomes are paramount.
Take, for example, his decision to call three straight running plays when the Bears led 31-27. With 2:42 left in regulation to start the series, a first down would have all but won the game.
But the Lions held Matt Forte to a total of 7 yards -- including a 1-yard gain on third-and-4 -- and forced a punt.
Fox was asked specifically about running on third down.
"It's all my call, just so we're clear on that," he said. "Every play you either call a run or a pass -- it's kind of like heads or tails. If it goes the other way, it doesn't work, you wish you would've called the other one."
For Bears players focused solely on executing those calls, there were no what-ifs about decisions from above. Only laments about plays unmade on both sides of the ball.
And from the coach's perch, a stoic outlook on a roller-coaster day that ended in defeat.
"We played a good team on the road," Fox said. "We had to overcome a lot of different things. Just came up a little short."
rcampbell@tribpub.com
