It’s a play Allen Robinson usually makes.
On third-and-4 from the Bears’ 44 with about 12 minutes to play Sunday, the receiver streaked up the right sideline and leaped for a pass from Mitch Trubisky. He reached out to cradle the ball — and it slipped between his arms.
Giants cornerback James Bradberry — who had his back to the quarterback — wrestled the ball away from Robinson, amazingly, before the two fell to the ground. What should have been a first down on the Giants’ 34 — with the Bears up seven — turned into an interception.
“You can talk about, ‘Should the ball be farther downfield or was it under-throw?’” coach Matt Nagy said Monday. “Normally he’ll make that play. I have no doubt in my mind that if we get in that situation again he will make that.”
He did just last week. So did Anthony Miller. Against the Lions, the receivers totaled nine catches on 15 targets for 150 yards and a touchdown. They looked like the team’s two brightest offensive stars.
Sunday, though, they were notable for their mistakes.
Robinson caught three of nine targets for 33 yards — including an impressive 17-yard grab on the Bears’ first third-down play of the game. Miller had three targets and no catches, including a dropped touchdown in the first quarter that would have given the Bears a 14-point lead.
While the Bears’ egalitarian approach Sunday was noble — 10 players caught passes, including tackle Bobby Massie on a tip, and 12 were targeted — their offense needs its best players to play like it.
Nagy stopped short of ripping the receivers room Monday, but he wasn’t pleased. He said that, after their second-half performance, he was “looking forward to seeing what they do next week.”
Robinson’s atypical performance came after a strange week. Not usually one to tout himself, Robinson was so angry about his stalled contract extension negotiations that he scrubbed Bears references from his social media last week. He later didn’t deny that a trade had at least been broached during the course of negotiations.
“It’s my job to go out there and play well on Sundays, and help my offense and help my team get better every week and win games,” he said last week.
Nagy didn’t think Sunday’s disappointing game was related to the contract drama.
“I do feel his mind is clear,” Nagy said. “I know that Allen is a true professional. Yesterday was one of those games where you look at it and he had I think eight or nine targets and three catches…
“Every game we go into teams are going to have a plan for A-Rob. I’ll never question his effort. It was just one of those games, there were a couple of throws in play-action that we got. I know we’re all wishing right now that second interception, he normally would come down with that.”
Miller had a worse day. The Bears had converted 7-of-10 third downs when Trubisky appeared to overthrow Miller on a third-and-6 out route on the left sideline in the third quarter. Miller, Nagy said, actually cut the route depth too short.
“I go back to details,” Nagy said. “And [Miller] knows it. He knows that. He understands that. He knew it right away.”
For all Miller’s unquestioned skill, he’s been dogged by detail-oriented questions throughout his three-year career. Maybe, Nagy said, the mistake was a residual effect of his first-quarter touchdown drop, when Trubisky lofted a gorgeous third-down pass at the front left pylon that slipped through Miller’s hands.
“If he comes down with that, who knows, confidence-wise, how that turns for him the rest of the game?” Nagy said. “But that’s a part of football, being able to bounce back after a drop.
“So, it just was one of those games. He didn’t have as many attempts or targets, but he’ll bounce back. I look forward to it.”
