Oct. 20--Much has been made of the Bears' conservative play-calling on their penultimate drive of regulation Sunday in Detroit, a three-runs-and-out series that netted just 7 yards and used only 11 seconds. Yet even with the careful run-run-run approach, the Bears may have been able to pick up a critical first down with proper execution on their third-and-4 play.
Against a nickel defense, the Bears called a run to Matt Forte off a shotgun handoff. Yet breakdowns up front doomed the play from the start. Lions defensive end Ziggy Ansah came off the edge untouched, whirring past tight end Martellus Bennett, who was late getting off the snap and headed almost immediately upfield.
On the other side of the Bears' formation, right guard Vladimir Ducasse was overpowered by defensive tackle Caraun Reid. Ansah hit Forte first, Reid wrestled the running back down from behind and the Bears were forced to punt.
Coach John Fox declined Monday to detail what specifically went wrong and who failed on that play.
"I'm not going to get into scheme and what we're doing," Fox said. "We'll leave that to our opponents and the next one up is Minnesota. I don't want to be divulging any of our blocking schemes."
With the three-and-out series, the Bears punted to the Lions, who began their go-ahead possession at their own 34 with 2 minutes, 23 seconds left.
Needing more clarity: Fox indicated Monday that the Bears will seek a more detailed explanation from the league on why Pernell McPhee was flagged for roughing the passer with 25 seconds remaining. It was a borderline call with McPhee hitting quarterback Matthew Stafford low after he threw.
Stafford's pass to Lance Moore sailed out of the end zone and would have put the Lions in a fourth-and-goal situation from the Bears' 12. Instead, the penalty provided first down at the 6 and Stafford threw a touchdown pass to Calvin Johnson on the next snap.
McPhee remained perplexed at why the flag was thrown.
"I was shocked," he said. "But I can't leave it in the referee's hands. ... The offensive lineman, after I beat him inside, he kind of twerked me and I just fell. When he twerked me, I ended up falling right to where Matthew was. And he did a great job acting and getting the penalty."
Needing even more clarity: A day after the NFL's "catch-or-no-catch" confusion affected the Bears when Jonathan Anderson's first-half interception was later ruled a touchdown for Golden Tate, Fox still hasn't figured out the nuances of the league's rule. The Bears coach was asked Monday how he attempts to make sense of the confusion.
"That's a good question," he replied. "I can just say that I've been doing this for a minute. And it's still a little gray for me. I'm sure we'll get another video that we'll be able to look at and educate our players."
Extra points: A day after he helped create a key takeaway on special teams, defensive back Demontre Hurst was waived. Hurst had been active on special teams the last two games after getting promoted from the practice squad in Week 5. He could be added to the practice squad if he clears waivers. In a corresponding move, the Bears promoted defensive back Bryce Callahan from the practice squad. ... It is not known whether defensive lineman Ego Ferguson will need surgery on what is believed to be a torn patellar tendon in his knee. Ferguson initially suffered his knee injury in Week 1 and sat out the next game. He tried fighting through the injury for three games. But the Bears placed him on injured reserve Saturday. ... The Bears will practice Tuesday and Wednesday heading into their open date, then they'll be off from Thursday-Sunday.
dwiederer@tribpub.com
