Every game can be defined by one play that can cause a seismic shift in the momentum. One play from the Chicago Bears' 27-24 loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Monday night was that moment.
Entering the fourth quarter, the Bears had a 17-6 lead when it started with a Cairo Santos missed field goal from 50 yards. That would spark the Vikings' comeback with their next offensive drive being a touchdown, but Minnesota didn't get the two-point conversion with the score at 17-12, Bears with the lead.
The next Vikings drive would have been the moment that might have ended any kind of momentum for the Bears. On third and one at the Bears' 41-yard line, Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy threw a pass to Jalen Nailor that went incomplete with great coverage from Tyrique Stevenson.
Then the yellow flag came out. A 14-yard pass interference on Stevenson and an automatic first down for the Vikings. The issue? It was a horrible missed call. Nailor fell on the route.
Now Tyrique Stevenson called for a penalty because a Vikings player fell down.pic.twitter.com/knb5LSx1W0
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On the next play, McCarthy hit running back Aaron Jones on a 27-yard touchdown pass to give the Vikings the lead. After a successful two-point conversion attempt, Minnesota had the lead 20-17 and never lost it.
One play cost the Bears the game against Minnesota
Sure, Santos's missed field goal was bad. Even the blocked punt on the Bears' next offensive drive was a bad play. Add in Caleb Williams' intentional grounding call before Santos' missed field goal was roughβa lot of bad plays at the end, but Stevenson's penalty hurt.
The Bears had 12 penalties for 127 yards in the loss, so every one of them was brutal to Chicago. Most of them were justified, but the PI call is the one that sticks out.
Chicago had the stop on third down. Minnesota was most likely going to go for it, but with cornerback Nahshon Wright getting hurt on the play before the PI call, that stop would have given the Bears more momentum on the fourth down. Even if the Vikings got the fourth down, it would have killed more clock and not given Minnesota as much time if they got the ball back.
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This is a game that's going to sting for a bit for Bears fans, as they had an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter. There were plenty of self-inflicted wounds caused by Chicago, but that penalty was not one of them. That missed call was the nail in the coffin for the Bears, as all momentum was gone forever.