With his arms extended and his palms facing the sky, quarterback Chris Chandler made the universal signal for “huh?”
Seven seconds remained in Sunday’s game with St. Louis, and the Bears had run out of timeouts and, apparently, answers.
A 31-yard field goal by Jeff Wilkins with
38 seconds left backed the Bears into an all-too-familiar corner. Only a week earlier, the Lions had kicked a late field goal and left it up to the Bears’ offense to save the day.
It didn’t then, and it didn’t Sunday.
Inside the Bears’ huddle, Chandler’s headset cut off when the play clock hit 15. Chandler didn’t hear quarterbacks coach Greg Olson finish the call but correctly guessed the rest of the play.
Chandler said the play called for receivers to go long, while offensive coordinator John Shoop said it called for short patterns that allowed time for another play.
“We gave that game away,” defensive tackle Bryan Robinson said. “We definitely did.”
The first sign of collapse came on fourth-and-1 at the Rams’ 40 with the Bears leading 14-3 and coach Mike Martz feeling lucky. The Rams handed the ball to Marshall Faulk, who squirted for a 52-yard gain.
Two plays later, quarterback Marc Bulger hit Torry Holt for a 4-yard TD pass.
The defense had a chance to make amends by protecting a 21-20 lead with the Rams taking over at the 20 with 2 minutes 41 seconds left.
But on third-and-10, cornerback R.W. McQuarters lost track of Holt on a 21-yard gain. On the next play, rookie linebacker Lance Briggs got called for illegal contact. The play after that, rookie cornerback Charles Tillman was called for illegal use of the hands, and a sense of inevitability invaded Soldier Field.
“I don’t know, man,” said Booker, bowing his head. “You’re not going to get calls like that when you’re 3-7 and the [pits] of the league. And we didn’t.”
