Much of the talk after the Bears lost to the Broncos regarded something that was out of character for John Fox.
He was honest.
And the more I considered the decision about which he was being honest, the more I decided he was right.
It felt like gotcha football, just without getting the win.
It’s a coin flip when trying to figure whether being right on a call or honest in answering questions is more out of character for the coach in his first season with the Bears, even if it feels like years of subterfuge, paranoia and dishonesty with occasional big red shoes.
Fox ordered the Bears to go for it on fourth-and-goal from the 4-yard line instead of kicking the field goal with more than 10 minutes left in an eight-point game.
The decision followed the Broncos’ converting a third-and-8 from the Bears 10 for a touchdown that left the Bears down 17-9.
If the Bears kicked the field goal, they still would need a touchdown. If they got into the end zone at that point, they would need only to get within Robbie Gould’s field-goal range to win it, a far easier assignment than covering the length of the field against the best defense in the league.
After the Bears failed, after they came back to score with 24 seconds to play, after they screwed up their two-point try to secure the loss, Fox did something extraordinarily out of character:
He told the truth.
“At that point in the game” Fox said, “we felt that was going to be maybe our last opportunity.”
There should be a good deal of doubt about the Bears’ clunky offense managing another red-zone trip when they had managed only three by the time they got to the fourth quarter and hadn’t gotten into the end zone against the league’s top defense.
Fox was right. That’s the way I see it a day later, and being right about a decision is something else that’s often out of character for Fox, who is great on every day except game day.
But there he was, playing against type: risky, right and honest.
Maybe Fox played that fourth-and-goal differently because he left Denver seemingly as the scapegoat for not winning a Super Bowl.
Maybe there’s something to the idea that Sunday’s game against the team he coached to 46 regular-season wins and four AFC West titles was his Super Bowl.
Good. It’s the closest the Bears will get to the Super Bowl this season, so why not?
The Bears have had red-zone problems all season. What could’ve helped a lousy red-zone offense more than converting a fourth-and-goal from the 4?
People are playing the whole what-if game because the Bears in fact barged into the red zone again and scored. But who says the Broncos would’ve played it the same way if the Bears had kicked the field goal, especially on offense? Perhaps the Broncos would’ve schemed to get a first down instead of just running clock.
If you want to point fingers, point at the Bears defense.
The offense’s failure meant the Broncos would start on their 4. Here was a big opportunity for a Bears defense that had made a big jump from the bottom of the league rankings to the top 10 this season.
Whoops. With a quarterback making his NFL debut, the Broncos proceeded to run over the Bears and didn’t stop until they got near midfield. One time, they stung the Bears for 15 yards on a third-and-1 at the 13. In all, the Broncos rushed for 34 yards before punting.
Oh, and what happened after the punt?
Jay Cutler fumbled inside the Broncos 35 with less than 2:30 to go, which seems to underscore Fox’s decision to go for it.
Fox was right. And honest. That’s a parlay nobody on either side of the field would’ve bet.
