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Another controversial clock mismanagement leads to Bears big deficit in Detroit

This time it wasn't Matt Eberflus who screwed up the clock at Ford Field, it was the officials who gave the Lions a controversial touchdown against the Bears.
Richie Whitt|
Detroit Lions running back David Montgomery (5) runs against Chicago Bears
Detroit Lions running back David Montgomery (5) runs against Chicago Bears | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

What is it with the Chicago Bears and clock gaffes at Ford Field?

Last Thanksgiving, it was Bears' head coach Matt Eberflus who cost his team a loss and himself a job by allowing most of the game's final 32 seconds to expire without calling a timeout in a excruciating 23-20 defeat. The head coach is different and it's only Week 2 this Sunday in Detroit, but another more clock mismanagement has cost the Bears a crucial touchdown just before halftime.

Jared Goff's 4-yard touchdown pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown with two seconds remaining gave the Lions a 28-14 lead. But it was a controversial set of moves by officials on the field and the Ford Field clock operator that led the play happen.

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Before the snap and play - in which St. Brown easily beat cornerback Tyrique Stevenson for the easy score - the clock showed :00 and head coach Ben Johnson had waved his team off the field and headeded for the locker room.

The final sequence was wild, and for the Bears, woeful.

Goff hit receiver Issac TeSlaa with a 29-yard completion on the sideline. TeSlaa appeared to be tackled inbounds, with both feet and his right elbow clear of the sideline. The clock, which was at :16, should have kept running. And the Lions were out of timeouts, meaning getting off another play would have been tricky.

But the official on the sideline incorrectly stopped the clock. The clock operator in the stadium, however, did not. Detroit ran to the line and spiked the ball but time expired.

As the clock rolled to :00, the Bears jogged off the field. But after replay, the referee explained that the

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"The key is here is that the officials stopped the clock," Fox rules expert Mike Pereira said. "The catch is made inbounds, the shin was down and the official covering the play stopped the clock. The clock operator didn't stop it, but actually should have, so they reset it back to 16 to where the official killed the clock and then that creates a 10-second runoff so then it's down to 6 seconds. So, really there was an error by the covering official that led to this. If it was officiated properly, then (the Lions) probably wouldn't have gotten the (next) play off."

Bottom line: The Bears are 0 for 2 with quirky clocks in their last two visits to Detroit.

Detroit Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs (0) celebrates a touchdown against Chicago Bears
Detroit Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs (0) celebrates a touchdown against Chicago Bears | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Richie Whitt
RICHIE WHITT

Richie Whitt has been a sports media fixture in Dallas-Fort Worth since graduating from UT-Arlington in 1986. His career is highlighted by successful stints in print (Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Dallas Observer), TV (NBC5) and radio (105.3 The Fan). During his almost 40-year tenure, he's blabbed and blogged on events ranging from Super Bowls to NBA Finals to World Series to Stanley Cups to Olympics to Wimbledons to World Cups. Whitt has been covering the NFL since 1989, and in 1993 authored The 'Boys Are Back, a book chronicling the Dallas Cowboys' run to Super Bowl XXVII.

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