Taking a Plunge Might Be Best Bears Option

Goal-line problems have become a real Bears issue after Khalil Herbert got stopped inside the 1-yard line, so it might be time to try a Walter Payton style leap.

Longtime Bears fans shake their heads over the team's failure to score on fourth-and-goal inside the 1-yard line.

In the old days, Bill Wade would run a quarterback sneak and score, real old-timers say.

Better yet, Walter Payton would take flight and plunge over the top. Payton was the best at this—better even than the Raiders' Marcus Allen, who wasn't bad either—and it almost never failed.

"I don't know, we've just got to find a way to get in," Herbert said. "I've just got to find a way to get in. I’ve been watching that play over and over again trying to figure out what I could've did different. If I could've jumped, if I could've done something else."

Khalil Herbert was asked Tuesday if he thought about trying it and Herbert admitted it ran through his mind, but when he was watching game film later of the failed attempt.

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking in my head as I kept watching the play," he said. "Might try and do that next time."

It's rarely done these days but it's not easy. It takes an offensive line that prevents any penetration first of all. Otherwise, the vault comes from too deep in the backfield to even work.

Any play at the line happens quickly so being cute a the goal line isn't much of an option.

"You don't really have time to do all that," he said. "It's kinda just try and find a seam, but the play is designed to go where it's designed and you've just gotta hit it and hope guys get a push and hope you're able to get in.

"You don't really have to much time to sit there and decipher where I'm gonna go. You've just gotta get the ball and go."

Trying to do something Payton did might not be advisable. He was like a gymnast, with powerful legs and arms. He was known for being able to walk on his hands across the field from one sideline to the other. In short yardage, he easily transformed into a human cannonball.

Herbert said he's more inclined to look for ground routes. Then again...

"Guys get flipped and stuff," Herbert said. "I don't know. I've never been a hurdle or jump guy, so it's not my first thought.

"I feel like I'm better with both my feet on the ground, so it wasn't my first thought. But watching that play over and over again, I might have to add that in the bag."

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