With 1:56 left in the fourth quarter Thursday night, the Bears faced third-and-inches, and Patriots defensive lineman Cory Durden jumped offside. Chicago fans cheered, thinking New England had just made a big mistake. In fact, Patriots coach Mike Vrabel had just called a smart play.
Vrabel told Durden to intentionally jump offside because he believed the Patriots were unlikely to stop the Bears from picking up a first down when they only had inches to go anyway, and he would rather concede the first down without wasting time and then use his timeouts on the next series of downs.
It turned out to be smart: The Patriots defense stopped the Bears on the next three plays, the Patriots used all three of their timeouts, and the Bears punted with 1:39 left. Unfortunately for the Patriots, Bears kicker Cairo Santos made a career-long 58-yard field goal that put the game out of reach. But if Santos had missed, the Patriots would have had a real chance to score a game-winning touchdown, and they would have had an extra 40 seconds to do it thanks to Vrabel’s clever clock management.
Vrabel confirmed after the game what he did, not wanting Durden to be blamed for the penalty.
“For the record, we told Cory to jump offside on third-and-six,” Vrabel said. “We felt like that was the best way to stop them, and it’s my fault, so our guys executed. And Cairo made a huge kick.”
Kirk Herbstreit, the commentator for Prime Video’s broadcast of the game, correctly noted that, for the Patriots, it was better to give the Bears first-and-10 than third-and-thumbs in this situation.
“The fact that it was third-and-inches instead of first-and-10, actually with the clock, hurts New England,” Herbstreit said after Bears quarterback Caleb Williams was spotted just before the first down on the previous play.
When Durden jumped offside, some thought it was a silly penalty, but Herbstreit knew what was happening.
“This guy did this on purpose,” Herbstreit said. “Going back to the clock, we just said if they get the first down, you have to waste a timeout on the third down conversion. Now they get the first down. Vrabel, the way he operates, that’s something they would do.”
Vrabel has made similar calls before. In fact, during the 2020 offseason, the NFL changed its rules to stop the clock after offensive penalties late in the fourth quarter because of how Vrabel, then coach of the Titans, had managed the clock by intentionally committing penalties during a playoff victory over the Patriots.
On Thursday night, Bears coach Ben Johnson should have denied the Patriots’ offside penalty to keep him at third. But Johnson apparently hadn’t thought through the consequences of accepting the penalty and the first down that accompanied it.
In the end, the Bears won despite Vrabel’s tactics. But it was another example of how Vrabel is among the league’s best coaches at managing the clock late in games.
Gn sports
