Bears’ trick play still hot topic
Johnny Knox’s apparent 89-yard, trick-play punt return for a touchdown could have positioned the Bears for a miracle finish, but it was wiped out by a holding call on Corey Graham.
“We didn’t have a lot of big plays, and (we) had one called back, (so) you’re not happy about it,” coach Lovie Smith said. “But officials made a call. It really hurt us. (I) didn’t think that that penalty had a whole lot to do with the play.”
While Devin Hester pretended to prepare to catch the punt in the middle of the field, Knox fielded it along the east sideline and bolted for the end zone with only punter Tim Masthay to beat, which he did.
The Bears still would have needed to recover an onside kick with 51 seconds left and boot a field goal to force overtime.
“It’s a play that we had kind of set up earlier with a few things that we did,” Smith said. “It worked out perfectly — we thought. That play really could have gotten us back in. We’re onside kicking and have a chance in a game that we didn’t really play well (in).”
Change is good:No player#146;s status has changed more from training camp to the present than wide receiver Dane Sanzenbacher, who came in as an undrafted rookie but has become an integral part of the offense.He has 9 catches for 66 yards and a team-best 2 touchdowns.#147;Your focus goes from, #145;OK, do everything right, get your offense in, try to make this team,#146; to now you want to contribute and help this team win,#148; he said.#147;It#146;s away from worrying about making a mistake and, #145;Are they going to send me home tomorrow?#146; It#146;s now on to, #145;OK, we#146;ve got to get this together and try to get wins.#146;#148;Change of scenery:Former Bears tight end Greg Olsen caught 7 passes for 57 yards Sunday, including the game-winning, 16-yard TD pass with 4:20 left in the Carolina Panthers#146; 16-10 victory over Jacksonville.Olsen, a former first-round pick who was traded for a third-round pick just before the start of training camp, also caught the 2-point conversion pass after his TD.He has 12 catches for 169 yards, on pace for 64 catches and 908 yards. His best season as a Bears was 2009, when he caught 60 passes for 612 yards.Running on empty:The Bears#146; rushing total of 13 yards in Sunday#146;s loss to Green was the third-lowest in franchise history.The all-time low was 1 yard on Oct. 26, 1952, against the Los Angeles Rams. The Bears#146; had 12 rushing yards on Nov. 25, 1956, against the New York Giants.ŸFollow Bob#146;s Bears reports via Twitter @Bob LeGere and check out our Bear Essentials blog at dailyherald.com.