Jets' failed fake punt turns the tide in Bears' favor

Reason No. 101 why Devin Hester deserves to be labeled as ridiculous: His mere presence forces ridiculous decisions by the bosses on the other sideline.

The most crucial play in the Bears' 38-34 win on Sunday at Soldier Field — the New York Jets' failed fake punt from their own 40 at the second half's outset — occurred because the Jets figured it couldn't go as badly as a Hester punt return.

That's why Jets coach Rex Ryan wasn't too crushed when Rashied Davis kept Brad Smith from catching Mark Sanchez's rollout pass on fourth-and-4.

“We worked it all week (and) we felt good about it,” Ryan said. “Quite honestly, if the ball got in Hester's hands, we knew where it was going to end up.”

Sanchez's incomplete pass beat the visitors' worst-case scenario, but not by much.

On the Bears' first play after gaining possession, Jay Cutler fired a 40-yard touchdown bomb to Johnny Knox to pull the Bears into a 24-24 tie with 13:20 left in the third quarter.

It served as the first of 3 Cutler touchdown passes in a 7-minute, 14-second stretch that gave the Bears the lead for good.

“Yeah, that (fake punt) was huge,” Cutler said. “I don't know what they were thinking exactly with that one.”

But Davis did, which was all that mattered.

“Maybe they thought we'd panic,” Davis said. “You try to get guys to call a timeout or get a team to panic and get nervous in that situation — forget who your man is.

“(Special teams coach Dave) Toub had us ready for a fake. We knew they were going to try to do something.”

The former Arena League cornerback, who has been one of the Bears' special-teams aces for years, sniffed out the Jets' deception immediately.

While the Jets had punter Steve Weatherford lined up deep, Sanchez moved between him and the snapper while receiver Brad Smith shifted out right toward Davis' side — where he's usually busy preparing to block a punt gunner.

“Everybody on the field knew it was a fake,” Davis said. “Everybody at home knew it was a fake.

“Once they shifted (Smith) out, everyone knew they were throwing the ball to him. You can't throw it to the receiver out wide because there's no pass interference.”

As Sanchez rolled right, Smith ran a short down-and-out beyond the first-down marker. It looked like they connected until Davis tackled Smith as the ball arrived.

“The defender made a pretty good play,” Sanchez said. “If you see it on the replay, I put it right in Brad's numbers. He had his hands on it for half a second. (Davis) put his hand in there and he just kind of tipped the ball.

“It just didn't work in our favor, but I thought it was the right call at the time. If we get that, (special teams coordinator Mike Westhoff) is a hero for that play.”