Short of the sticks, stuffed on 4th down – things go awry on Bears' final drive

CHICAGO – With a third-and-5 at the Lions’ 24-yard line, Bears receiver Allen Robinson lined up across from Lions cornerback Amani Oruwariye. As the play started, Oruwariye slipped and fell to the turf.

Robinson caught a pass from quarterback Mitch Trubisky, turned and barreled out of bounds. The only problem was Robinson was short of the sticks. At least, according to the refs – Robinson clearly didn’t like the spot.

By not gaining a first down, the Bears were in a tough spot. It was fourth-and-1 with 16 seconds remaining in the game. Down by four points, they needed a touchdown. But they needed a first down first and foremost.

On the next play, the Lions stuffed Bears running back David Montgomery short of the line to gain. The Bears turned it over on downs and lost, 34-30.

“If you are telling me it’s one yard and we are handing the ball to David Montgomery, my money is on him every time, and our offensive line,” Trubisky said. “It doesn’t matter what the situation is. You have to give them credit. They made the play, we didn’t. It’s as simple as that. If we had to do it all over again, my money would be on David and our offensive line."

Montgomery said he "let the fellas down" after the game. It put a sour end to what had been an otherwise great game for Montgomery.

But the argument could be made that it shouldn’t have come down to the fourth-and-1 play. Robinson dashed out of bounds a foot short of the sticks, even with his defender on the ground. While going out of bounds is typically what a receiver is taught to do in those late-game situations, the Bears needed a first down more than anything. They still had one timeout remaining at the time, too.

The Bears did not make Robinson available for comment after the game Sunday. To be fair, like Montgomery, Robinson had a solid game prior to the final drive. He caught six passes for 75 yards. He was Trubisky’s go-to target yet again.

“There's not a lot of words that can be said,” coach Matt Nagy said. “We have to do it with our actions. The guys, we're all obviously disappointed.”