Fro schrieb:
Soweit ich weiß ist es nicht möglich, die abzulehnen. Natürlich echt *******e...
Bears coach Lovie Smith defiantly defended his decision to accept an offensive pass-interference penalty on Hines Ward instead of forcing the Steelers to punt in the second quarter Sunday, a move that blew up in his face when Pittsburgh converted a third-and-13 and drove to a touchdown that gave them a 14-3 lead.
''Chance that they might have gone for it,'' Smith said when asked why he didn't stick Pittsburgh with a fourth-and-one at the 47 instead of giving them another chance. ''And really, I felt like it was a field-position game today, and we were trying to get field position. If we get someone in a third-and-long situation, I think we'll win most of them defensively. We had missed tackles or we would have.''
The decision seemed greedy, if not cocky, but the Bears entered the game as the best team in the NFL in third-down defense, allowing only a 28.4 conversion rate (52-of-183) and only 8 percent (5-of-65) on third-and-10 or more.
''That was coach Smith's decision, and I was behind it 100 percent because it was all about field position at that point,'' defensive coordinator Ron Rivera said. ''If we force an incompletion, we get a sack or we knock them back, we'd get great field position. Hey, we blew it. We had an opportunity to get a tackle a couple of times on that play, and we didn't do it.''
Still, it was a reflection on how precious even 10 yards can be to a Bears offense that usually struggles to move the ball. Right, Ron Turner?
''Who knows?'' said Turner, who also felt the Steelers would punt. ''Exactly, right. Yeah, I think so. But, yeah, fourth-and-one they would have punted, no question.''
Maybe the most bizarre answer in the whole mess came when Smith was asked if, in hindsight, he'd have taken the penalty again.
''Oh, definitely so,'' he said. ''I'd do the same thing again.''