The Chicago Bears were driving into San Francisco 49ers’ territory just before halftime when Chicago lined up for a 47-yard field goal. The Niners’ special teams wasn’t the only thing going against the Bears as they lined up for the kick: Chicago also had to battle rainy conditions at Soldier Field that helped create a sloppy, borderline unplayable playing surface.
Bears called for ‘illegal towel’ penalty because Soldier Field was so sloppy
The Bears’ ‘illegal towel’ penalty knocked them out of field goal range against the San Francisco 49ers.
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
As the Bears prepared to kick the field goal, holder and rookie punter Trenton Gill brought out a towel to wipe away a spot on the field for the kick. When the ball was snapped, the officials blew the play dead and called a 15-yard penalty on the Bears for illegal towel use.
The Bears were forced to punt, and the 49ers took a 7-0 lead into halftime. Here’s a look at the play.
Only a franchise as inept as the Bears could get called for such an obscured penalty.
Here’s a look at the refs calling the penalty:
No one at the stadium could believe what they were watching:
Hopefully there isn’t a serious injury on such a poor playing field. The grass at Soldier Field has been unacceptable for far too long.
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