Did you see it?
Following on from last week’s article, this past Sunday saw the Chicago Bears attempt a FAKE flea flicker against the Las Vegas Raiders.
It would have worked, as well, but for those pesky officials. D’Andre Swift’s eight-yard gain was scrubbed off the board for a face-mask penalty. The play encapsulated the Chicago offense to that point in the game.
Despite often finding themselves in positive field position when starting a drive, it looked as if minds were writing cheques that legs could not cash when running plays.
I found myself thinking that the Bears were maybe trying to do too much outside the box. That said, the stifling performance by the Raiders defense certainly played into the equation.
Change of approach
Moments earlier, as the players emerged from the locker room to start the second half, the main talking point of the night occurred. Invariably, as these things go, it had nothing to do with football.
Bears’ head coach Ben Johnson was collared by a CBS reporter for a sideline interview. It was one he was perhaps contractually obliged to conduct as opposed to willingly offered.
As the interview began, he was in a terse mood. This nearly boiled over as the interviewer’s final question was delivered.
To add further intrigue to the matter, the question was partially inaudible, leading to an internet debate not seen since the infamous ‘Yanny vs Laurel’ episode.
Did the interviewer say “DO you need to change what you are doing?” or “SO, you need to change what you are doing”?
Whichever it was, it appeared Johnson heard the latter. He responded, “You think so?” before staring down at the interviewer – who now thought the best course of action was to retreat.
They uttered, “Thank you” multiple times before the camera switched back to the on-field action.
Left v right
These are now troubling times in America. Rather than pass this interview off as a storm in a teacup, it became another vehicle for political discourse. Why? Because the interviewer was a non-white female.
Right-leaning commentators and media outlets were keen to band around terms like ‘DEI hire’, and question why the reporter was challenging Johnson in the first place. She had clearly crossed the line by telling an NFL head coach he needed to change what he was doing!
Left-leaning commentators and media outlets were keen to point out Johnson’s aggressive, misogynistic treatment of the reporter. It was obvious to everyone she had only politely asked him if he needed to change what he was doing!
We appear to have arrived at a point in history where it is impossible to have an independent viewpoint on any issue. You are either right or left wing, and your opinion on everything must tow the party line.
It makes me wonder which side the right would have been on in the ‘Yanny vs Laurel’ debate.
Enough of the politics
Back to the game itself, which reached a thrilling conclusion with a go-ahead Bears touchdown within the final two minutes.
This looked to have sealed victory, until the subsequent kickoff. That was returned to a position that allowed a drive to within field goal range for the Raiders.
The kick itself was subsequently blocked, earning an improbable second win on the bounce for the Bears, 25-24.By this point, I had been on the sofa for nearly 10 hours watching NFL, and retreated to bed as the broadcast concluded.
I would have to catch up on the news concerning the announcement of the Super Bowl half-time show tomorrow.
At least there cannot possibly be any political controversy surrounding the announcement of a music performance, can there?
