Trailing six points to the Chicago Bears in the late fourth quarter, the New England Patriots needed two things: a stop and time. When the former was unlikely to happen, though, they prioritized the latter.
That is what happened when defensive tackle Cory Durden jumped offsides on a 3rd-and-1 coming out of the two-minute warning. Durden did not do so by accident or overeagerness to make a play; he encroached because he was told to do so by his head coach.
“We told Cory to jump off sides and third-and-six inches or whatever it was,” Mike Vrabel said during his postgame presser after his team’s 30-24 defeat. “We felt like that was going to be the best way to get them stopped. That’s on me.”
Up 27-21, the Bears took possession with 6:22 left in the game. The Patriots did have a chance to get a quick stop, but quarterback Caleb Williams connected with wide receiver Rome Odunze for a 21-yard gain on 3rd-and-9 to keep the drive going. Five plays later, on 3rd-and-1, New England already saw the writing on the wall and opted for the unconventional tactic.
Durden was instructed to jump offsides, allow a conversation, and save some time and preserve all three timeouts. The plan came close to working, too, when Christian Barmore sacked Williams to set up a 58-yard field goal try.
However, Bears kicker Cairo Santos, who had missed a 53-yard attempt earlier in the game, was perfect this time around to effectively ice the game with 1:34 remaining on the clock.
“Our guys executed and then Cairo made a huge kick,” said Vrabel about a player he coached back in Tennessee in 2019. “I didn’t want him to make it tonight, but a former guy that we coached. Caleb’s going to make some plays. I don’t know how you get out-executed when a guy makes a 58-yard field goal. We executed well at times and didn’t get the drive stopped enough.”