The Chicago Bears fell to the New Orleans Saints at the Superdome by a score of 20-12, but that was not the only bad news for the Bears. In the third quarter, the Bears were driving down field while trailing 14-3. Quarterback Mitchell Trubisky threw an absolutely perfect pass to Zach Miller to the endzone which he appeared to catch for the touchdown.
He came down and did not get up, which immediately suggested he got injured on the play. Looking at the replay it was revealed that Miller's left leg twisted around while coming down on the jump. Immediately the speculation of season-ending injury entered many people's minds as stomachs turned upside down.
After Miller was carted off, in shocking fashion, the touchdown catch was overturned by the refs and was called incomplete.
Miller's injury
The injury is very hard to watch, even for the toughest of people. The Fox broadcast did not even show a close up of the replay because it was so gruesome, but plenty of people on social media have posted videos or GIFs of Miller's injury, and most warn of its graphic content. In the postgame show coach John Fox confirmed that Miller dislocated his knee on the play and was taken to a local New Orleans hospital.
The Bears' offensive unit is thin to begin with, and their most reliable tight end being hurt makes things even more difficult. If this is indeed season-ending, this will be the second year in a row he sustained an injury which cut his year short.
Knee dislocation can do a lot of damage, and now the team waits to see how severe it is. Based on the replay, it does not look good at all.
Zach Miller should get credit for the TD just for holding on through this injurypic.twitter.com/XvQ7XM4FIl
— NFL Retweet (@NFLRT) October 29, 2017
Overturned catch
In a huge turn of events, the catch was overturned and was deemed incomplete.
The faces on the Bears' sideline went from concerned to dumbfounded when the call was made. The throw was on third down so they sent out Connor Barth and the field goal unit to kick a field goal, making it 14-6 instead of 14-9 (14-10 with a PAT). The announcers on Fox were stunned, NFL writers on social media were stunned, and, of course, Bears fans were furious.
There did not appear to be any evidence of Miller losing control of the ball or not completing the process, but the refs appeared to see otherwise. Unfortunately for John Fox, it was a play that could not be challenged. This created even more confusion as to what a complete catch is in the NFL, and that does not help them in terms of getting more support for a league that has a lot of other issues on their hands. Some plays like this are close, but this was not.
Here's the Zach Miller TD/Non TD awful call and gruesome leg injury to boot. #Bears @WGNNews pic.twitter.com/fKtB8fAdZp
— Josh Frydman (@Josh_Frydman) October 29, 2017
How is that not a touchdown for Zach Miller? It's unbelievable. No one has any idea what a TD is. Called inconsistently every game. Unreal
— Matthew Berry (@MatthewBerryTMR) October 29, 2017
If that Zach Miller TD isn't a catch -- especially when ruled a TD on the field -- then seriously, we no longer have catches in the NFL.
— J.B. Long (@JB_Long) October 29, 2017