It was a play that would cost the Bears four points and possibly the game. That much could be agreed upon. But that was about all.
On the Eagles’ first possession Sunday, Bears cornerback Terry Cousin picked up a fumble by Duce Staley at the Philadelphia 47-yard line. When no Eagles player touched him, Cousin ran it back for an apparent touchdown.
“The ball squirted out before he fell down and nobody saw it,” Cousin said. “I was on my knee and grabbed the ball but nobody touched me. I just got up and ran.”
But after Cousin reached the end zone, officials called the ball back and awarded the Bears possession, but not the touchdown. The Bears converted the turnover into a field goal. But the lost four points were critical in a 20-16 defeat.
Officials did not make themselves available for comment soon after the game. They differed in their explanations to the Bears at the time.
“I was going to challenge it (for replay review) on the field,” coach Dick Jauron said. “I was told by the official on the sideline that they had blown (the play) dead. I asked him who and he told me an official on the field.”
An inadvertent whistle was not the explanation Cousin received.
“(An official) told me that they ruled it down by contact, but nobody touched me,” Cousin said. “I asked, `How can you rule that?’ I knew that nobody touched me and that I didn’t step out of bounds.”