The NFL slapped two Chicago Bears players with three different punishments on Saturday, just ahead of a matchup in San Francisco with the 49ers that has all sorts of implications for the NFC playoff picture.
The league’s Office of Gameday Accountability leveled two fines against second-year defensive end Austin Booker, both of which came because of flagged hits on Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love.
Booker caught a fine of $5,818 for crashing on top of Love, which the NFL deemed as illegal due to Booker’s inability to avert his “body weight” and avoid the maximum possible impact to the Packers QB as they hit the ground. The league fined Booker the exact same amount for a hit to Love’s head late in the second quarter, which resulted in Love exiting the game with a concussion.
Booker spoke about his fines late last week, accepting responsibility for the body weight tackle but asserting that Love was at least partially responsible for the head injury due to ducking just before impact.
“The first one I’ll take full responsibility for. Like, I landed on him, I should have braced myself more,” Booker said. “But I think the second one could definitely go both ways.”
Booker won’t miss any time for the hit, though Love is out for Green Bay’s game against the Baltimore Ravens at Lambeau Field on Saturday night, as he remains in the league’s mandatory concussion protocol.
Bears linebacker D’Marco Jackson, who also is a frequent contributor to Chicago’s special teams unit, incurred a fine of $6,111 for unnecessary roughness by way of a late hit on the game’s opening kickoff.
Bears Can Clinch NFC North Division in Week 17
GettyLinebacker D’Marco Jackson of the Chicago Bears.
Neither Booker or Jackson will miss the game against the Niners in the Bay Area, which NBC will run in primetime as its “Sunday Night Football” broadcast.
In a week full of meaningful matchups, the contest between the Bears (11-4) and the 49ers (11-4) is the arguably the biggest because of what it will mean for the NFC North and West Divisions, as well as the conference as a whole.
Chicago will clinch the North if the Packers lose at home against the Ravens on Saturday night in a matchup that will likely pit two backup quarterbacks, Malik Willis and Tyler Huntley, against one another. But Green Bay is a 2.5-point home favorite in that game.
The Bears can lock up the division with a victory in San Francisco on Sunday, regardless of what happens with the Packers. And one win by Chicago or one loss by Green Bay in either Week 17 or 18 puts the Bears into either the No. 2 or 3 slot in the NFC as division champs no matter what.
Bears Still in Hunt for Top Seed in NFC Playoffs
GettyChicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson.
Chicago also holds the tiebreak with the conference’s current No. 1 seed, the Seattle Seahawks (12-3), who play on the road against the Carolina Panthers and 49ers to finish the year.
San Francisco isn’t out of the division hunt in the West, either. The 49ers have the same record as the Los Angeles Rams (11-4), with both teams just one game behind the Seahawks.
Although it will be difficult and does not rest entirely in the Bears’ collective hands, Chicago can capture the No. 1 seed in the conference by Week 18 and earn both a bye through the opening weekend of the playoffs, as well as home-field advantage all the way until Super Bowl Sunday.
Though that path starts with a Bears win in San Francisco on Sunday night.
NFL Cracks Down on 2 Bears Ahead of Crucial 49ers Matchup