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The Chicago Bears are heading into their bye week on the heels of a tough 29-27 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday Night Football. It was a defeat that was difficult for the team and its fans to digest, particularly after several questionable calls by the officiating crew.
One call specifically, has sparked a great deal of controversy: the taunting penalty called against Chicago linebacker Cassius Marsh. Late in the fourth quarter, Marsh sacked Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and celebrated briefly before looking towards the Steelers sideline. As he jogged off the field, it appeared an official initiated deliberate contact with Marsh just before tossing a flag and calling the OLB for taunting. Here’s a look at the play:
And the official bumping into Marsh afterwards:
“I think it’s pretty clear to everybody who saw it that I wasn’t taunting. I’ve been doing that celebration my whole career and it’s just sad to see stuff like that happen in a close game like that. It’s just rough, man,” Marsh said about the incident after the game, via PFF’s Ari Meirov. “But the one thing that I will say is on my way to the sideline, I got hip-checked by the ref and it’s pretty clear. If I were to do that to a ref or even touch the ref, we’d get kicked out of the game and possibly suspended and fined.”
When he was asked about the taunting penalty after the loss, Bears head coach Matt Nagy had a vague and curious response.
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Nagy Has Opportunity to Defend His Player, Doesn’t Do It
Numerous fans and analysts — many of whom weren’t even Bears fans — weighed in on the taunting penalty, which was a baffling and questionable call, at best. Here’s what Nagy said about it after the game:
It’s hard for me to comment yet because I haven’t seen it. I think we all understand it’s a very, very emotional game. It’s a different deal when you’re watching it on TV. It’s an emotional game. That’s not excusing anything, but we’ve just got to be smart. It’s (taunting) also an emphasis this year. It’s a major emphasis. Knowing that it’s a major emphasis, we all, as coaches and players, have got to make sure that you just don’t even put it in the gray area. Don’t put it in that area, and you guys did a great job, you worked like hell to get off the field, so come off the field and celebrate with your guys. Again, I’ve got to see it. I didn’t see it. But it’s one of those deals that we know they’re emphasizing it.
So, Nagy admitted he hadn’t seen the play when it happened — which is an issue in and of itself, because now that he’s not calling plays, he should be more focused on the game in front of him — yet he elected to dance around the topic instead of defending his player. Twitter took note, of course:
One fan called Nagy’s inaction “inexplicable:”
Another called it “embarrassing:”
NFL head coaches are fined for being publicly critical of the league’s officiating, but some felt Nagy should have taken on some fines by calling out the officiating, or at the very least, that he should have vocally support Marsh and the other players who were flagged for questionable penalties:
The defense of the new taunting penalty also earned Nagy a few new unpleasant nicknames:
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After Watching the Play, Nagy Says it Will Be ‘A Learning Tool’
When asked about the play again after he had a chance to watch the film, Nagy said this on November 9:
It’s something that in that moment, you have to be super careful of being in the gray with this new rule, with the taunting. And any gray that you give them, they can make a decision on and it can be subjective and that’s part of the rule. It is what it is. I’ll also say, it’s a very emotional game and an emotional time in the game. And so, you have that balance of somebody that’s fighting their ass off to make a play, and then who makes the play and is excited. Isn’t that a part of loving the game, man — the passion, fire, fun. Right? That’s a part of the game. But when you’re in the gray, then it can, there can be consequences. I think that’s the balance of us teaching that, understanding the emphasis and that’s the decision that they make. The tough part is that he made a great play in that moment and it’s getting overshadowed by that and I think that’s a learning tool.
A learning tool? That’s certainly admirable, but Nagy may find it difficult to teach something very few understand.
The newly-incorporated taunting penalty is being widely criticized primarily because of its vague nature — the league has yet to define it in specific and measurable terms, and through the first nine weeks, it has been completely subjective. At the very least, Nagy could have be more critical of the “gray” area he mentioned, or he could have expressed concern about the subjectivity of the new rule. Instead, his reaction to the highly-questionable officiating has become yet another invitation for many to lampoon the Bears coach.
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