Bears robbed of face mask penalty on Mitchell Trubisky fumble (Video)

The Chicago Bears were robbed of a clear face mask penalty that should have eliminated Mitchell Trubisky’s second-quarter fumble.

Sunday night featured the return of Mitchell Trubisky, who was benched by Chicago Bears head coach Matt Nagy all the way back in Week 3. The former Tar Heel quarterback never lived up to his second-overall selection in the 2017 NFL Draft, which is even worse considering Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson were taken after him. But a hip injury to Nick Foles gave Trubisky a shot at redemption against the rival Green Bay Packers.

After a promising first drive, the wheels fell off for Trubisky and the Bears, finding themselves in a 20-3 hole. But in the second quarter, the deficit grew after the quarterback fumbled in his own territory, allowing Packers linebacker Preston Smith to scoop up the ball and easily jog into the end zone for the touchdown. While it was a brutal play, the fumble shouldn’t have actually counted, because Trubisky was grabbed by the face mask twice by Za’Darius Smith and Kenny Clark!

How do the refs miss that call?

Missing one face mask is somewhat understandable, but how does this on-field officiating crew manage to miss Trubisky get grabbed by the front of his helmet twice in a mater of seconds? The Bears could’ve had that fumble negated, and given them a 15-yard gain and an automatic first down.

Trubisky did get himself some semblance of revenge later on in the first half. With less than 30 seconds remaining on the clock, Trubisky hit top wide receiver Allen Robinson in the end zone to cut Green Bay’s lead to 27-10.

In the first half, Trubisky completed 11-of-17 passes for 107 yards, one touchdown and one interception, which came on a brutal throw intended for rookie wideout Darnell Mooney, but it landed right in the hands of Packers safety Darnell Savage.

Bears fans, we can absolutely feel your pain. The refs missed two blatant face masks that caused the team to deal with a 24-point deficit. Let’s see if the Bears can reawaken in the second half to defeat the Packers, just like the Indianapolis Colts did to them last week.