John Fox's late call against Broncos proves crucial

It was just like old times, with John Fox having a hand in another Denver Broncos win.

Except that’s not how it’s supposed to go now that Fox is coaching the Chicago Bears.

Trailing 17-9 with 10 minutes left, Fox made the questionable decision to pass up a short field goal and go for it on fourth-and-4 from the Denver 4. The gamble backfired when Jay Cutler’s pass to Jeremy Langford fell short.

“We hadn’t made many trips to the end zone. We hadn’t scored touchdowns. It had been kind of a field goal game,” Fox said. “At that point in the game, we felt that was going to maybe be our last opportunity (for points). So we were aggressive and came up short.”

OK, then.

While it’s true Chicago had gotten inside the Denver 20 only twice before and not come close to a touchdown – Cutler threw two incompletions from the 18 in the third quarter – Fox’s logic makes no sense that early in the fourth quarter.

Down by 8, the Bears would have needed a TD and a two-point conversion just to tie the game. Given that leading receiver Alshon Jeffery and top running back Matt Forte were both out, that would have been a stretch.

Better to take a field goal – Robbie Gould is 6-for-6 from inside the 30 this season – and hope the defense can get the ball back quickly, rather than risk coming up empty.

The Bears got another chance to tie it after Langford scored on a 2-yard run with 24 seconds left. Fox called another run play, but Langford was swallowed up by the Broncos defense well short of the goal line.

“I’m not going to get into schemes and what we are doing schematically,” Fox said. “Obviously, we came up short.”

And Fox’s old team got another win.

Follow Nancy Armour on Twitter @nrarmour.

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