[Scott Bair] Fuel for the conspiracy theorists out there: Per NFLPenalties.com, the Bears have been flagged 64 times for 533 yards. (2nd highest per game penalty count in the league) Bears opponents have been flagged 36 times for 254 yards (2nd lowest per game count in the league)

28 comments

  1. There have been some questionable calls but I think getting flagged for so many penalties is a more a result of committing so many penalties than a conspiracy.

  2. If it was just our penalties you could chalk it up to us, but the fact our opponents simultaneously have the fewest penalties is definitely suspicious

  3. We’ve definitely been boned by the refs several times this year, but also we commit so many pre-snap penalties that I don’t think it’s a surprise how many penalties we have. Outside of Caleb’s inaccuracy, it’s what is holding back the offense the most imo.

  4. Each of the last 4 weeks we have clearly been screwed on penalties. Our opponent has gotten away with stuff and we have been called for phantom penalties.

    So, yeah. Over the course of a season, the disparity is gonna grow.

    And the presnap penalties are part of it. Yeah, we have been rough, but our opponent has jumped and no false start and we have not moved and been flagged for a false start (Thuney in the fourth quarter).

    Luck swings though so unless it’s actually a conspiracy theory, it will swing in our favor and we’ll have some games where we aren’t being called tightly and the other team is getting screwed…

    You either think the penalty luck will go in our favor soon, think the officials are against us, think mystical forces are involved, or you don’t know football well enough to see the clear ridiculous penalty discrepancy each of the last 4 games.

    Every person on the planet fits into one of those 4 buckets. You may not like your bucket, but that’s how it is. 🤷‍♂️

  6. I think you get the cascade of reinforcing effects here. The Bears are undisciplined so they commit penalties. The refs notice the bears are committing lots of penalties, so they are primed to look for penalties, and sure enough notice them.(recency bias/bader meinhoff/nominitive determinism?). The refs call more penalties. The Bears become known for being undisciplined…

    No conspiracy needed, just basic human psychology.

  9. We’ve definitely been getting hosed on more calls then our opponents. Sure we’ve had issues but there is always a handful of calls where we get a tacky flag that is never called and the opponent has a blatant call that is somehow missed.

  14. The overwhelming majority of the pre-snap penalties have been legit. Those are the killers.

  19. As always, if the NFL was rigging things, they would certainly rig things in favor of the Bears, who are in their largest single-team market and a massive ratings draw anytime they even sniff at being good.

  25. My guess is the NFL wants another team in Chicago but McCaskeys won’t allow it so they are going to screw them over until they change their mind.

  26. I hate complaining about refs in all sports, however, with the rise of sports gambling and extremely suspicious calls, it’s time refs be held accountable.

    Who remembers that pre snap penalty against LT and Rome TD…

    This goes for all sports. Seems as if Vegas has a script and integrity is waning.

  27. Stop looking for excuses why this franchise is mediocre, bad ownership hires a bad front office who drafts poorly and acquires talent that isn’t game changing

  28. All the opps d line has to do is stand up and randomly point, and were flagged for false start. At the end of the balt game…why didnt baltimore get a flag for encroachment? They definitely crossed the line and touched our lineman trying to get a false start call on us?

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