With 1:56 left, Mike Vrabel told Patriots lineman Cory Durden to jump offside on Bears third-and-inches, deliberately conceding a first down to preserve clock.
The logic was to avoid letting Chicago convert while draining time and forcing a New England timeout; Vrabel later said the call was his, not Durden’s mistake.
New England then stopped the Bears on the next three plays and used all three timeouts, but Cairo Santos drilled a career-long 58-yard field goal with 1:39 remaining.
Kirk Herbstreit identified the tactic on the broadcast, saying first-and-10 hurt the Patriots less than third-and-inches in that clock situation.
Vrabel has used similar edge-case clock tactics before, including a 2019 playoff sequence that helped prompt a 2020 NFL rule change on late offensive penalties.