National Football League

TD scored by Bears' Jeffery is beautiful in its simplicity

Published Sep. 28, 2014 2:46 p.m. ET

Sam Gardner

Chicago supposedly landed an offensive mastermind in January 2013, when it hired former Montreal Alouettes head coach Marc Trestman away from the CFL to lead the Bears.

The move paid dividends in Trestman’s first season back in the NFL, with the Bears leaping from 28th in the league in offense in 2012 to eighth in 2013, and on Sunday, Trestman’s innovative style paid off once again. Alshon Jeffery hauled in an easy touchdown grab as a result of a red zone play that totally fooled the Green Bay Packers’ D.

With 3:57 left in the second quarter and the Bears trailing, 14-10, Chicago put Jeffery in motion on a 2nd-and-3 from the Green Bay 8. On the defensive side of the ball, Sam Shields mirrored Jeffery, who appeared to be running an end around, but when Jeffery planted and reversed course after the snap, Shields was nowhere to be found, leaving Jeffery wide open on the left side of the field.

The play’s beauty is in its simplicity -- a route you’d be more likely to see in a schoolyard flag football game than at Soldier Field. One could make the argument that you don’t need to be an offensive pioneer like Trestman to dream it up, but it’s hard to argue with the results.