The Chicago Bears faced off against the Washington Commanders on Thursday Night Football in a game where star wide receiver DJ Moore stole the show. Moore had a career-best performance on Thursday night.
Things could have been even better if not for a questionable out-of-bounds call from officials.
Moore got things started early for the Bears, scoring two first-half touchdowns to put the Bears out to an early lead over the Commanders.
Fields to Moore again! An early lead for the Bears. @justnfields @idjmoore#CHIvsWAS on Prime Video
Also available on #NFLPlus https://t.co/YCeYJnyJmB pic.twitter.com/cz0PKVSfHl— NFL (@NFL) October 6, 2023
DJ Moore is going off. He already has 5 catches for 137 yards and 2 touchdowns.pic.twitter.com/6mc9E3jt0l
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) October 6, 2023
Moore finished the first half with five catches for 137 yards and two touchdowns, setting a near-historic pace for the remainder of the game.
The Commanders were able to slow him down slightly, but one play in particular ended in controversy when officials made a questionable ruling on Moore stepping out of bounds.
DJ Moore was LIVID that he was ruled out here pic.twitter.com/Pc1TUTxY1v
— Tanner Phifer (@TannerPhiferNFL) October 6, 2023
You be the judge, but it wasn’t exactly clear that Moore ever stepped out of bounds on the play. And if the whistle was never blown, it sure looked like he had a great chance of scoring with a blocker ahead of him and only one man to beat to the endzone.
Fans on social media were shocked at the call, and firmly believe that Moore would likely have scored on the play to make his already excellent day even better.
I'm gonna need to see where DJ Moore stepped out of bounds.
To me, it didn't look like his foot touched the line. Feel like they should've at least looked into it. #Bears
— Jacob Infante (@jacobinfante24) October 6, 2023
It's a conspiracy, DJ Moore did not step out of bounds
— Chris Novak (@ChrisMNovak) October 6, 2023
Doesn’t look like #Bears wide receiver DJ Moore stepped out of bounds on this play. pic.twitter.com/Aee91qu4e9
— Coach Usayd Koshul (@usaydkoshul) October 6, 2023
Where did DJ Moore step out of bounds? The broadcast never showed a replay… 👀 pic.twitter.com/OBqPcikxdy
— MyBookie – Bet With The Best (@MyBookie) October 6, 2023
Government conspiracy going on not showing if DJ Moore actually stepped out of bounds
— Ian Hartitz (@Ihartitz) October 6, 2023
so we aren't going to get a replay of whether DJ Moore was actually out of bounds? nice product
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) October 6, 2023
The problem here was that the refs blew the whistle, making it a non-reviewable play because it was blown dead. If the refs had let the play continue and then went back to see if he stepped out of bounds, Moore and the Bears seemingly could have had a touchdown on the play.
Instead, they had to settle for a field goal on the drive after the controversial call and fans were left wondering why a closer replay of the call was not shown on the broadcast.
[Tanner Phifer on Twitter, Photo Credit: Amazon Prime]
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.