NEW ORLEANS – Mitch Trubisky thought he had floated a 25-yard touchdown pass to Zach Miller and taken a sizable chunk out of the New Orleans Saints' 11-point lead.
Instead, the Chicago Bears were hit with a double whammy they could not overcome — a serious knee injury to a team leader and a replay reversal that took away costly points in what ended up as a 20-12 loss Sunday.
Miller dislocated his left knee when he landed in the end zone. The gruesome injury, which was replayed several times on the scoreboard, forced the 33-year-old tight end to be carted off and taken to a hospital.
After a replay review, officials ruled the ball hit the ground when Miller bobbled it on his way down.
"He made a heck of a catch. It was a great effort on his part," said Trubisky, whose team then settled for a field goal. "The call was what it was, but it was an awesome play on his part."
The kick made it 14-6 with 5 minutes, 42 seconds left in the third quarter. The Bears spent the rest of the game trying to get past the disturbing injury.
Miller suffered the latest in a long line of tough injuries. After making a career-high 47 catches in 2016, he missed the final six games because of a fractured foot. He did not play in any game from 2012 through 2014, primarily because of foot and shoulder issues.
"It's a tremendous loss," running back Tarik Cohen said. "He always gets us fired up and knows exactly what to say. We have to find ways to keep moving forward."
