Chicago Bears coach Lovie Smith said Monday that he erred in not challenging an apparent TD by QB Jay Cutler in the team's 17-14 loss to the Washington Redskins a day before.  Cutler reached across the goal line on first-and-goal from the 1 on the first drive of the third quarter with the Bears leading 14-10. He appeared to cross the goal line with possession of the ball, but officials ruled Cutler had fumbled when the ball was swatted away by London Fletcher.  Smith owned up to a mistake on Monday.  "You guys want to know about that on whether I should have thrown the red flag on the 1-yard fumble down by the end zone. Yes, I should have, looking at it of course in hindsight," Smith said, via the Chicago Sun-Times. "Normally if there is a critical situation, I throw it whether I have a good look or not on it. Didn't have a great look on it. I understand the reason why, but that was a critical play in the game.  "I need to be able to make that call."  Part of Smith's reasoning was that he had challenged the previous play when Bears WR Earl Bennett caught a 48-yard pass that nearly had him get into the end zone untouched. Upon review, the Bears lost a timeout when officials ruled Bennett was down by contact at the 1.  "I had just used one up before that, and at the time I thought we were in control of the game," Smith said. "We've given the opponent the ball on the 1-yard line before and forced them to punt it, and I felt like we would get the ball back right away, which we did, and we would be able to get it back down."  The Bears fell to 4-3 with the loss and into a tie with the Green Bay Packers for first place in the NFL North.  To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor  . For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to  . Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to
Bears' Lovie Smith admits error in not challenging would-be Jay Cutler TD - The Huddle: Football News from the NFL - USATODAY.com