CHICAGO, IL – DECEMBER 09: Khalil Mack #52 of the Chicago Bears celebrates with fans after defeating the Los Angeles Rams 15-6 at Soldier Field on December 9, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
The Chicago Bears have been blaring an air raid siren before every defensive snap, and it’s been deemed a legal move by the NFL.
Against the Los Angeles Rams, the Bears tried something new. They pumped in deafening noise.
While much of the national audience didn’t notice, the ear-piercing air raid siren being cranked to the max was inescapable at Soldier Field. Per an NFL spokesman, it’s legal provided the team’s sound system shuts off the noise when the center touches the ball or when 20 seconds are left on the play clock.
The Bears did it for the first time in Week 14 on Sunday Night Football, and reports are that the Bears will continue doing it throughout the remainder of the season. This could impact the playoffs, with Chicago likely to host a playoff game come January.
It would be surprising if the rest of the league doesn’t slowly begin to follow suit. There have been other teams that will crank up the volume, with the New England Patriots firing up a foghorn and the Minnesota Vikings using a revved-up motorcycle and the famous Nordic horn. Yet in these instances, it was not prior to every play.
Now, with the Bears deciding to turn every defensive snap into a 1950s Russian attack drill, it would be stunning if other teams don’t try to leverage the same opening in the rule book.
Whether or not the siren helped hold the Rams to a season-low six points is debatable. What isn’t arguable is the Bears field an elite defense, and now have an added layer of difficulty behind it.