How Lions befuddled announcers with wild trick play in win over Bears

At first glance, it seemed like a broken play somehow — perhaps miraculously — worked out.

Quarterback Jared Goff stumbled. Running back Jahmyr Gibbs fell down. The offensive line yelled out “fumble.”

And yet somehow moments later, Goff still found Lions tight end Sam LaPorta for a touchdown Sunday against the Bears.

“Gibbs stumbled — after taking the snap — but it doesn’t matter,” Fox play-by-play voice Kenny Albert said. “Connects with LaPorta for a Lions touchdown. Even when something goes wrong…”

Except nothing went wrong.

The Lions brilliantly pulled off their “stumble bum” play — as dubbed by LaPorta — on Sunday in the 34-17 thrashing of their NFC North rivals.

“It worked like a charm,” Goff said. “It was nice to score there.”

In a copycat league, the Lions actually stole their play from the bitter rival Packers.

Packers quarterback Jordan Love pulled off a similar play in Week 1 last season when he fumbled the snap, turned around calmly and fired down the field for a 37-yard completion to tight end Luke Musgrave.

Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson asked Goff early in the week if he thought he could fumble on purpose and pick up the ball, as Love did, but Goff didn’t know if that would work.

The team practiced the play several times before unleashing it.

“I was like, ‘I don’t know about that,’” Golf said. “We kind of got off that pretty quickly and we were like let’s pretend we’re falling or pretend I’m fumbling, but I’m holding onto the ball.

“The part where Gibbs, he dives, really sells the play.”

The Lions unveiled the play at the Bears’ 21-yard line while leading 27-14 in the third quarter with 12:26 remaining Sunday.

Goff seemingly stumbled while Gibbs jumped to the ground as if to dive on the ball. The offensive linemen screamed out like they had to jump on the ball.

Several of the Bears’ linebackers appeared to freeze, unsure if the ball hit the ground.

Like Love before him, Goff then saw his tight end streaking down the left sideline and found LaPorta for a 21-yard score.

“It was great,” LaPorta said. “Ben’s as creative as they come. It was great to go out there and execute that. All 10 other guys executed that. Cool to get that one off the call sheet and come up with a touchdown there.”

After Albert’s initial confusion, his broadcast partner, Jonathan Vilma, seemed to realize what had happened.

“I wonder if that was a trick play because now it seems intentional,” Vilma said. “You have Jahmyr Gibbs fake falling, you have Jared Goff fake stumbling…”

As Johnson showed off his creativity, ESPN insider Adam Schefter left open some room for interpretation with his tweet about the play.

“This was planned. Ben Johnson is intentional,” he tweeted.

It’s fair to wonder if that “intentional” aspect of the play referred to the fake fumble or Johnson showing off his playbook in Chicago while the Bears prepare to hire a new coach.

NFL Network reported Johnson is “intrigued” by the Bears opening.

“My understanding is Ben Johnson is intrigued by the Bears job. He is going to be willing to listen,” Tom Pelissero reported. “There’s a lot to like in Chicago with Caleb Williams, tons of cap space, extra draft resources. Also, a major market. They’re expected to break ground on a new stadium next year.”