The Chicago Bears were penalised for perhaps the most bizarre reason during their Week 1 game against the San Francisco 49ers.

The Chicago Bears are looking to take a step forward as a franchise this season after taking a few steps back in recent years. In 2020 they went 8-8, and in 2021 they went 6-11 under the watch of their new quarterback Justin Fileds who they will be hoping to guide them towards success.

But whilst they might be looking to get better play from Fields now that he’s had a year to get used to things in the NFL, there are still some things holding them back, and that is their own incompetence.

The Bears' opening game saw them take on the San Francisco 49ers in some horrendous conditions at Soldier Field, but both sides tried to make the best of the situation despite the pouring rain, although the Bears tried to go that little bit extra to try and gain an advantage, and got caught for it. 

Chicago Bears caught wet-handed

With the Bears looking for a field goal late in the 2nd quarter, kicker Cairo Santos and punter Trenton Gill lined up as they normally would, but tried to dry the area around them with a towel in order to give Santos better footing and to make sure he wouldn't fall over.

However, the referees spotted what they were doing and penalised them, forcing them out of field goal range and making sure they would have to punt rather than attempting to get the points

Video: Chicago Bears penalised for having a towel in the wrong place:

Perhaps this was a case of not knowing that there was such a rule in place (which if we’re honest, we didn’t know of such a rule either, and given that Trenton Gill is a rookie, give him the benefit of the doubt), or they knew the rule and thought that they could get away with it. 

Either way, it cost them points on the day and served them a valuable lesson. Let’s just hope that they have learned from it and won’t get caught again in the future.

The good news for the Bears is that it might not be a problem for them in the future, as images unveiled this week showed that they are in the opening stages of getting themselves a new stadium that will have a roof over the field, so they'll be better protected from the wet and windy conditions you'd associate with Chicago during football season.