1.65 tons of fun: Was Bears’ ‘Santa’s Sleigh’ the heaviest formation ever?

SHARE 1.65 tons of fun: Was Bears’ ‘Santa’s Sleigh’ the heaviest formation ever?
rams_bears_football_80585416_e1544474049987.jpg

Bears offensive tackle Bradley Sowell celebrates his touchdown Sunday| Nam Y. Huh/AP photo

With four defensive linemen and six offensive linemen on the field together for tackle Bradley Sowell’s “Santa Sleigh” touchdown, the Bears might have featured one of the heaviest “heavy” formations in NFL history.

“There’s a lot of beef out there,” Nagy said.

Try 3,292 pounds — or 1.65 tons.

The Bears used their starting offensive line, plus Sowell. Four defenders took the field — Akiem Hicks, who lined up at running back, plus Roy Robertson-Harris, Jonathan Bullard and Bilal Nichols.

The formation wasn’t the heaviest in league history. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, it was the heaviest since 2016, when Chiefs nose tackle Dontari Poe threw a touchdown pass in a 3,000-pound lineup. Nagy was his coordinator.

The Bears put the pass to their backup tackle in the playbook Friday. Nagy said the plan was to confuse the defense with unusual personnel.

“Any advantage you can get,” Nagy said. “And now you gotta be able to make sure it’s something that you feel like [it] can be worthwhile and not foolish.”

The Latest
Busch found an unconventional way to score in the Cubs’ loss to the Rangers.
The acquisition of Tamarack Farms makes Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge a more impactful destination and creates within Hackmatack a major macrosite for conservation.
The man was found unresponsive in an alley in the 10700 block of South Lowe Avenue, police said.
The man suffered head trauma and was pronounced dead at University of Chicago Medical Center, police said.
Another federal judge in Chicago who also has dismissed gun cases based on the same Supreme Court ruling says the high court’s decision in what’s known as the Bruen case will “inevitably lead to more gun violence, more dead citizens and more devastated communities.”