Unless you’re a die-hard Green Bay Packers fan, the end of Monday night’s Bears/Packers game was a gem to watch.  With :04 to go, and the score tied at 17, Robbie Gould kicked a field goal to put the Bears up 20-17, en route to a 3-0 start.

But that of course left the Packers with a kickoff return and :04 to try and make a miracle happen.

For most fans watching the game, the ensuing play with all of the laterals, illegal forward passes and whatnot was just the end of the game..something that’s fun to watch because it happens once or twice per season in the NFL.

For me, though, it’s a whole other story.  Since 2003, I’ve been a member of the official statistics team for the Chicago Bears.  Every NFL team has a team like ours – 5-7 people who watch every play and track (on paper and a computer system) the details of each play.  Each rush.  Each pass.  Each tackle.  And our data then flows out to the world … from those in the stadium to NFL.com to wherever your fantasy team resides.

For us, as exciting as that play might be to watch at home or in the stadium, for us, it’s a near nightmare.  It’s happening so fast…so many players are touching the ball and then releasing it (was it a lateral? a fumble? an illegal forward pass?) that it takes a good 5-10 minutes to sort it all out (and thankfully, our DVR enables us to go back, and check it all to make sure it’s right.)  The NFL also has a team in New York watching the game and they’re a backup to confirm what we’ve seen.

So for all you fantasy football fans or stat geeks out there, here’s how that final play of Monday’s game looks when “scored.”  Click on the image below to see it more legibly.