The rule (is) you can pick the ball up and run with it without any cost of losing possession of the ball.
SANTA CLARA -- A lot of the viewing public and the TV broadcasters on Sunday believed Tracy Porter of the Chicago Bears made a huge mistake when he tried to jump on the football that the 49ers’ Quinton Patton saved from going into the end zone on Bradley Pinion’s second-quarter punt.
In reality, Porter did exactly what 49ers’ special-teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey would want his players to do in that same situation.
Porter’s heads-up play was the reason the Bears started that drive at the 20-yard line instead of being pinned deep in 49ers’ territory.