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The Loudest 12th Man Ever? Watch Lions Fans Spook The Chicago Bears’ Offensive Line

Last night, during their 24-13 loss to the Detroit Lions, the Chicago Bears committed an astounding nine false starts. This was a direct result of the crowd noise at Ford Field – a record 67,861 Lions fans showed up, and as you’ll see in the video below, they made their presence known in one of the more astounding instances of “crowds directly affecting the action on the field” you’ll ever see.

All told, the Bears’ O-line racked line racked up over 100 yards in penalties. Six of their nine flags came in the first half, when Ford Field was arguably at its loudest. What makes this whole thing more impressive is the fact that the Bears’ offensive line actually practices with simulated crowd noise.

That, apparently, was not enough to prepare them for what they faced last night. We’ve isolated the crowd audio from the Bears’ first two plays on offense. In the first, they commit one of their nine false starts. In the second, they’re stopped at the line of scrimmage, which predictably gets the crowd going even more. This would be a recurring theme throughout the night.

Here’s what it looks like when an entire city of people finally has something to get really, really loud about.

Video by Tim Burke.