After a very impressive first-half against the Chicago Bears, the San Diego Chargers defense fell apart in the third quarter. In the third quarter, the Bears got the ball twice and both times turned it into touchdowns. The Chargers, on the other hand, got the ball three times and turned it into just 10 points.
With less than 10 minutes left to go in the game, the Bears were once again driving down the field. Chicago was on the Chargers 30 yard line when Johnny Knox fell down while a pass headed in his direction was in mid-air. Antoine Cason, who until this point was having another poor game, caught the pass and returned it all the way to the Chicago Bears' own 16 yard line.
This is the play that Jay Cutler broke his thumb on, trying to stay in front of Cason to save a defensive touchdown. However, for Chargers fans it's difficult to watch this play and not envision Cason cutting left, away from Cutler, instead of trying to beat him on the outside (and eventually stepping out of bounds).
Had Cason made it to the end zone, and the Chargers converted a two-point conversion, it would've been a 3-point game with more than 9 minutes to play and Cutler playing with a broken thumb. Instead, he ran out of bounds and, on 3rd-and-10 from the Bears 16, Philip Rivers threw a critical interception. For the record, Jay made only two passes after this play, both on screen passes that helped the Bears convert very important 3rd downs.