Hello Bears fans! I’m back with another installment of our GBB series, this time looking back at what was good, better, and best in the game between the Chicago Bears and the Pittsburgh Steelers. This
game featured a back up quarterback for the Steelers matched against just a few of the regular starters for the defense. By the end, at some positions, the backup of the backup made it into the game. It was a game full of ups and downs, but in the end, the Beloved came out on top.
Good
Ozzy Trapilo
With the Canadian Eagle out with a bruised thigh, it was up to Ozzy Trapilo to step in and play left tackle, a position he had lost to first Braxton Jones in the offseason, and then Theo Benedet after the bye. While Trapilo has seen time on the field in jumbo sets, many folks in Twitter-land were ready to declare him a bust. But if you actually listened to his coaches, they had nothing but high praise for Trapilo. Some players take more time to develop, particularly when switching positions and making the jump from college to the pros at the same time. Well, Trapilo stepped up in a big way in the Steelers game, posting an excellent pass blocking grade and a decent run blocking grade. He only gave up one pressure the whole game. The Bears may have the makings of present and future starter at left tackle in Ozzy.
Caleb Williams
It certainly didn’t get off to a great start for Caleb, what with a sack-fumble-TD in the endzone that put the Steelers up 14-7 in the first quarter. And Caleb continues to have some frustratingly inaccurate throws that have led to a great deal of consternation among Bears fans, and some analysts have questioned whether he actually is good. Sure, I would like to see his completion percentage improve as well, but whatever “good” is at the quarterback position, I’m pretty sure that 250+ yards passing, three touchdowns, and zero interceptions is it. It is interesting to contrast Caleb’s performance with Mason Rudolph. Rudolph posted a nose-bleed completion percentage in the game (77.4%), but anyone who watched the game knows that came on check downs and swing passes. Whereas Caleb was throwing down the field, trying to fit the ball into tight windows, and threw some great, and bad balls, doing so. Which approach is more likely to lead to a win? I think the question answers itself.
Better
Montez Sweat
Montez was off to a slow start to begin the season, and it had many fans wondering if he would live up to that big contract extension he received after coming over to the Bears from the Commanders. Well, no one is wondering anymore. Tez added two sacks in this game, including a strip-sack, and he was a force of disruption and mayhem against the Steelers all day long. Each week Sweat seems to get better and better. He’s on pace for career highs in sacks and pressures. And the Bears pass rush sorely needs him to be a dominant player. He has been that player the last few games.
Best
TJ Watt
We like to give our kudos to superlative performances by the opposition in our GBB, and in this game, that was certainly TJ Watt. Not only did he notch his 115th sack, passing his brother JJ Watt in the record books (and just to add to the storybook performance: JJ was the TV color commentator for the game), but he did it in spectacular fashion, beating Darnell Wright, who is having a Pro Bowl season for the sack fumble. The icing on the cake for the Steelers was that the strip led directly to a touchdown, as they recovered the fumble in the end zone. Those seven points could easily have spelled doom for the Bears and been the decisive play in the game.
D’Marco Jackson
It’s OK, Bears fans, if, like me, you had never heard of D’Marco Jackson before this game. But we all know who he is now. D’Marco stepped into the breach in the Bears defense caused by a plethora of Bears injuries to their starting and backup linebackers. Jackson wore the green dot in the game, calling the plays for the defense. In addition to captaining the defense, in his first NFL start mind you, Jackson added fifteen tackles, five solo tackles, and a tackle for loss in the game. It was an amazing performance for a player who basically walked in off the street to start at linebacker for the Bears that Sunday.
Nashon Wright
Nashon Wright was not supposed to get significant playing time with the Chicago Bears this season. Indeed, he was a bubble player to make the final roster. A rash of injuries to the Bears’ secondary opened up a starting role at CB, and Wright has taken the reins with both hands – literally as he leads the league in interceptions, many of them high-pointing, two-handed beauties. In the Steelers game, Nashon Wright didn’t play like a starting cornerback, he played like an elite CB1. Nashon Wright had a passer rating of 31.9 against for his targets in the Steelers game, and he earned the highest PFF rating of any Bears player in the game, with a coverage grade of 88 and an overall grade of 82.7. He added another interception in the game, and might have gotten two, perhaps even a pick-six, had Brisker not tipped the last pass of the game. He wasn’t good. He wasn’t better. Nashon Wright was the best.
