It was a wild Halloween weekend. In fact, I think I’ve aged about 15 years since I took my children trick-or-treating on Friday night.
All of that is to say that I hope we never have to watch a ballgame
like that one against the Cincinnati Bengals again. But how fun was it to see the Chicago Bears actually come out on top in one of those wild contests?
It was a strange game in which the defense showed some flashes in moments, but looked like garbage for most of the outing. The special teams looked like garbage for the entire outing. And Caleb Williams had an up and down middle portion of the game, but proceeded to once again help will his team to victory in crunch time.
Oh, and Kyle Monangai. Yes, that seventh round draft pick who exceeded all expectations from the outside world in this one. Let’s get to the game balls.
Offense Game Ball: RB Kyle Monangai
My Bears Over Beers co-host Bryan Orenchuk told me a few weeks ago that I can no longer give out multiple game balls to the same side of the ball, calling it a cop-out. So with that in mind, this was a very difficult decision this week.
Both Monangai and TE Colston Loveland made a good case for the offensive game ball. Caleb Williams did too, as did Darnell Wright who was once again out there destroying dudes.
But we are going to go with Monangai, who had a game that defied even the highest of expectations. While the most die hard of fans probably went into this game expecting the Rutgers product to thrive in the lead back role against the Bengals, 26 carries for 176 yards (6.8 YPC), along with three catches for 22 yards, was a game that exceeded even the lofitest expectations.
This game out of the rook likely quieted the calls for the Bears to go out and make a trade for a running back this week.
Defense Game Ball: DE Montez Sweat
This was a tough one. Several players flashed throughout the day, but the team also gave up nearly 500 yards of passing to Joe Flacco. The secondary consistently got annihilated trying to cover the Bengals’ WRs.
Tremaine Edmunds was probably the Bears’ most consistent player throughout the day yet again. And it was great to see Austin Booker make an impact when he was out there. More of him in the weeks ahead please.
But I’m going to go with Montez Sweat this week as a nod to him turning things around over the last few weeks. Some of his impact on the game has been felt but not shown up on the stat sheet. He’s been a handful for offensive linemen and made some impactful plays at key moments.
This week, Sweat had one sack, one tackle for loss, two passes defended, and QB hit. He also had what sure looked to be a forced fumble on Joe Flacco (and was ruled as such on the field).
After the replay review, the play was ruled to be an incomplete pass. Make of that one what you will. I personally believe the officials blew the call, as it sure didn’t look to me like Flacco ever repossessed the ball after losing it on the hit (before the pass was thrown). Looked more like he pushed a loose ball forward rather than threw the ball.
Either way, the re-emergence of Sweat has been good to see. He’s had a sack in each of the last three games, and if the fumble had stood upon replay, it would have been the third time he’s forced a fumble in the last four games.
All of that said, the defense still isn’t playing well enough. If the team can trade for a pass rusher this week, and continue to get more impactful minutes from Booker, we could see the defensive line really start to have a consistent impact. And let’s add to the cornerback room while we’re at it.
Special Teams Game Ball: P Tory Taylor
Slim pickings here, again. But bear with me…
Richard Hightower should be kissing the ground every day he walks into Halas Hall, because there’s a strong argument he should no longer be employed there. You can’t have a unit giving up blocked field goals, onside kick recoveries, and kickoff return touchdowns. But all that happened against the Bengals.
Cairo Santos wasn’t good enough. That seat has to be getting pretty hot.
But much like Montez Sweat, this game ball decision is partially motivated by the way the player has been trending in recent weeks. We’ll go with punter Tory Taylor. He’s looked more like the punter the Bears thought they drafted when they selected him out of Iowa, and he had a heck of a punt in the second quarter of Sunday’s game against the Bengals.
Taylor punted the ball from the Chicago 26, all the way to the Cincinnati 5 yard line. It was ultimately returned 10 yards to the 15. The 69 yard punt was the longest of Taylor’s NFL career.
Despite that great punt, the Bears defense still gave up a field goal on the ensuing drive. Because of course they did.
Bryan Orenchuk and myself will have plenty to say this week on a new episode of Bears Over Beers. We’ll be live on Wednesday night on the 2nd City Gridiron YouTube channel, or available on demand via your favorite podcasting platform after. Our 2nd City Gridiron Podcast Channel is available on Apple, Spotify, iHeart, Audacy, and other popular podcast platforms.
Who would have received your game balls? Let us know in the comments section below.
