Who says special teams don’t win football games? Don’t tell that to Josh Blackwell and the Chicago Bears.
The special teams maven’s Superman dive snuffed out a potential game-winning 54-yard field goal
by the Las Vegas Raiders with 33 seconds left in last Sunday’s game, preserving Chicago’s 25-24 victory.
In honor of helping the Bears improve to 2-2, Blackwell was named the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week. He joined the Rams’ Puka Nacua (Offensive) and the Eagles’ Quinyon Mitchell (Defensive) as Week 4 Player of the Week honorees.
This is the second-career Special Teams Player of the Week Award for Blackwell, previously winning the award in Week 18 of the 2024 season for returning a punt 94 yards for a score in the Bears’ comeback win over the Green Bay Packers last year. He also became the second former Duke player to win multiple Special Teams Player of the Week Awards, joining Jamison Crowder (two-time winner), according to NFL Communications.
The fourth-year undrafted free agent has turned himself into a core special teamer for the Bears since the team signed him off waivers in 2022 and just signed a two-year contract to stay with the team this offseason.
I’d say he’s earning his pay raise, wouldn’t you?
