Last week, I kindly asked the Chicago Bears to win a game in blowout fashion so that my blood pressure could have an easy-going Sunday.
Unfortunately, the team didn’t listen. Another rollercoaster of a game
on Sunday resulted in a Chicago Bears last minute victory yet again, this time at U.S. Bank Stadium against the division rival Minnesota Vikings.
It was a game that had some brights spots to be sure, but also quite a few concerns that served to magnify the importance of the defensive side of the ball getting healthy ASAP. And a pass rush would sure be nice, too.
Luckily for the Bears, J.J. McCarthy was wildly inaccurate and looked overmatched. On the rare occurence that he hit a receiver right on the money, they let him down with some untimely drops — something the Bears’ WRs were also guilty of.
Let’s get to the game balls.
Offense Game Ball: RB D’Andre Swift
Caleb Williams had some nice moments but also missed some big-time throws, including what looked to be a near-certain 90+ yard TD pass to Rome Odunze. The WRs dropped too many passes. And the offensive line, while supplying Caleb ample time to throw the ball at times in spite of some creative looks from Vikings D.C. Brian Flores, also committed some bad penalties.
So we look to the run game and find D’Andre Swift once again having himself a game. When the Bears needed yards, more often than not he supplied them. Swift ran the ball 21 times for 90 yards (4.3 YPC).
I’d also like to give a shoutout to Cole Kmet, who had himself a game and was productive in earning tough yards after contact. He led the Bears in receiving with 45 yards on five catches. Colston Loveland was also good down the stretch, hauling in three passes for 40 yards, including a big first down conversion. I’d like to see Colston more involved early, rather than number three TE Durham Smythe who was targed multiple times and had some bad drops.
Defense Game Ball: S Kevin Byard III
This game had the the possibility of being ugly for the Bears given the injuries to the secondary. CB Nahshon Wright had a fantastic interception in the end zone but also spent much of the day getting worked over pretty good by Jordan Addison. Luckily for the Bears, McCarthy stunk and Addison dropped some of the passes that actually did hit him in the hands.
So we look elsewhere in the secondary to Kevin Byard III, who had yet another interception (his league-leading fifth) in this one. And look at the ground he covered in getting this one in the second quarter.
In addition to the interception, Byard had five tackles (one solo) and one pass defended.
Special Teams Game Ball: KR Devin Duvernay
Duvernay channeled another famous Devin around these parts with some late game heroics on Sunday. After the Vikings scored a go-ahead touchdown with 50 seconds remaining in the game, Duvernay returned the Vikings’ kickoff 56 yards to put the Bears in near-field goal range to win it in walk-off fashion.
That was Duvernay’s only kickoff return in the game. He had two punt returns for a total of 11 yards. But this kickoff return was gigantic, allowing the Bears to simply run the ball to get into position to win the game.
I also considered Cairo Santos for the game ball, and there’s certainly an argument to be made. He was 1/1 on extra points and 4/5 on field goals, including the game winner as time experienced.
But I leaned Duvernay due to Santos missing a critical 45 yard field goal with 8:13 left in the game that would have put the Bears up 19-10. If you say that you weren’t nervous with Santos kicking the 48 yard game winner after missing that one, I’d imagine you’re bluffing. Kudos to Cairo for coming through in the clutch and making it, but the truth of the matter is the Bears should have put it away earlier. Both the ineffective offense, as well as Santos’ critical miss, were to blame.
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.
