Welcome back to the fourth installment of my new series for the 2026 season, where I recap what I believe were the three reasons the Chicago Bears won or lost the previous game.
In week 4, the Bears hosted the feisty New York Jets and controlled the game from start to finish, dominating the time of possession and coming away with a gritty win once again without Caleb Williams as he recovers from his hamstring injury. Here are my three reasons why they won.
1. Kyle Monangai, RB
Though the 2nd year player out of Rutgers
has had one game where he had more rushing yards than the 149 he racked up on the ground against the Jets, and five games where he did so with more yards per carry than the 4.9 he had, he has never scored more than once like he did and never had 30 carries before either. Considering he was clearly the best player on the field for both teams, I will henceforth be referring to this performance as the “Monongai Game” until further notice. What impressed me most about the New Jersey native was the nature by which his success came. He was getting met at or behind the line of scrimmage early in this one and ended the first half with only 49 yards rushing. But he seemed to get stronger as the game wore on, consistently bouncing off would-be tacklers or peeling away from them for extra yardage before sporadic bursts through the line for chunk gains. You could tell he was wearing on the defense and clearly Ben Johnson could tell as well considering he saw 30 carries to D’Andre Swift’s 15. On a day where the Bears struggled to put the ball in the endzone and score TDs, Monangai seemed like the difference in this one and the main reason Chicago came away with a W. Shout out to the offensive line for continuing to pound away at the formidable Jets defensive line and the wide receivers and tight ends for committing to the gameplan as well. When you have a back like Monangai, you never know when he will break away and use your block for more yardage.
2. Rome Odunze, WR
Speaking of best games, this was easily Rome’s best game of the season as well. What stood out to me regarding Odunze’s performance, aside from marveling at how a WR his size (6’3”, 215lb) moves in and out of his breaks was how seamlessly he caught the ball this week and the clutch nature of his catches. All game, it seemed like Rome was coming up big on 3rd down and was a large reason why we were able to move the ball down the field, especially in the first half before Monangai took over. Rome’s 94 receiving yards paced both teams in this one and he did so on just 7 targets with 6 catches for 15.7 yards per catch and a season-best 85.7 catch percentage. Rome played with confidence and power as both a pass-catcher and run-blocker and his presence was felt throughout this win.
3. Cairo Santos, K
On a day when the offense struggled to find the endzone, especially in the redzone, it sure was nice to have such an automatic kicker on your side. Especially in the windy city with gusts coming off the lake as it does. Though none of his kicks were longer than 30 yards, Santos helped keep this game out of reach for a Jets comeback. Without Santos, I am not sure Ben elects to kick the FG which made it a three score game in the 4th quarter, which could have changed the entire outcome in this one. Ben trusts him and his teammates do too and it showed up this week.
