The sun was out, the birds were chirping I was whistling while taking a walk outside…all was right in the universe on Tuesday. The Bears get their revenge on some luck of their own to be honest! The Bears are now 3-2 on a 3 game win streak and one of the most important things we needed to happen…actually happened! Before this game though…who was super nervous about kicker Jake Moody getting called up from the practice squad because kicker Cairo Santos was hurt? I know I was! Time for the review…
Our Offense vs Their Defense
What did I see was the biggest key to this game? What did I say Ben Johnson was going to focus on and hopefully get moving? The run game…and boy did it ever! We had a mix of different runners but that offensive line played beautifully! I saw wide open holes for Deandre Swift and he had better vision to take advantage of those running lanes. He also had a HUGE catch and run at the end of the game to keep it close. That is the kind of weapon Swift is! Hopefully we can see that more consistently this year. Caleb had an up and down game passing the ball, but became more consistent when we need him the most. There were some big drops by the receivers too, but it was pretty wet out there.
Thankfully (despite the weather) the Bears did not turn the ball over. I think that is very important to emphasize. Any time you can take care of the football, you have a chance to win. I also loved not seeing many penalties on our offensive line. There was one illegal formation on a TD to Rome Odunze…but that penalty was bullshit! Even self proclaimed Jayden Daniels #1 fan Troy Aikman was critical of the call. That took 4 points of the board and made the game tighter than it should have been. Luckily the offense had another chance to go down the field to get the game winning score and everybody on offense was absolutely clutch!
Our Defense vs Their Offense
3 turnovers! We also held their #1 rushing attack in check for a good part of the game. Then, Jayden Daniels started to find his rhythm a little bit. He started running the ball…their running backs started to move the ball without fumbling…and their offense started to score on us consistently. Despite getting close so many times, Jayden Daniels kept avoiding our pass rush. He started to pile up the TDs too after the Bears kept him in check for close to 2 quarters. When the Commanders offense started clicking and our pass coverage started to lose their man in coverage…I got very worried.
The defense, while stellar in the beginning of the game needed to get the critical stop at the end of the game to give the Bears offense a chance to win the game. Things looked bleak…the rain was coming down a little harder…my pleas of a fumble slowly driving my wife insane. Then the luck we needed happened! There was a fumbled handoff and the Bears dove on the fumble! I jumped around like a crazy person while my wife said “wow, some good luck for a change”.
Special Teams
K Jake Moody had no time to prepare after hearing about K Cairo Santos’ injury and yet he knocked through 4/5 field goals including the game winner. Talk about stepping up! While he may not stick with the Bears…he definitely revived his career to warrant another team possibly grabbing him as a longer term option!
Conclusion
The Bears got their revenge…and now they have a chance to start gathering up many wins in a row! Next up? The Saints…in Chicago!