Windy City Gridiron
Every Bears game this season is designed purposefully to take years off your life, for better or worse.
The Giants firmly had the lead going into the fourth quarter, but 14 points scored by Chicago helped them come from behind with a 24-20 victory on Sunday at Soldier Field. At their worst, the Bears had a 3.1% chance to win the game, according to ESPN’s analytics department. But a forced fumble, a couple of sacks, and strong play at the end of the quarter by Caleb Williams propelled them to a win to bring the Bears up to a 6-3 record this year.
Here are some of the key takeaways from Sunday’s matchup.
It was a brutal day from the Bears’ pass catchers on Sunday, as several players dropped potential big plays through the air. Both Olamide Zaccheaus and DJ Moore dropped potential touchdown passes, and the likes of Zaccheaus and Swift also dropped passes on offense. Nahshon Wright also had a dropped interception in the end zone, too. Chicago left a lot of big plays on the board because their players were unable to come down with the ball.
The Bears didn’t give up more than 40 points this week like they did against the Bengals last week, but their secondary was a major problem in the matchup with the Giants. Jaxson Dart threw for nearly 250 yards before suffering a head injury, and he ran for two touchdowns against Chicago’s defense. Players like Theo Johnson, Darius Slayton, and Wan’Dale Robinson were able to work the Bears’ secondary, which has struggled with injuries all year.
I try to give Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen some leeway, seeing as though they’re missing two of their starting cornerbacks, as well as a few of their backups, to injury. But the unit looked defeated in coverage and run support, the latter more so in the second half. Some of that falls on coaching.
Montez Sweat finished with 1.5 sacks on Sunday, bringing him up to 4.5 sacks in the last four games, as well as 5.5 sacks in the nine games the Bears have played this season. C.J. Gardner-Johnson picked up two sacks, too, giving him three sacks in his two games in Chicago. Those four sacks (Gervon Dexter contributed with a half sack of his own) played a big role in slowing down a Giants offense that was red hot in the second and third quarters.
Caleb Williams played a lot better than his stat line would indicate, and the several drops from his receivers certainly hurt his completion percentage. But when it mattered most, he put on the Superman cape and led his team to victory.
