Chicago Bears Week 17 Notes: West Coast Collapse

In one of the most entertaining games of the year, the Chicago Bears fell short in the final seconds to lose to the San Francisco 49ers 38-42. Here are my notes from the wild shootout.

Offense:

• The run game failed to make an impact early, which was both surprising and concerning. This turned out to be an unfortunate aspect of the game outside of a handful of runs. Wish they committed to the run more, but with Caleb playing so well and SF scoring at will, I get it.
• Speaking of Caleb, he was feasting. Despite being down Odunze and Zaccheus and DJ Moore being sick and Luther Burden III being hurt, Caleb had one of the best games of his career. He was accurate and decisive throughout. And he’s playing with some insane confidence, especially on his deep balls.
• Penalties were a huge factor all game. Nothing crazy from a yardage standpoint, but multiple tick-tack calls that ruined drives for the Bears O and extended them for the Bears D. Thought DJ was tripped late and it was not called despite calling far less egregious penalties than that all game.
• Burden III and Loveland have been as advertised this season – but they each had a brutal drop in this one on perfectly thrown balls from Caleb. Kmet had one too.
• Swift looked like the far superior RB once again in this one. Still a huge Monangai fan, but Swift is separating himself from the rook as the season winds down. Thought Swift should have been targeted early on the last play of the game too, but it all broke down so quickly that it’s hard to fault Caleb for trying to extend and make something happen.
• Overall, a very nice day at the office for the Offense and Ben Johnson. Hoping Chicago can keep that momentum into the final week of the season and into the playoffs.

Defense:

• The first play of scrimmage, where Jaylon Johnson forced an incompletion that bounced right into the hands of TJ Edwards, was one of the best plays of the season for the D. And obviously, the best start of the season.
• Unfortunately, after that, they failed to do enough.
• Tremaine Edmunds was victimized all night, most notably when in coverage on backup TE (and former Bear) Jake Tonges, but also when in coverage on Christian McCaffrey. I was hoping and expecting for more from Maine but ended up very disappointed. Even lost contain on a rush late that allowed Purdy to scramble for a TD.
• CMC had one heck of a game, both in the run and passing games. I figured he would be a huge issue in the passing game, but the way he ran all over and around the Bears was reminiscent of his younger years. Looked like a league MVP last night.
• Big Dex (Gervon Dexter Sr.) had himself a nice game and seems to...