Windy City Gridiron
The cardiac Chicago Bears pulled out another improbable win on the road.
Continuing their “culture wins,” the Bears blew a 13-0 lead and trailed 24-22 late in the fourth quarter. When all hope appeared to be lost, the Washington Commanders’ third turnover of the game gave Chicago life.
Caleb Williams led another gritty drive, granted not asked to do a whole lot, but successful runs set Chicago and their newly-elevated kicker, Jake Moody up for the game-winning 38-yard field goal as time expired.
Overall, it was still an ugly game for the Bears. Chicago committed nine penalties, including four on defense that gave Washington a first down and one on offense that took a touchdown off the board.
There is plenty of room to continue to improve, but we’ll gladly talk about that after a win than another loss.
Don’t look now, but Chicago is above .500 and has three losing teams up next.
Stock up
Darnell Wright, OT – I had Wright on the down list earlier this year and it was a bit controversial. He’s a good blocker, but he’s had a couple of bad penalties. However, battling back from his elbow injury, he had a really good game last night. He was highlighted by Troy Aikman several times on the broadcast for sealing the blocks that created the running lanes for D’Andre Swift.
D’Andre Swift, RB – We all know Swift has shortcomings as an every-down back. He isn’t the most patient runner and lacks the vision to find an opening when the one he expects isn’t there. But he’s still good for a really solid game a couple of times a year. He did that last night. He finished with 175 total yards and was the Bears’ leading receiver and rusher. His 55-yard touchdown catch and run on 3rd and four put the Bears back within two.
Jake Moody, K – How can you not give the kid credit? He was dumped by the 49ers earlier this season and joined Chicago’s practice squad following Cairo Santos’ injury. He was elevated to the active roster on Monday before the game. He was shaky in San Francisco and now had to kick with a new long snapper, new holder, outside in the rain on primetime. Then he had to bounce back from a bad blocked kick from earlier in the game to kick the game-winner. Tough spot and he got it done.
Stock down
Nashon Wright, DB – He had a rough night and that’s even if you interpret the Luke McCaffrey touchdown as being on Josh Gordon and not Wright. Wright was called for two penalties. While he did recover the fumble that led to the Bears’ game-winning kick, it wasn’t enough to keep him out of the down category.
Olamide Zaccheus, WR – All camp fans and media raved about OZ. He and Caleb had a strong rapport; every day, he was catching passes and making splash plays downfield. It hasn’t really worked at all in...
