Chicago Bears free safety Kevin Byard (31) celebrates his interception against the Las Vegas Raiders during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025, in Las Vegas.
Brad Biggs, Chicago Tribune
LAS VEGAS — Of all the moves Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles made during free agency, the two-year contract for cornerback Josh Blackwell — with a base value of $5 million — was overshadowed by, well, a slew of transactions.
The defining play Sunday at Allegiant Stadium, when Blackwell shot out of a cannon off the left edge of the defense to block Daniel Carlson’s 54-yard field goal attempt, summed up why he’s a “glue guy” in the locker room who is more valuable than you imagine, especially for a rebuilding program.
Blackwell’s huge play keyed a 25-24 victory that improved the Bears to 2-2 as they enter their bye week. A lot went wrong during the game, but the Bears made the biggest plays in the final half of the fourth quarter to emerge victorious and stun the Las Vegas Raiders, who lost their third consecutive game to fall to 1-3.
Here are thoughts on the win:
1. It was long snapper Scott Daly who first noticed the tell
Raiders long snapper Jacob Bobenmoyer, a veteran playing in his 84th game, has a tendency to tilt the football just before snapping it. It’s a split-second movement, but the kind of thing, if you read it, it can give you a head start.
Go too soon and risk an offside penalty, which at that point on fourth-and-3 would have given the Raiders a first down and a chance to run more offensive plays to get in range for a shorter try for Daniel Carlson, one of the most consistent kickers in the league. Don’t get off the snap early and there’s almost no chance an outside rusher can close the distance required.
There have been some big blocked kicks through the NFL’s first four weeks. The Philadelphia Eagles walked off the Los Angeles Rams on a blocked field goal last week. A lot of these big plays have been with defenders coming right down Broadway — straight through the middle of the protection. Not Blackwell.
“Through watching film study, we were able to tell they had a slight tell on the snapper,” Daly said. “And we were able to get a jump on them. So, Josh was able to take that. That was the first thing he told me after — that little heads up before I think really helped him. Josh made an amazing play. Just jumped it perfectly. He did a great job laying out for it.”
Curiously, the Raiders used defensive tackle Jonah Laulu, a 6-foot-5, 289-pound second-year player, to block that edge. The ideal player for that role has good length — that’s the first requirement — but he needs to be athletic. Laulu’s first responsibility is to punch the inside gap, which was occupied by safety Jaquan Brisker. Then, Laulu has to hinge to the outside to make the arc wider for the outside rusher — Blackwell — so he has to cover more ground to reach the block point.
Laulu never got there. He was hit by linebacker Ruben Hyppolite II, bent at the waist, and therefore Blackwell was able to bend the corner like a pass rusher and launch himself toward Carlson’s kick.
“We got close the first two kicks, and I was like, ‘I’m going to time this up a little bit, and I’m going to get it,'” Blackwell said. “(Bobenmoyer) just reset the ball and just, yeah, like, literally a tilt, and then that’s (when I) jump.”
Las Vegas had a good shot for points even after D’Andre Swift scored on a 2-yard run with 1:34 remaining. The Raiders got a kickoff return out to their own 42-yard line, putting them close to Carlson’s range.
There was a “here we go again” vibe for the Bears, right?
“Maybe to outsiders,” Blackwell said. “Not to us. We have that ability to kind of stick together and just kind of have that belief. And (special teams coordinator Richard Hightower) looked at us on the sideline: ‘We gotta block it,’ before we even got on the defense. So that was what we were going to do.”
It played out just as Hightower, knowing what the Bears had picked up, predicted.
“I’m listening on the headset, and Coach Hightower, who does just such an incredible job with our special teams unit in all those phases, he’s kind of narrating it in real time and he’s like, ‘Yeah, Blackwell is going to get this one for us, he’s going to come through,'” coach Ben Johnson said. “Sure enough, it came to light, just like he thought. I was so proud of him. He’s a guy that not only is a key cog of what we do on special teams, but a key contributor there as a backup in our DB room. That was huge for him.”
It was the first blocked field goal in the final minute to lead to a Bears victory since Alex Brown blocked Mason Crosby’s 38-yard attempt with the game tied at 17 on Dec. 22, 2008, at Soldier Field. The Bears wound up defeating Green Bay 20-17 in overtime.
Blackwell, who had the 94-yard punt return touchdown on the “Johnny Knox play” in the season-ending victory at Green Bay last season, has emerged as sort of the Adrian Peterson member of the special teams unit. Peterson was the guy who coordinator Dave Toub could turn to handle almost any role when the Bears were excellent on special teams during the Lovie Smith era.
Blackwell got work as a nickel cornerback last season and had some incentives written into his contract for playing time on defense. That hasn’t happened yet. The Bears have been using Nick McCloud in the absence of Kyler Gordon. Blackwell is comfortable in whatever role he’s asked to perform and good football teams need players like him.
“He’s an absolute dog,” said defensive end Daniel Hardy, another core special teams player. “He’s a leader in the locker room. He’s everything you want out of a player.”
The Bears needed a huge moment from all three phases and in a game where the offense made plays late and the defense, even as tattered as it was by Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty, came up big, Blackwell stepped up and everything — with the tip from Daly — aligned perfectly for him.
“Out-of-body experience,” Blackwell said. “That’s what everybody dreams of, right?”
2. The Bears have Ashton Jeanty’s tread marks all over their backs — and still won
The Raiders ran for 240 yards on 31 carries (7.7 average) — the most any team has piled up this season. The Bears had lost 10 consecutive games (seven of them by 18 or more points) when allowing 240 rushing yards or more dating back to Nov. 11, 1979, when they topped the Los Angeles Rams 27-23 at Soldier Field despite allowing 245 on the ground.
The leaguewide trend is telling. Teams allowing the opponent to rush for 240-plus yards are 9-91 in the previous 100 instances.
Jeanty had just 144 yards through the first three games. The Raiders offensive line, especially the interior, had struggled mightily. It’s hard to fathom, but Jeanty produced a grand total of 16 rushing yards before contact in the first three games. Basically, he was getting contacted almost immediately on every carry.
Some started to question Las Vegas’ investment of the No. 6 pick in the draft from Boise State. Some also felt that schematically, the Raiders weren’t putting Jeanty in the best position to have success with too many carries out of the shotgun and pistol formations. Interestingly, it appeared offensive coordinator Chip Kelly put a bigger emphasis on run plays with quarterback Geno Smith under center.
Jeanty looked like he should have been a high draft pick, carrying 21 times for 138 yards. Ex-Bear Raheem Mostert added 62 yards on four carries for the Raiders. Slow-footed Smith even had 31 yards, including a 20-yard gain, and there’s a lot for defensive coordinator Dennis Allen to try to clean up during the bye week.
The Bears couldn’t get off blocks and the tackles that Jeanty couldn’t shake in the first three weeks were easy to shrug off. He motored for a 64-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.
“I gotta get the guy down,” said free safety Kevin Byard of his failed tackle attempt when Jeanty was already deep downfield. “I make that tackle nine times out of 10. Normally grab the guy and gator roll. His lower body strength, ran through it.”
Mostert ripped off a 37-yard run in the fourth quarter that took the Raiders to the Bears’ 29-yard line. That was just before the run defense stepped up.
After a 13-yard run by Jeanty set the Raiders up with first-and-goal from the 7-yard line, linebacker Noah Sewell stuffed the back for a 1-yard loss. The Raiders went back to Jeanty on second down. Defensive end Dominique Robinson penetrated immediately to string out the play and rookie defensive tackle Shemar Turner came up to stuff him for a 3-yard loss.
Smith’s pass on third down was too low for Dont’e Thornton and the Raiders, leading 21-19, had to settle for a 29-yard field goal by Daniel Carlson. A touchdown there, with 6:45 remaining, would have put the Bears in a really difficult spot. Instead, they were down only five.
“We saw it on tape all week,” Robinson said. “(Jeanty) was set right behind the (left) tackle it was one of two plays – stretch or some type of T-scheme. I knew he was going to be going down so I ended up taking the gap, just took the B gap.”
Robinson’s penetration blew up the play.
“We bucked up,” he said. “Did what we’re supposed to do, especially in that type of situation.”
Said Turner, who went through the back door to make the play: “I was lined up pretty tight to the left guard. He shot out of his stance real fast and I played it up the field, went inside and followed my way to the ball.”
The Bears came up big again against Jeanty just before the blocked field goal. Kelly called a run on third-and-2 from the Bears’ 35-yard line. Byard stopped him for a 1-yard loss. It looked like the play was designed to the left, one play after left tackle Kolton Miller, arguably the best offensive player for Las Vegas, was carted off with an ankle injury.
“I’m not surprised,” said Turner, who was on that side. “In a gotta have it moment like that with a rookie in the game, I am expecting them to come at me or near me with everything they’ve got.”
The Bears stood tall when a fresh set of downs would have given Smith and the offense plenty of time to run more plays in a bid to get Carlson a chip shot kick.
There’s a lot to fix for a run defense that also struggled last season. It’s not just the total yardage, it’s the explosive plays. The Raiders had eight runs of 11 or more yards.
“We have to be a lot better on or run defense,” Byard said. “There’s no qualms about that. We’re not strong with the run defense right now but that guy had elite contact balance — shout out to him. He’s an elite player. He’s going to be really good. We just have to be better. Not just the front four or front seven but the entire team.
“We were able to make some crucial plays on defense. Making that tackle for loss (before the field goal block), that was huge. Lots of things to correct, but it feels really good to go into this bye week 2-2.”
3. So much had to go right for the Bears to overcome their struggling run defense
A huge part of that was four takeaways for the defense — two interceptions for safety Kevin Byard and one for cornerback Tyrique Stevenson, who also recovered an Ashton Jeanty fumble after defensive tackle Andrew Billings swallowed him up in the backfield.
It’s the second consecutive four-takeaway game for the defense and just the second time the Bears have accomplished that since the 2006 Super Bowl season. Takeaway statistics are super indicative of success too. The Bears are 40-5 since the 2000 season when they force four or more turnovers.
Raiders QB Geno Smith, who has an NFL-high seven interceptions, was guilty of staring down Byard.
“He did,” Byard said with a wry smile.
But it was good defense by Byard to make Smith misjudge where he was at, especially on the second play. The Bears were using a Cover-2 disguise, and Byard sort of played flat-footed in the middle of the field as opposed to what you’ve seen the Bears do with a middle linebacker running deep into that area. Smith underestimated Byard’s ability to drive downfield on the dagger routes he was trying to hit.
“The first two, I thought Kevin made great plays,” said Smith, who was the last player remaining in the Raiders locker room, sitting with his head in his hands. “They were playing Tampa-2, he’s the Tampa safety player. He’s carrying the vertical, as soon as I cut the ball loose, he stops, he dives and catches one. The other one, it kind of just hit him right in the chest.
“I’m putting this on myself, but sometimes they make great plays.”
That’s what a savvy veteran with an understanding of route concepts can do. It’s the fifth time in Byard’s career he’s had two interceptions and now he’s got three in the last two games and 32 since the start of the 2017 season, the most of any active player in the league.
“We talked about it (Saturday) night, how we were going to need to get some turnovers to get our first road win and those guys came through,” coach Ben Johnson said. “Tyrique had one of the more athletic plays I’ve seen, the way he bounced up after that. I thought that was incredible. We don’t win that game without those turnovers, just the way that they were able to move the ball and then, like I said, had we been able on offense to capitalize on that a little bit more, it wouldn’t come down to the wire like that. But one-for-four in the red zone for us on offense, it’s not going to win you a whole lot of games.”
Stevenson’s pick was a nifty diving play on the first snap from scrimmage of the third quarter.
“I think it was like last week (when he ripped the ball away from Dallas running back Javonte Williams), one of them football moments where you see it and you let your body take full control,” Stevenson said. “Coming out of half, I told the team I wanted to be the one who started this run. KB got two (interceptions) and I was kind of salty I didn’t get one. It all laid out for me.”
It was another positive step for Stevenson, who is going to be in the spotlight while Jaylon Johnson is recovering from surgery to repair a groin injury. He’ll be the guy opposing quarterbacks want to go after if Johnson is able to return this season.
“Tyrique has been playing lights-out,” Byard said. “And I think he’s been stepping up to that challenge. It’s the preparation he has been taking, understanding he has a lot on his shoulders. He’s our No. 1 corner right now and he’s been playing like that. I expect him to keep doing that.
“He’s a big-time talent. I think you can see in that third year he is taking that step.”
Can Tyrique Stevenson step up and be the No. 1 corner the Chicago Bears need with Jaylon Johnson sidelined?
The takeaways are a big positive for Allen and it’s interesting because the Bears made the plays in the secondary without much of a pass rush. They didn’t get a sack and the lone quarterback hit belonged to strong safety Jaquan Brisker.
It’s fair to wonder how much better they can get this season — on a consistent basis — with the personnel they currently have. But after being crushed for 52 points in Week 2 at Detroit, they’re in a better spot.
“It’s kind of like two different worlds,” Byard said. “At 0-2 the sky is falling and it’s, ‘Same old Bears.’ To go 2-2, this Raiders team was desperate to get a win. We knew it was going to be tough coming in.”
4. Caleb Williams and the offense can come up big in crunch time
A struggling run offense even came up with some plays along the way. It’s another area the coaching staff is going to work to clean up during the bye week. D’Andre Swift had just 38 yards on 14 carries and the Bears had just 69 total rushing yards on 26 attempts (2.7 average).
Swift hit a hole on the left side for a 7-yard gain on the second play of the possession. With 11 personnel on the field (Swift, three wide receivers and tight end Cole Kmet), the Bears went to the ground on third-and-4 from the Raiders’ 7-yard line. Swift gained 5 yards going right up the middle.
Next, Swift went around the left side to the end zone for the score and the lead.
“Just in the moment, it’s what you’re feeling, what your gut’s telling you is going to work,” coach Ben Johnson said. “My gut was probably wrong a lot of the night, so it was good to see it come through and really it’s a credit to those guys. I mean, they know when we get down there inside the 5, that’s what we want to do. We want to be able to run it inside the 10-yard line and I think they came through for us.”
It was a frustrating game for Swift but, believe it or not, he’s ahead of where he was at this time last year. Through four games, he’s got 187 yards on 56 carries. That’s not good enough but he had 151 on 53 rushes after four weeks in 2024. He finished the season with 959 yards.
“I gotta look at the tape to be honest and see exactly what went wrong where and things like that,” Swift said. “But we gotta clean it up. We gotta play cleaner ball moving forward. We did find a way to win today. That’s good to see.”
Williams completed 22 of 37 passes for 212 yards and one touchdown with an interception on a pass that defensive end Maxx Crosby tipped at the line of scrimmage to himself.
He was smooth on the final drive. The only third down was the one Swift converted up the middle. Williams scrambled for a 12-yard gain and hit Rome Odunze for a 17-yard gain and DJ Moore for 12 yards.,
“I can’t remember play-by-play to be honest with you, but I remember talking to Caleb before he took the field,” Johnson recalled. “I said, ‘This is what you’re built for,’ and these are the moments that he thrives in the most. I think that’s really been the story of his life, to be honest with you and I know he came through for us in a big way. That was a heck of a pass rush, we knew what 98 (Crosby) was capable of and then the rest of those guys are really hard blocks as well.
“For us to look up, and we only had one sack, it certainly felt a lot worse than that, because Caleb was having to elude a lot and continue to evade that rush. He found a way. The playmakers found a way. Our o-line found a way to hold on there for us to get a touchdown when we needed it the most.”
Williams feels like it’s ingrained in him to deliver in the defining moments of a game, and this one had plenty of highs and lows.
“I think the belief, I think those moments we’re born for, that I’m born for,” he said. “I think being able to portray the belief that, ‘Guys, this is all we got, it’s all we need. We’re not in a favorable position. We’re down. It’s all 11 of us on the field, and we got to go do a job.’
“The belief, the trust, the hard work that we put in, those are the moments that you wish for. Those are moments that you dream about. So, being able to have those moments and come through is important, for one, the confidence, especially in the moment where it’s not a favorable position. You’re away, you’re down, you’ve got to go win the game.
“It’s a confidence builder, it’s a culture builder for us, especially the type of game we had, a grimy game. Being able to come together and it builds a lot of confidence for us. Obviously, we have things that we have to find ways to get better, get the run game going, get early completions, fast completions, and then obviously when we get our shots, take them. But I think we’re creating something special here and we got to keep going, something that we got to keep building on.”
5. ‘You’re in.’
That’s pretty much what offensive line coach Dan Roushar said to rookie second-round pick Ozzy Trapilo with 4:09 remaining in the second quarter and the Bears starting on their own 29-yard line.
Left tackle Braxton Jones, who made his 44th career start in the game, was removed. The team shifted Theo Benedet, an undrafted free agent from the University of British Columbia last year, from right tackle to replace Jones. Benedet was filling in for Darnell Wright, who missed the game with a right elbow injury. It was Benedet’s first career start and he switched sides for Trapilo to come on the field.
No injury was involved with Jones, who worked all offseason to recover from a fractured ankle. Jones politely said the team instructed him not to speak with reporters after the game.
“We knew going into the game that Ozzy was likely to get some snaps for us,” coach Ben Johnson said. “He’s a guy that just keeps getting better each and every week, and so, we were just at the point where we weren’t doing a whole lot on offense, and we felt like that might give us a little spark and ignite us a little bit on offense there.”
It’s premature to say how the team will roll moving forward. Coaches have to review game film which will uncover plenty of corrections. But odds could be that the Bears will want to keep Trapilo in the mix and have Benedet work at left tackle when Wright is back. Maybe Trapilo could get another look on the left side.
It didn’t feel like the Bears pulled Jones because Maxx Crosby was causing problems. Crosby was primarily lining up over the right tackle. But Johnson was correct in saying the offense was a little stagnant against a defense that was steamrolled the week before in Washington with the Commanders using backup quarterback Marcus Mariota.
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“You are always going to be ready,” Trapilo said. “It’s a spur-of-the-moment kind of thing. It’s hard to tell now (how I did). Obviously, the opponent is a pretty good player. Great opportunity for me, especially being a young guy, to go out there and face someone like (Crosby). So, it’s hard to tell without seeing the tape. There are always plays you are going to want back. I think as a team we would say that as well. There is a lot of stuff we wish we would have back.”
Trapilo said he tried to keep everything in perspective when he had to watch from the sidelines in workout gear and not a uniform the last two weeks.
“I feel like I’m a pretty even-keeled guy,” he said. “I kind of try to keep the same mindset every day. So even when things aren’t necessarily going how I want them to, for example, not being active the last two weeks, you just gotta trust the process. Show up every day. Work hard. Put good stuff on tape and your chance will come.”
It’s made for a bit of an up-and-down introduction to the NFL, with some wondering how the Bears couldn’t find a way to get more out of a second-round pick in the first three weeks. Maybe it’s a good reminder that three weeks is too soon to make a sweeping conclusion on the career arc of a player with a four-year contract.
“A bit of a rollercoaster,” Trapilo said. “And that is what this league is. You’ve got to be ready for whatever. Whether it’s left tackle, right tackle, whatever happens, it’s a very spur-of-the-moment game. So anything can happen and then all of a sudden everything might change. You kind of just gotta be adaptable. That’s one thing that I’ve noticed since getting here, is that a lot’s going to happen quickly. So you’ve got to just move on the fly. Take it in stride and keep working.”
Like Trapilo, Benedet is eager to dive into the film and see everything — the good, the bad and maybe the ugly.
“Wasn’t always pretty,” he said. “I’ve got a lot to learn from. We did what we had to. First full game. I learned a lot. That is as good of an edge rusher as we will see all year.”
As impactful as Crosby was chasing Caleb Williams all over the field — he finished with five tackles (three for loss) with the pick, forced fumble and three pass deflections — he didn’t ruin the Bears.
Not everyone was aware of the change in the second quarter either — and that’s not a bad thing.
“I didn’t even notice until damn near the end of the game,” running back D’Andre Swift said. “I got in the huddle and I looked and I saw Ozzy. I’ve got confidence in the whole group.”
6. Questions Dennis Allen hoped to find answers to in training camp remain unresolved
And when Kyler Gordon returns to action, it’s going to be interesting to see how the defensive coordinator deploys the nickel cornerback.
The good news is Gordon could be on track to make his debut on Oct. 13 at Washington following the bye. He was limited in practice on Friday, returning to the field for the first time since Sept. 6 when he popped up on the injury report two days before the season opener. Gordon expressed optimism on Friday that he would play, but that was never a serious consideration given all the time he’s missed. The Bears don’t want to risk a setback with 13 games remaining.
Gordon was one of the players who really caught Allen’s attention when he watched film after taking the job. One thing he wanted to do was find a way to get him more involved in the defense.
The 2022 second-round pick was on the field for more than 85% of the snaps in four games last season. There were five games (not including ones impacted by injury) that he was on the field for less than 75% of the snaps, coming off the field when strong-side linebacker Jack Sanborn entered the lineup in most situations.
Allen saw a valuable player with an ability to do a lot ot things well that could impact the game with more playing time and additional responsibilities. Think of Gordon as a Swiss army knife. How would that manifest itself? Allen didn’t know. Training camp would be the time to really tinker with things and we saw brief glimpses of it on the practice field when the Bears brought a nickel back onto the field in certain situations and used Gordon as a third safety.
But a chance to really dive into things was cut short when Gordon went out with a hamstring injury after the Aug. 5 practice. He returned to practice briefly after preseason ended before landing back on the injury report with a hamstring issue.
“Does he go outside and compete at outside corner?” Allen said back in April when the gears really started turning. “Does he compete some at safety? I’ve told him that he needs to be learning both of those spots. We’ll figure out where that second position is where he can go and compete. Hopefully we can find some more playing time for him.”
Time on the grass to master these additional tasks was lost and while Gordon has been able to study in the meeting room and using film, nothing replaces practice time.
Allen wasn’t the only one who dreamed of Gordon being a major contributor to the defense. The team signed him to a $40 million, three-year extension in April that made him the highest-paid slot cornerback in the league. The Bears are still expecting big things from him this season.
When he is back in the fold and he’s 100% and not on any kind of snap count, how will the Bears expand Gordon’s role? Will the Bears consider playing him on the outside if Tyrique Stevenson and Nahshon Wright struggle? Would that remove him from what he’s best at?
One of the calling cards of Allen’s defenses over the years has been employing versatile defensive backs. The coordinator, who was a safety on the “Wrecking Crew” defense at Texas A&M in the early 1990s, sees the game well from the perspective of a defensive back. Tyrann Mathieu, Kenny Vaccaro and C.J. Gardner-Johnson are all defensive backs that Allen deployed as chess pieces with the Saints. He used them at safety, played them in the slot and blitzed them regularly. They all had multi-dimensional skill sets to cover, blitz, play with range to the ball and tackle in space.
It’s fun to imagine the different ways Allen can use Gordon. Can he provide the defense with help on the outside or will the team have other roles in mind?
7. Situational football can be the name of the game in the NFL when so many games each week are decided on just a small handful of plays.
It’s the ability to produce in a few key moments that can define success or failure and that point is driven home when considering 73% of the league’s games through the first three weeks were within one score during the fourth quarter.
Every coach stresses it. Some are better than others at producing results. The Bears ended pretty much every training camp practice under coach Ben Johnson with a special situation period — end of half, end of game, you name it. He’s not alone in that regard. They did the same thing regularly under Matt Eberflus.
Not to be lost in the hyper-analysis of Caleb Williams has been the Bears’ ability to improve just before and right after halftime, at least offensively.
On Sunday, the Bears scored again just before halftime. Cairo Santos connected from 52 yards with 53 seconds remaining in the second quarter, capping a nine-play drive to bring the Bears within 14-9.
The offense produced again to open the third quarter after Tyrique Stevenson picked off Geno Smith on the first play of the second half. Williams hit Rome Odunze for a 27-yard touchdown that put the Bears ahead 16-4 just 3 minutes, 22 seconds into the third quarter.
Caleb Williams leads a game-winning drive for Chicago Bears after overcoming ‘grimy’ start by the offense
The Bears produced scores in the final two minutes of the second quarter in each of their first three games. That requires poise, the ability to avoid negative plays and it’s something Williams has done well.
There was a critical swing last week when a close game against Dallas turned into a blowout. Beginning with 2:25 remaining in the half, the Bears drove 71 yards on seven plays, getting a 10-yard touchdown pass to wide-open tight end Cole Kmet with a clever play design and leaving only 25 seconds remaining for the Cowboys. Williams connected with Luther Burden III for a 29-yard gain and a pass to Rome Odunze on third-and-2 netted 13 yards to set up the score.
The defense — which got a big play from defensive end Dominique Robinson with a 10-yard sack of Dak Prescott — forced a punt by the Cowboys to open the third quarter, and then the offense began the 19-play, 76-yard journey for a touchdown — a 4-yard pass to DJ Moore on fourth down. The Bears led 31-14 with only 15 minutes, 9 seconds remaining. Ballgame. That’s a dream scenario in the middle of the game.
Bill Belichick, second on the NFL’s all-time win list for coaches (including postseason) with 333, is often credited for a focus on what’s called the “middle eight minutes” of the game. That means the final four minutes of the second quarter and the first four minutes of the third quarter. The New England Patriots were at the forefront of deferring when they won the coin toss after the league changed the rule in 2008.
The idea was to be able to double up on the opponent if New England was able to score near the end of the second quarter and then get the ball to begin play in the third quarter.
“Belichick actually built an entire game-management theory around this simple realization,” wrote former Patriots front office member Michael Lombardi in “Gridiron Genius.””If the Patriots could manage a drive at the end of the second quarter, that would keep the opposing offense off the field for almost an hour of real time. For a guy like (Peyton) Manning, that’s an eternity. No offense, no points. No plays, no rhythm. When Manning does finally get back in the game, he and his offense have lost their edge.”
Obviously, the formula can stretch beyond the final four and first four minutes of the second and third quarters. That’s just a loose guideline and one to keep in mind as Johnson continues to settle in. The Bears haven’t quite mastered this yet.
After Cairo Santos’ 42-yard field goal with 24 seconds remaining in the second quarter of the season opener, they inexplicably allowed the Minnesota Vikings to get in range for a 59-yard field goal by Will Reichard.After Williams connected with Rome Odunze for a 6-yard touchdown pass with 1:55 remaining in the second quarter in Week 2, a score that brought the Bears within 21-14 of Detroit, the Lions were able to march 76 yards for a touchdown to answer back before halftime.
The offensive execution, however, has been sharp and some of the issues that have plagued the offense at other points in the game haven’t popped up. The next step, of course, will be more fast starts to the third quarter like they had in Las Vegas.
It’s a challenge for Johnson to push the right buttons. He is super aggressive by nature, but has to be mindful of all factors. Get into a spot in his own end late in the second quarter where a few quick incompletions lead to a punt, and now the opponent has an opportunity to seize momentum.
“That’s the hard part,” Johnson said last Monday. “Earlier in my career, I really struggled with that as a play caller. It’s something where you kind of have to sink into what your guys do well.”
8. Cairo Santos was confident he would be available for a potential field goal — if needed — at the end of the game if Daniel Carlson’s 54-yard kick had not been blocked.
But who knows?
Santos’ right quad flared up during the third quarter before his 51-yard field goal in the fourth quarter. He was checked out by athletic trainer Andre Tucker and attempted to stretch it out on the exercise bike.
“From my understanding,” coach Ben Johnson said after the game, “Cairo’s good to go.”
It’s a situation worth monitoring before the Week 6 game at Washington. The Bears had punter Tory Taylor kick off twice during the fourth quarter.
“I felt my quad, sharp pain every time I was kicking into the net,” Santos said. “I was going to kick (field goals and extra points) and battle through it. Tory stepped in and did a great job on kickoffs. We felt like he could handle those because those take a little more toll on the leg and I was going to handle field goals.
“I felt it out of nowhere. We’ll see where it’s at.”
Santos had another big game. He made field goals from 46, 43, 52 and 51 yards. The two long kicks gave him 23 field goals from 50-plus yards with the Bears, tying him with Robbie Gould for the most in franchise history.
Just in case, Taylor, who had a brilliant 62-yard punt that was downed at the 2-yard line, practiced some field goals into the net on the sideline.
“I would like to think so,” Taylor said when asked if he had confidence to hit a field goal. “We practice those situations but I didn’t grow up kicking. I don’t really kick a whole lot. So, it would have been how well can (backup holder) Tyson (Bagent) put the ball down and how well can I kick it? Fortunately, we didn’t get to that situation.”
Taylor said he practices kickoffs occasionally but not often. It’s a scenario not totally unlike tight end Cole Kmet getting reserve long snapper work in Friday practices.
“Obviously, I’m not going out there and hitting five, six kickoffs every day,” Taylor said. “It’s kind of just an occasional thing for matters like this. You never really know what is going to happen.”
Hitting some kickoffs into the landing zone is a lot easier than putting a ball through the uprights, though.
“I felt confident going out and kicking off,” Taylor said. “That wasn’t a problem. Field goals? It’s easy to hit a ball when it’s on the tee and I can just take my time. The field goal there is a snap and a hold.”
And a rush. Hopefully, Santos’ injury doesn’t linger. Otherwise, the Bears will have to turn to practice squad kicker Jake Moody and/or consider some free-agent options.
9. Ron Rivera was considering coaching in the annual Polynesian Bowl, a high school all-star game in Hawaii that is played annually in conjunction with the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame, when the question was posed.
What do you think about a Hispanic Football Hall of Fame?
Say no more. Rivera, who currently serves as the general manager of the Cal football program, was on board. The former Bears linebacker and defensive coordinator said folks behind the scenes with the Polynesian Hall have also been involved with the Black College Football Hall of Fame, and it was a natural and needed step with the global expansion of the game.
“I said, ‘I was kind of wondering if we were ever going to have one,'” Rivera said.
From there, the process snowballed.
“I reached out to Anthony Muñoz and I knew several of the Latino business people that I contacted and had great conversations with,” Rivera said. “Everybody was fired up about it. And so it just kind of came together organically.”
The new venture, which is a nonprofit organization, was quickly supported by the league and the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It was officially announced last week with Rivera and Muñoz, one of the greatest left tackles in the history of the sport, on the board of directors.
“Because it’s a global game, it really has caught fire,” Rivera said.
Roberto Garza and Chicago Bears complete a trip to Spain — perhaps laying the groundwork for a future game there
The NFL played in Brazil on kickoff weekend. The Miami Dolphins will be the home team against the Washington Commanders when they play in Madrid, Spain, on Nov. 16. The Bears have a strong history of players with Latin backgrounds, including current kicker Cairo Santos, five-time Pro Bowl fullback Rick Casares and guard/center Roberto Garza, who made 145 career starts for the Bears, the fourth-most by an offensive lineman.
“Guys like that are who we are looking for,” Rivera said. “Guys like that are the ones that really kind of helped set the plate for the ones that have come afterward. (Pro Football Hall of Fame coach) Tom Flores set the plate for me and when you look at the lineage, you say, ‘Wow, these are some really honorable people.'”
10. The Bears have three players eligible to have a return-to-practice window start.
Defensive end Austin Booker (knee), running back Travis Homer (calf) and linebacker Amen Ogbongbemiga (shoulder) have missed the minimum four games on injured reserve.
The team can use up to a 21-day practice window to evaluate each player before having to return them to the 53-man roster or leave them on IR for the remainder of the season. No one has said precisely where each player is in his rehabilitation. The Bears moved Homer and Ogbongbemiga to IR with a designation to return, simultaneous with the reduction to an initial 53-man roster. After that point, Booker was shifted to IR.
When Booker was injured against Buffalo in the second preseason game, it sounded like it was maybe a six-week injury. If that timeline was accurate and everything remained on course, he could be close to a return. In fact, of the three players on IR, Booker could be closest to a return.
Coach Ben Johnson has noted a few times how the early bye is well timed, considering health issues. Right tackle Darnell Wright (right elbow), defensive tackle Grady Jarrett (right knee) and tight end Colston Loveland (hip) get two weeks to rebound after being inactive by missing only one game. Linebacker T.J. Edwards (hamstring) probably isn’t far off and cornerback Kyler Gordon’s situation is noted above.
The team is scheduled to practice on Tuesday and Wednesday before a mandatory four-day break in the bye. Whether or not the practice window is started for any of the IR players remains to be seen. The club could wait until the start of Week 6.
10a. If Jeff King had the desire to return to Blacksburg, Va., he would likely be a frontrunner for the general manager job at Virginia Tech. The school hired Bruce Arians, a quarterback for the Hokies and assistant coach there in the mid-70s, to assist in its search for a new coach. Arians said the first order of business is hiring a general manager.
King, who was a standout tight end for the Hokies and was twice a second-team All-ACC selection, was raised in Pulaski, Va. He was playing for the Arizona Cardinals in 2013, which was Arians’ first year as head coach there. His ties to a program that has fallen on hard times after an extended run of excellence run deep. He also played for the basketball team and his wife Katie was a decorated member of the Hokies volleyball team.
After joining the Bears organization as a scout in 2015, King has risen through the ranks and is currently the senior director of player personnel. The 42-year-old interviewed for the Los Angeles Chargers GM job in 2024. The guess is King is more interested in the possibility of a future GM job in the NFL than heading back to college.
The GM job in college football has become critical in the NIL era as programs look to model some of their resource allocation in ways that are similar to the pro game. Bill Belichick, mentioned above, hired Mike Lombardi at North Carolina. Ron Rivera is managing things at Cal. Andrew Luck (Stanford), Mike Martin (Notre Dame), Jim Nagy (Oklahoma) and Sean Magee (Michigan) are just a few guys in these positions with NFL experience. Magee was at Michigan before a short stint with the Bears and a return to Ann Arbor.
Personnel men with high-ranking jobs in the NFL haven’t been jumping to the college level a lot yet and that’s another reason to believe King stays put.
10b. Ben Johnson reached into his bag of tricks to recreate the “Stumblebum” play that netted a touchdown pass from Jared Goff to tight end Sam LaPorta in a Lions’ victory at Soldier Field last season.
Caleb Williams faked that he was tripping and D’Andre Swift attempted to sell it, but the Raiders were not fooled, and Williams’ deep pass for Rome Odunze wasn’t close on third-and-1 from the Bears’ 40-yard line in the second quarter. Fortunately, the Bears picked up the fourth down play on an easy pass to Swift.
“That was one of those where we have a group of guys that come up with plays, and we felt like that could take advantage of something we saw,” Johnson said. “We were really in two-down territory, in my mind, at that point anyway, so I knew that we were going for an explosive play on that one and if we didn’t get it, then we were going to go for it on the next one. So, it happens sometimes. That’s the cost.”
Maybe it’s tougher to sell a mobile threat like Williams losing his balance than a guy like Goff.
“They did a great job on defense,” Williams said. “They ended up getting some run through. I should have hit Rome, even after the scramble. It’s frustrating that I missed that pass, but they did a good job with defense, and they covered it out and got some run through. I couldn’t go through the progressions.”
10c. One thing the Bears are doing very well on defense is getting off the field on third down. The Raiders were 2-for-8 and after the late afternoon slate of games, the Bears ranked first in the league on third down at 23.9% (12 of 41). There’s a big gap to the second-place San Francisco 49ers (32%).
10d. Rome Odunze is second in the league with five receiving touchdowns, one behind Detroit’s Amon-Ra St. Brown. He has at least one touchdown catch in all four games, the first Bears’ receiver to have a score in four consecutive games since Alshon Jeffery did so in six straight games during the 2014 season.
10e. The Bears are trying to improve in nearly every imaginable way under Ben Johnson. That includes how they perform coming off a bye week. They are 1-10 in the last 11 seasons following the bye, including last year’s heartbreaker at Washington.
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