Three Sundays ago, the Chicago Bears got outplayed by the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium -- and won on a blocked field goal.
Last Monday night, the Chicago Bears outplayed the Washington Commanders at Northwest Stadium -- and won on a made field goal as time expired.
Coming into today, your Bears: a three-game winning streak. It happened.
Now, today's matchup was against the "lowly" New Orleans Saints. A 1-5 team who is trying to figure out if they need to use their incoming top-5 pick on a quarterback. Spencer Rattler -- the guy Caleb Williams replaced at Oklahoma to kickstart his journey as a top NFL pick -- had been playing good football for the Saints. They'd been a feisty team coming in. I said this on October 5 - two weeks ago.
It wasn't going to be an easy game -- not that the Bears are good enough yet to overlook anyone. Chicago had an opportunity to go on a real run with some weakened opponents coming up. They needed this one against an inferior (if tough) opponent at a rainy Soldier Field.
Alas, the Bears overcame a sloppy and sleepy Caleb Williams at a windy Soldier Field by intercepting Spencer Rattler three times and sack-stripping him en route to a 26-14 win to move to 4-2. The good vibes from this team learning how to win continue.
I shared my in-game reactions, thoughts and observations from the game below. Follow me on X @DhruvKoul to continue the conversation.
Thoughts and Observations
1. It's a wet day in Chicago following the morning rains, but two QB/C fumbled snaps in the first few plays is atrocious. I'm not sure what the hell Drew Dalman was doing on the 3rd down snap after the Montez Sweat strip of Spencer Rattler, but how is that even considered a play? Just weird stuff. Bears need to settle down on offense. Defense has started off brightly.
2. Well, this game just got weirder. What should've been a big gain to D'Andre Swift in Saints territory got called back on an "OPI" by Colston Loveland. The call on Monday night against him was really bad... and this one was even worse. There was NOTHING to see on that one.
And then after another RB screen got batted down by the Saints, Caleb tried to hit Rome Odunze deep on 3rd and 17 and left it too inside and late... and it got picked off. The Bears are certainly playing like this is a letdown game on offense, and that's just inexcusable. (Thankfully, New Orleans missed a long field goal attempt to keep it at 3-0, Bears.)
3. Man, you know Dennis Allen's just been WAITING to dial up some cool blitzes with his defensive backs. A nickel blitz by Kyler Gordon and a safety rush by Jaquan Brisker two plays later both resulted in sacks. Allen's really been patching together the defense while many of his guys were out. And he's starting to play more chess now. Fun to watch his creativity.
Not getting fooled by Taysom Hill and dropping him for a loss of nine? Yeah, it's personal for DA.
4. Caleb's having a really off day today - with several head-scratching decisions at times. But the running game has really come alive. It's been fun to watch. D'Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai took over with the Bears up 13-0 and walked the Bears down the field for a touchdown -- sandwiching another key 3rd down conversion to Colston Loveland near the red zone. Remember, Loveland had a key conversion in Washington on the game-winning drive as well.
Bears up 20-0 at the two-minute warning. Saints have a "double up" opportunity with the ball after halftime, so hopefully the defense doesn't lose focus. But it's been good to see the Bears start to wake up and make the adjustments towards a hard-hitting running game while Caleb figures things out.
5. Just a terrible way to go into halftime and emerge from halftime. Bears give up back to back touchdowns, unable to stop Rattler and Chris Olave. Bears' pressure back to not getting home and with Stevenson's injury, this makes this game pretty tough.
The offense did respond with a field goal drive, but with a 4th and 1 inside the 1-yard line, a false start SAVED the Bears from getting nothing due to what would've been a fumbled snap. This team is still too sloppy to trust.
23-14 towards the end of the third quarter, but frankly the Saints have momentum and are riding it.
6. Man, Kevin Byard's interception on Rattler's deep heave is one of the more clutch takeaways of the season -- just behind Nahshon Wright's fumble recovery late last Monday night. Saints had had no trouble their last couple drives, so to take the ball away there after an uneasy feeling started creeping into Soldier Field... that's a potential game changer again, if the offense can capitalize. Good players stepping up in key moments.
I was expecting a flag on Jaquan Brisker for roughing the passer because the refs have been all too quick to call them. But they escaped.
NOTE: <At this point, I had to leave to tend to something for my wife, so the following thoughts are upon coming back and rewatching the rest>
7. The job Ben Johnson and his crew have done with the running game coming out of the bye is nothing short of miraculous. The offensive line looks cohesive, and the backs are running physical. D'Andre Swift has been outstanding, and Kyle Monangai had a really nice day contributing as well. Over 200 yards on the ground collectively, especially to help grind out key yards to salt the game away. The Bears really have something of an identity forming now.
A good run game travels, too. And with two straight road games coming up, that'll be useful.
8. Caleb didn't have a great day, but the offense still put 386 yards of offense and scored 26 points. Imagine saying that at any point in the last few years. Ben has quite a bit of work to do with him still, but the foundation is really coming together.
Also, Colston Loveland only had three targets -- but two of them converted key downs. One on the Bears' first touchdown drive, and the last on the 4th down to salt the game. Last week, he caught a key third down conversion on the Bears' final drive. He's becoming a safety blanket for Caleb.
9. Dennis Allen with a revenge game of the ages. The Saints are scrappy and interesting, and Kellen Moore has gotten a lot out of Spencer Rattler. What Allen did to them was very impressive. He deservedly got the game ball in the Bears' locker room. Good for him.
Losing Stevenson for the game isn't good - hopefully he and Cole Kmet are OK to go next week.
10. Jake Moody made every field goal at a windy Soldier Field. He's more than held down the fort in Cairo Santos' absence. The Bears have a decision to make with him, and I think it might be worth putting Santos on IR and keeping Moody around longer to help heal Santos' thigh even more. I think Santos is (and should be) the kicker when he's healthy. But why rush him back?
11. The Bears head to Baltimore next week to take on the banged up Ravens. It's a season from hell for Baltimore, but they should be getting Lamar Jackson back next week. I'm a little concerned about the Bears' ability to stop him with Stevenson also out. But that run defense is also gettable, and I expect the Bears to continue to lean on that on the road.
Early prediction: Bears 23, Ravens 21
