Chicago Bears Draft Class Quietly Slammed Door Shut On Cardinals

The Chicago Bears are a young team. Sometimes, young teams have a hard time learning how to win. That can manifest in different ways. One of them is constantly being unable to finish teams off. Chicago has endured some ugly 4th quarter collapses this season. They coughed up leads of 21, 12, and 10 against Denver, Detroit, and Cleveland. Players in the locker room know if they'd done their jobs, this team would be in the playoff mix right now. It might explain why there wasn't as much jubilation after the Bears put away the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.

Still, the game was a vital learning experience because it almost happened again. After forging a 21-0 lead to open the action, Chicago saw the Cardinals climb back into it 24-16. It looked like the Bears were crumbling again. However, this time, they were able to slam the door shut, and a lot of that was thanks to the efforts of their 2023 draft class.

Darnell Wright, their 1st round pick, had one of his best games blocking of the season and was excellent in the 4th quarter. His work was crucial on multiple key plays during Chicago's first field goal drive, pushing their point total to 24. Then he had a huge block on Justin Fields' 39-yard scamper that extended another drive. While it ended in an interception a play later, that sequence allowed the Bears to bleed four precious minutes off the clock.

The biggest moment belonged to another, though.

Arizona had the ball with four minutes left. The Bears were reeling. One more drive could be a killing blow. Kyler Murray had enjoyed picking on rookie cornerback Terell Smith all afternoon, but when he tried again on 3rd and 4th down in crunch time, the 5th round pick forced two incompletions to put the game away.

The Chicago Bears continue to get great contributions from draft picks.

Gervon Dexter had another strong game as an interior pass rusher, delivering a hit on Murray and coming so close to his third sack in three games. Tyrique Stevenson added another pass breakup, pushing his total to 11 for the season with six in the last five games. Roschon Johnson even had 37 yards rushing and 16 receiving, all while continuing to be an asset in pass protection. GM Ryan Poles deserves lots of praise for the draft class he pieced together this past off-season. It is already yielding results.

What's even scarier is the Chicago Bears have more big assets waiting on the horizon. They hold two picks in the top 10 of next year's draft, including the #1 overall. If that holds, Poles can add two more talents with superstar potential to his roster. That would turn an ascending team into a playoff contender. Much depends on what they plan to do at quarterback and head coach. We will likely know Poles' decision on those matters within a week of the season's end.