The
Chicago Bears 2018 season has reached its point of success at 8-3 by the team being able to string good performances together week after week. It's all about taking it one play at a time and executing the best they can. This group has done it better than fans have seen in a long time. That said, there are instances where some plays are more important than others.
One might call them pivotal plays. Moments where a game stood on a precipice of going one of two directions, each leading to either a bitter defeat or big victory. The past few years it felt like most of those moments saw the Bears enduring the former. Not this year. It's been one big play after another.
So that begs the question. Which plays stand out as the most important of this season so far? Here are five that made the cut.
#5: Mitch Trubisky 39-yard pass to Allen Robinson vs. Cardinals
The Bears were in serious danger of losing a winnable game down in Arizona back in September. They'd fallen behind 14-0 before anybody realized what was happening. Worse still the offense was out of sorts as they struggled to run or throw the ball the entire first half. The 3rd quarter didn't start much better as their first series was a 3-and-out. They knew they were running out of chances.
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On the next possession, after
Jordan Howard gained nothing on first down, Trubisky decided to take a shot down the field. It would prove to be one of his best passes of the season, hitting Allen Robinson in stride for 39 yards. The play sparked a drive that would end in their only touchdown of the day, cutting the Cardinals lead to 14-10.
Each of the next two drives would result in field goals for Chicago, ultimately proving the difference in a 16-14 win. All of it began with that throw.
#4: Mitch Trubisky 26-yard TD pass to Allen Robinson vs. Lions
One of the few things the Bears have really struggled with at times, particularly on defense is closing games out. They've had a bad habit of letting opponents back into games after getting out to a good lead early. The Green Bay debacle was the worst of it, going up 23-3 only to lose 24-23 after allowing three touchdowns in the 4th quarter.
They were in danger of letting it happen again at Soldier Field against the Lions.
Matthew Stafford has a history of big comebacks and it looked like another one was coming. After taking a 22-0 lead, the Lions scored a touchdown before the first half ended. Then on the first drive of the second half, they got a field goal. Suddenly it was 26-10.
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The next three Bears drives went nowhere. It felt like Detroit was on the cusp of delivering a decisive blow to get back into the game. Trubisky finally had enough. After hitting
Trey Burton for 20 yards on the first play of the next series following a Lions punt, he connected with Robinson for a 26-yard touchdown that put the game out of reach 34-10.
As good as the Trubisky play against Detroit was, it wasn't nearly as game-breaking as what Eddie Jackson did two weeks later. This game was much tighter throughout and was played on the Lions' home turf of Ford Field. Not only that but this time Trubisky wasn't there to bail them out due to a shoulder injury he suffered a few days before.
So it would have to be somebody else to save the day when the Lions tied the game 16-16 in the 4th quarter and got the ball back again to potentially take the lead with six minutes left. It was set up perfectly for them. They had it at their own 41 with only a field goal needed to get the lead. They'd started to run the ball too. All they had to do was keep pounding it against a tired defense.
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Instead Stafford decided to opt for an easy out pass for a quick five yards. Except that's exactly what Bears safety Eddie Jackson anticipated. He jumped the route for the interception and went 41 yards completely unhindered for what proved to be the game-winning touchdown.
Amidst the avalanche of big defensive plays this year, this is one that has already been forgotten somewhat and that's just wrong. As time goes on this play is proving more and more valuable to the Bears' 2018 fortunes because of how prominent the Seattle Seahawks are becoming in the wild card playoff chase.
There's also a need for context. Seahawks quarterback
Russell Wilson rarely throws interceptions period. Coming into this game, he hadn't thrown a pick-six since his rookie year in 2012. It was almost impossible to get him on that. This is why it was such a shock when Prince Amukamara, who hadn't had an interception since 2015, ended that streak.
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Seattle had just cut the Bears' lead to 17-10 and gotten the ball back for a chance to tie. They were driving steadily after three straight runs so Wilson decided to try his first pass. Unfortunately, he picked the wrong target. Amukamara jumped the out route to Rashad Penny and took it to the house, making the score 24-10. Though the Seahawks got the score back, it cost too much time and the Bears prevailed 24-17.
#1: Eddie Jackson pick-six vs. Vikings
In terms of timing, importance, and individual effort? There is no play of the 2018 season that was more clutch than what Jackson pulled off on Sunday night against the Minnesota Vikings. The setup was huge. It was Soldier Field. The winner of the game seizes control of the NFC North lead. Everything was on the line for Chicago.
It proved to be the slugfest people expected. After the Bears jumped out in front, the Vikings began to chip away at their lead. By the start of the 4th quarter, they'd connected on two field goals to make it 14-6. Another defensive stop got them the ball back with a chance to tie the game. The Bears needed a stop and they did have one advantage.
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They knew Minnesota was going to throw. They hadn't run the ball at all in the game.
Sure enough,
Kirk Cousins dropped back to pass and tried a big play shot to
Laquon Treadwell. The ball wasn't placed properly and Jackson, with his uncanny instinct, got there first for the interception. He then swiftly weaved his way down the sideline for a backbreaking touchdown to Minnesota's hopes.
Chicago was up 22-6 and would hold on to win 25-20, gaining mastery of the division and their playoff destiny.
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