Bear Digest

Bears' prayers answered but can they make miracle comeback meaningful?

The last-second comeback on Colston Loveland's touchdown catch was historical vintage but for the Bears to make it significant they need to sharpen up their game in the future.
Gene Chamberlain|
Bears tight end Colston Loveland runs with the ball for a 58-yard touchdown play against Cincinnati safety Jordan Battle.
Bears tight end Colston Loveland runs with the ball for a 58-yard touchdown play against Cincinnati safety Jordan Battle. | Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

The Bears turned a potential disaster of 2024 Hail Mary proportions Sunday into a one of the wildest wins in their history with a prayer play of their own.

It was the kind of finish that can propel a team to big things, or else reveal weaknesses for other teams to attack. But in the end, at least it was a victory.

Caleb Williams hit rookie tight end Colston Loveland for a 58-yard touchdown pass with 17 seconds remaining to beat the Cincinnati Bengals 47-42, after blowing a 41-27 lead in the game's final few minutes.

"You don't apologize for winning in his league," coach Ben Johnson said. "It's too hard week-in and week-out, especially on the road."

At last there was no need to apologize for a loss, because of magic by Loveland and Williams.

"We knew it was going to be a shootout," Williams said. "We knew it was going to be one of those games."

No one could have known it would be like it actually wound up being, though.

On first down from their own 42 after a Williams scramble, and with no timeouts left, Loveland caught the pass over the middle at the 36 then broke a tackle and took it the distance. Then they survived one last Joe Flacco Hail Mary try on the final play that never got close to the goal line and was picked off by Nahshon Wright at the 20.

The winning TD pass was a moment not unlike Bob Avellini's famed 1977 last-second TD pass to Greg Latta that triggered a miracle Bears run to the playoffs.

The Bears had given up a 23-yard touchdown pass to Noah Fant with 1:43 remaining, as well as the two-point conversion throw, then they botched the onside kick as Daniel Hardy had it strike his foot. Flacco threw another TD pass with 54 seconds left to put the Bengals ahead.

Flacco finished 31 of 47 for 470 yards with four TD passes and two interceptions, while Williams was 20 of 34 for 280 yards with three touchdowns.

"I was more upset that we gave up the touchdown but those guys really finished the game for us so that we could come out with the win," safety Kevin Byard said.

The Bears running game dominated all day and helped them build their two-touchdown lead. Kyle Mongangai ran for 176 yards on 26 carries and Brittain Brown took in a 22-yard run for a TD as the Bears outrushed Cincinnati 283 yards to 46. DJ Moore scored on an end around from 17 yards with 4:53 left and the win seemed secure.

Then Flacco went to work.

"Speaking to coach throughout the week, we know that that was an explosive offense," Williams said. "They can score at any time. He said it the day before the game that when we get up by two touchdowns don't feel good or comfortable or anything like that."

Tremaine Edmunds stepped up with an interception at the 4-yard line with 2:42 left for what seemed like the dagger but Flacco kept passing but Johnson's words to Williams proved prophetic.

Monangai's 176 yards rushing ranked 18th in Bears history and was the most by a Bears ball carrier since Justin Fields had 178 on Nov. 6, 2022 against Miami.

The Bears had the ball for 34:30 to 25:30 but there was an indication very early on it would be this type of game because they gave up a 98-yard kick return for a touchdown. They countered with wild plays, like Moore flea flicker pass to Caleb Williams for a TD and another throwback pass from Tyson Bagent to Williams.

However, there were disasters on defense and on special teams that helped Cincinnati stay in a game it had no business being in at the end.

Cairo Santos, who kicked two field goals, had one blocked and the Bears' special teams misery also included a 52-yard Devin Duvernay return called back by penalty.

A key moment to the final comeback occurred when even-keel Ben Johnson called a timeout the play before Flacco's 9-yard TD throw that gave the Bengals the lead. If he let time run down, they might not have had time left for Loveland's TD.

"I try to keep it pretty steady," Johnson said. "I just tried to keep level headed, making sure we had time left for our own rebuttal."

It was in sharp contrast to the mismanaged final seconds in the Bears' Hail Mary loss last year by the coaching staff last year.

By preventing a losing streak, the Bears now have a chance to start another winning streak Sunday at home against the Giants.

"Overall, just proud of the group and how resilient they were," Johnson said.

Resurrected might be a better R-word than resilient for this one.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.