Bear Digest

Chicago Bears report card for thrill-ride victory over Vikings

Developing a killer instinct before their fans all suffer heart attacks is something the Bears really should "know" they need to accomplish.
Gene Chamberlain|
Joe Thuney leads the way for Kyle Monangai in Sunday's 19-17 Bears victory.
Joe Thuney leads the way for Kyle Monangai in Sunday's 19-17 Bears victory. | Brad Rempel-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

Now alone in first place within the NFC North and for the moment free from the Detroit Lions' tiebreaker edge, the Bears truly do control their own playoff destiny.

With seven games remaining, though, this team has proven within games each week that it could easily lose and regain that upper hand seven times before this season ends. So hold on to your hat.

It's the Bears' nature to make things interesting, it seems, and Sunday's 19-17 win over the Vikings offered more proof.

Quarterback Caleb Williams implored the offense to gain the killer instinct to put teams away afterward.

"For the idea of killer instinct speaking on when there's blood in the water,  we gotta go when the defense turns the ball over for us, we've got to put up seven ponits, when they get three-and-outs we've got to put up seven points," Williams said after the game. "That's mindset and belief that we have to grow towards and get better at."

It's not only applicable to the offense. The defense shut down the Vikings all game and then gave up the go-ahead touchdown drive within the game's final two minutes.

Asked what has changed most since back when they managed to blow the lead in the opener to Minnesota but didn't come back to win, Williams responded with the team's newest bit of Zen-type philosophy.

"Something that I've spoken about before," Williams said. " 'Living in the know.'  

"It doesn't matter when, it doesn't matter how, it doesn't matter who. It doesn't. We've got the guys, we've got the coaches, we live in the know. And so when our moment comes, when their moment comes, whoever it is on the team, we'll make the play. I think the belief that we've grown within the locker room is what changed."

One thing is certain: Williams' ability to complete a higher completion of passes hasn't changed after he connected on only 50% (16 of 32).

And if the Bears really do "live in the know" and now know they have the players who will step up when it matters most, why do they still need to develop a killer instinct?

Shouldn't they know they have it already if they're living in the know?

As your head explodes, here are their grades for their third straight comeback with a happy ending, after they blew another lead against the Vikings, but knew they would make the plays they needed to at the end while their poor fans sat having heart attacks. Again.

Passing: C+

Williams' ability to get the ball out, avoid sacks and make plays under pressure from Minnesota blitzes was admirable, yet the consistency of the offense suffered because of errant throws, rushed throws and dropped throws. Luther Burden, Durham Smythe and DJ Moore dropped passes. Maybe the best thing the passing game did was not have a single target for Olamide Zaccheaus after he dropped so many against the Giants. Tight ends were effectively targeted a season-high 12 times but for minimal yardage. Again, pass blocking was outstanding in the face of vicious Brian Flores blitz schemes, and Williams supplied a few runs when it wasn't there, with 26 yards on four carries.

Running: B+

Some of Minnesota's blitzes were not intended to get to Williams but to disrupt their running attack. They did this occasionally, especially early. But the Bears adjusted their blocking scheme and frequently had answers. D'Andre Swift's 90 rushing yards included tough runs inside when he broke several tackles. It's been suggested in the past he couldn't do this, but he just keeps doing it when necessary. Kyle Monangai ran extremely hard looking for people to punish, but couldn't find anyone willing to take it on his 1-yard TD run. The tight ends' blocking as a supplement to the offensive line supplied an extra necessary push in this one.

Pass defense: A-

Only when they really needed it on Minnesota's final drive did the Bears falter. Of course, they can't have this happen at that point in the game. Nahshon Wright prevented points with an end zone interception and Kevin Byard helped produce three points with another pick in the first half, while the Bears held J.J. McCarthy to 50% (16 of 32) without an overwhelming pass rush. What their rush did effectively was keep McCarthy bottled up in the pocket and pressure from the inside. Grady Jarrett and Gervon Dexter were especially effective at pressuring and the pass rush had five QB hits, even though they had no sacks. They broke up five passes, including one that should have been an interception but was broken up when Jaquan Brisker crashed into Tyrique Stevenson. Maybe their best stat was 27.3% on third down conversions (3-of-11).

Special Teams: B-

Although they produced the two key winning plays at the end with Devin Duvernay's 56-yard kick return and Cairo Santos' game-winning 48-yard field goal, they helped contribute to the blown lead with Santos' missed 45-yarder and the 41-yard punt return allowed to Myles Price to open the way for a Vikings rally. Coming through in the end counts a little more than missed chances earlier. Santos' 4-of-5 effort on field goals included a 54-yarder that broke Robbie Gould's franchise record for most career field goals of 50 yards or longer, with 24. He did it in essentially six seasons while Gould required 11 for his total. The Duvernay kick return included picture-perfect block by Josh Blackwell that made it possible. It more than made up for his foolish 15-yard penalty for fair catch interference on punt coverage earlier.

Coaching: B+

The use of more tight ends with 59 plays for Cole Kmet, 56 for Colston Loveland, 16 for Durham Smythe and even the use of Ozzy Trapilo 10 times as an extra blocker helped the running game beat the Vikings' blitz tactics and also let them get the ball quickly to the outside away from the blitzes. They also used play-action nicely, or at least they did when the receivers didn't drop the ball. Minnesota accounted for Dennis Allen's use of slot blitzes and so he adjusted accordingly. They played effective zone or two-man defense, except on one pass in the end zone to Jordan Addison. More and more, this switch of Tremain Edmunds to weakside linebacker looks like a stroke of genius. A well-designed kick return by Richard Hightower at the end also included a perfect block by Josh Blackwell, who they just got back after a concussion.

Overall: B

They might start to get even higher grades if they find ways to avoid turning each fourth quarter into a thrill ride.

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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.