Bear Digest

Bears' long snapper played surprisingly key role in Week 4 win over Raiders

Long snappers don't typically change the outcome of NFL games, but Scott Daly may have saved the day for the Chicago Bears.
Pete Martuneac|
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Football is famously a game of inches. The smallest, most trivial things can play an outsized role in the outcome of games. We saw that on Sunday Night Football, when a single second remaining in overtime after an incomplete pass from Green Bay's Jordan Love allowed the Packers to escape with a 40-40 tie with the Dallas Cowboys rather than a loss.

For the Chicago Bears, this manifested in a key piece of film scouting from the most unlikely source imaginable: the long snapper, Scott Daly. Following the Bears' stunning victory over the Las Vegas Raiders, Josh Blackwell, whose blocked field goal allowed the Bears to slip past the Raiders, revealed that he was able to time the snap perfectly thanks to a tip from Daly about the Raiders' long snapper.

How cool is that? It's not every day that a long snapper gets to claim a large portion of the glory in a comeback victory, but Daly deserves all the credit. It goes to show how critically important film study can be for every player on an NFL roster. These players have to pour over hours' worth of game tape to find any advantage to exploit, and Daly found a big one.

The Bears may have still won even if the Raiders made that field goal. They still had a time out, almost a full minute of game time remaining, and would have only needed a field goal themselves. But blocking the attempted game-winner sealed the deal and preserved the game-winning drive for Caleb Williams and the offense.

Hopefully Daly will be able to contribute in a similar way to more wins down the road. As Bears fans well know, one blocked field goal can flip the script and change a season.

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Pete Martuneac
PETE MARTUNEAC

A former Marine and Purdue Boilermaker, Pete has been covering the Chicago Bears since 2022 as a senior contributor on BearsTalk. He lives with his wife, two kids and loyal dog.

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