The Chicago Bears (1-4) fought hard in the Vikings (3-2) dome stadium, grateful to finally have a week not playing in the rain. The Bears surprised everyone in the last minute of the game to post their only victory on the year and they are flying home happy tonight.
Justin Fields threw three interceptions, but that didn't stop him from posting season highs in yards (293) and passing touchdowns (3). His greatest feat was when the Bears found themselves down by 4 with 59 seconds left in the game and 78 yards to traverse. Using his most reliable option, Fields was able to connect with Mooney on back to back throws down the left sideline to come away with the game winning touchdown. Fields ended the night with a passer rating of 115.5, his highest total by far all season.
The Bears rushing attack didn't help as much as they would have liked, although the Bears didn't shy away from the run even when it wasn't working. HB David Montgomery toted the rock 19 times for 66 yards and rookie WR Velus Jones Jr. took two option plays out of the slot for 7 rushing yards.
While Mooney was able to get 78 yards and a TD on the Bears' final two plays, he only had two receptions prior to that totaling 94 yards on the night. This was still Mooney's highest yards total on the year. Those yards were dwarfed by the yards Velus Jones Jr. was able to produce on the same number of receptions, going for 187 yards and two TDs.
The offense wouldn't have been able to stay in the game if it wasn't for the defense forcing four turnovers. Safety Jaquan Brisker got himself an interception, corner Duke Shelley got an interception and a forced fumble, defensive end Trevis Gipson also forced a fumble on his only sack, and both rookie corner Kyler Gordon and veteran defensive end Robert Quinn came away with fumble recoveries.
Head coach George Halas was all praise for his team in the post game press conference and was basically telling the media, "I told you so" when describing what his team is capable of doing on both sides of the ball.
Here's hoping this divisional win is a sign that the Chicago Bears have corrected course, because they have a tough matchup at home next week against the Washington Commanders.
The Chicago Bears (0-4) got on the plane home with another loss under their belt, as the New York Giants balled out in the rain.
Justin Fields had three TDs, one through the air and another two on the ground. Although, he only posted 129 yards passing and threw two INTs, while completing 12 of 17 attempts.
The Bears rushing attack was on point. David Montgomery gained 140 yards on 15 attempts, with 108 of those yards coming after contact. David's longest run came from the 6 yard line when Fields audibled to a run to the left and David busted through tackles near the left sideline and took it to the house for 94 yards. Montgomery had another TD called for him, but it was quickly taken by referees as the review found he didn't actually cross into the endzone. Khalil Herbert added to the attack with 44 yards on just 5 attempts.
With so few receiving yards to go around, it was WR Velus Jones Jr. who led the team with three receptions and 64 yards.
Velus also had his best kick return day of the year, posting 244 yards on 7 attempts, with his long coming on a 93 yard return that ended in the endzone.
Chicago was able to post their highest point total of the year at 34, but their defense couldn't stop QB Daniel Jones from posting a career day in the New York rain. Jones threw for 403 yards, 5 TDs, and 0 INTs, posting a perfect passer rating of 158.3. It didn't help that Daniel Jones also punched in two TDs with his legs, givng the QB a total of 7 TDs on the day. Chicago's defense was clearly embarresed by letting the Giants score 51 points. If he can keep scoring at this rate, Daniel Jones is a lock for MVP this season.
The Chicago Bears were reeling from this last loss. Coach Halas addressed the team on the plane ride home, pointing to the positives they were able to accomplish on offense and that they were a top 10 defense before this game. Bears fans are hoping that the head coach can ressurect their season from what is quickly turning to ashes.
Next up, the Bears will travel to the Vikings home field to try and right the ship with a divional win.
Another week, another loss for the Chicago Bears (0-3). The Bears hosted the Houston Texans (1-2) and allowed them to fly back home with their first victory.
Justin Fields had his best day yet in terms of interceptions. He threw 14 completions on 21 attemts, 2 TDs, and 1 INT. The only problem is that the lone interception was returned by linebacker Christian Harris for a touchdown and the Bears ultimately lost 20-17.
Wide receiver Darnell Mooney posted his first and second touchdown of the year while catching six passes for 79 yards. This was the first game a wide receiver caught multiple touchdowns for the Bears and it was also the first game any receiver exceeded the 75 yard mark.
Halfback David Montgomery had his best game of the season running for 123 yards on 18 attempts, with a respectable 6.8 yards per attempt. Fields also helped in the run game to get two first downs with his legs, both on 4th and inches.
The defense was able to get take the ball away a couple of times, with both safety Eddie Jackson and corner Jaylon Johnson notching interceptions. The defensive line had a tough time though with only one sack split between defensive ends Robert Quinn and Trevis Gipson.
Cairo Santos is kicking himself for missing a 58 yarder earlier in the game that would have ultimately given the Bears enough points to tie the game at the end of regulation. Head coach George Halas says he made the wrong call in having his kicker go for such a long field goal in the rain and it was his fault for not sending out the punting unit.
Ultimately the Bears are looking better, but they are yet to break 200 passing yards and will need quarterback Justin Fields to play mistake free football if they want to get their first win of the year. The Chicago will get a chance to do so next week when they travel to the East coast to play the New York Giants.
The Chicago Bears (0-2) have lost their first divional matchup. They traveled to Lambeau Field to play the Green Bay Packers (1-1) and were winning at halftime 13-7 at halftime, but were shut out in the second half to lose 13-35.
Fields lowered his interception total from three last week to two this week, although he was sacked more, being taken down behind the line of scrimmage three times on pass attempts. Ultimately his completion percentage went up to 70% as he threw 12 completions on 17 attempts, with a total of 134 yards and one touchdown.
The running game was efficient when used, though the Bears had to turn away from the run game in the second half as they began to be blown out. David Montgomery ran 11 times for 56 yards, with a respectable yards per attempt of 5.1. Rookie Trestan Ebner had a good showing, albeit breif, with five attempts for 32 yards, beating Monty's yards per attempt with 6.4.
For the first time this year, a Bears wide receiver broke 50 yards when Darnell Mooney caught five passes for 68 yards. Tight end Cole Kmet had the lone touchdown on the night.
On the defensive side of the ball, Roquan Smith and Trevis Gipson both notched a sack. Unfortunately the Bears let Aaron Rodgers throw all over them, not getting a single pick while Rodgers completed 21 of 23 passes, with only one incompletion in the second half.
Kicker Cairo Santos had a perfect night, making both of his field goals and his lone extra point attempt.
The Bears are going to need to put up better numbers if they are to beat the Texans at home in week three. If they do, it will be their first win of the season.
The Chicago Bears (0-1) lost their first game of the year. The 49ers (1-0) won the game 23-17.
Justin Fields had a poor outing to start the season, throwing just 137 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions. The offensive line was able to keep him relatively clean, only allowing one sack. He completed 12 of 19 passes, for a 63% completion rate.
The rushing attack tried to help out, with David Montgomery leading the way with 88 rushing yards on 14 attempts, giving him a respectable 6.3 yards per carry. His backup Khalil Herbert pitched in with a mediocre 3.5 yards per attempt on four carries.
Rookie Velus Jones Jr. was able to help the offense by giving them good field position in the kick return game. He totalled 130 yards on three attempts, with a long of 90 yards. Unfortunately the Bears were only able to score three points, even though they started that drive on the nine yard line.
No wide receiver was able to break 50 yards, with Jones Jr. coming closest with three receptions for 41 yards.
The defense helped keep the Bears in the game with two interceptions of their own, one going to free safety Eddie Jackson and another caught by slot cornerback Tavon Young.
At the end of the game, the 49ers broke the tie with a touchdown, but missed on their extra point attempt. Only six points down with two minutes left, there was a chance for Fields to lead his team to victory. They began to drive down the field, stringing a few plays together, but it was all for naught when Justin threw a pick to the 49ers safety Ward near the goalline.
If the Bears want to right the ship, they will have to do so next week against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field.
The Chicago Bears started off the year on a downward slide, with the first quarter of the season only having one win compared to three losses. The Bears turned things around though with a stingy defense to only have three more losses the rest of the year, finishing with a 10-6 record and the sixth seed in the playoffs.
The Bears led the league in defensive yards, only allowing 3442 yards. This led the league by a large margin as the next best team, the Eagles, had 1420 more yards given up with a total 4862 yards allowed. Chicago also led the league in defensive points allowed with 274, while the Rams were the next closest team with 322 points allowed.
While the Bears were stingy in yards and points allowed, they weren't the best in turnovers. Chicago held were tied for 11th with 32 takeaways, 26 being interceptions and 9 being fumble recoveries. With the Bears giving up the ball 32 times themselves, this led to the Chicago Bears having a dead even 0 turnover differential.
The Bears offense was in last place for yards gain by a large margin, only gaining 5049 yards compared to the second worst of the Carolina Panthers who had 5554 yards gained. The Bears weren't much better in points per game, coming up in 30th place at 19.9 points per game.
Some would say that Chicago was able to make the playoffs with so few yards gained on offense because their defense gave them short fields and gave up the fewest touchdowns in the redzone, only allowing 23 touchdowns while opposing offenses were in the redzone.
Rookie quarterback Joe Montana barley broke the 3000 yard mark totaling 3091 yards, with 20 TDs and 23 INTs. He did post a very high accuracy mark of 75%, throwing 285 completions on 389 attempts. This brought his QB rating for the year to 90.8, but he would definitely like to decrease the turnovers while increasing his yards per game, which was only 193.2. Joe added 45 yards and 1 TD on the ground, on 16 attempts. In the end, Montana was 31st in the league for passing yards and would definitely like to improve on that going forward.
With so few yards, the receivers didn't have gaudy stats on the year. Allen Robinson led in receptions at 62 with 645 yards and 5 touchdowns. Scotty Miller led the team in receiving yards with 956 on 49 receptions while also leading the team in receiving TDs with 9. Tight end Cole Kmet was a good outlet for the rookie QB, catching 56 balls for 545 yards, but with zero touchdowns.
The Bears' running game definitely complimented their passing attack and tough defense. David Montgomery rushed 239 times for 1170 yards, scoring touchdowns 9 times. Tarik Cohen pitched in before breaking his ribs in the last game of the year, gaining 168 yards on 42 carries for 5 TDs. Montgomery had 4.9 yards per carry while Cohen had 4.0 yards per carry.
Khalil Mack got to the QB 11 times on the year, even though he only played 12 games to finish, dislocating his ankle early in the year and missing an additional 4 games after injury. Akiem Hicks pitched in with 10 sacks, Julius Peppers with 9, and Eddie Goldman with 7. The lone defensive TD was a scoop 'n score from a Hicks strip stack and Mack scooping and scoring.
Roquan Smith was a beast for the Bears in the middle, tied for most combined tackles at 125. He also pitched in with 3 interceptions and a single sack.
Kyle Fuller was able to bring in 6 INTs, while Eddie Jackson got 5, and Jaylon Johnson pulled in 4 playing opposite Fuller.
Chicago's kicker got the 2nd most field goals in the league, totaling 21 on 24 attempts, brining home an 87% success rate.
The Bear's return game was held in check all year, never finding the end zone on any of their return attempts.
All in all, the Chicago Bears made the 6th seed in the playoffs and face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the wildcard round. They will need their defense to step up, while their running game must compliment Joe Montana as he limits the turnovers.
It was overall a positive year for the Bears, but they have much to improve on. How their season is ultimately defined will come down to how they perform in the playoffs. A deep run could go far for this coaching regime and team's confidence to build upon this year.
The Chicago Bears hosted the Baltimore Ravens, going into the game with a record of 9-6 and needing a victory to ensure a spot in the 2021 NFL Playoffs. The snow was coming down hard for this late December matchup.
The final game of the regular season saw rookie Joe Montana post a high accuracy, though low yardage game. The Bears' QB completed 16 out of 18 passes for an 88% completion percentage, but only got 155 yards for his efforts. His one touchdown was to WR Scotty Miller on a deep crossing route.
The Bears' running game was mostly held in check with David Montgomery going for only 39 yards on 12 attempts. Tarik Cohen broke his ribs and is out for the playoffs, but he was able to get a 33 yards on only 3 attempts and one TD.
The Bears' number one rated defense bent more than normal, allowing 173 passing yards and 140 rushing yards. Though they were able to hold the Ravens to 14 points because of two interceptions, one by Kyle Fuller on a deep ball down the right sideline and one in the endzone by Roquan Smith. Chicago's lone sack was by slot cornerback Chris Claybrooks as Raven's QB Jackson scrabbled out of pressure to his left and failed to make it back to the line of scrimmage.
Ending with a score of 14-17, the Chicago Bears' win pushes them into wildcard week of the playoffs.
The Chicago Bears visited the Green Bay Packers, both teams entering with a record of 3-4. The winner would get back to .500 and take 2nd place in the division, while the loser would drop to 3-5 and have a climb to get back into the divisional race.
The weather at Lambeau Field was pretty awful with strong winds and pouring rain. Both teams struggled to get their offense going and a defensive battle ensued.
Chicago employed a ball control offense, leading with a persistent ground game. While not all runs were big gains, the Bears stuck with David Montgomery who did have a few big gainers, brining his stat line on the day to 25 attempts for 123 yards and a touchdown.
Rookie quarterback Joe Montana was still used in a balanced attack against the Packers D, and totaled 24 attempts with 15 completions for 147 yards, and no touchdowns or interceptions. There was more than a few passes he would have liked to have back, but the rain was kind to the rookie and the Packers' defense dropped more than one sure interception.
With the ball control offense working, the defense complimented the offense perfectly, keeping Aaron Rodgers and company under 200 passing yards and allowing only one touchdown. A critical interception in the endzone was caused by safety Eddie Jackson deflecting an Aaron Rodgers pass and slot cornerback Chris Claybrooks winning the tip drill to come down with the pass.
The front four also kept constant pressure on the Packers QB, totaling 4 sacks in all, but coming close to home more than a few other times. Khalil Mack got his first two sacks on the year, previously being slowed down by a dislocated ankle that took him out for some of the early season.
Eddie Pineiro was definitely affected by the rain and wind, missing both an extra point and a his second field goal attempt.
In the end, the Chicago Bears won the game by a mere two points, ending with a score of 9-7 on the road.
After starting the season 1-4, the Bears got their third win in a row to take 2nd place in the division, bringing their record to 4-4. While half the season is over, Chicago hopes to build on this momentum going into the second half of the year, solidifying their place in the playoffs.
The Chicago Bears hosted the Minnesota Vikings after a tough three game losing streak. The Bears intended to get revenge on the Vikings who embarresed them in Minnesota two weeks prior, and revenge they had.
Joe Montana had his best game as a rookie in the NFL, throwing 20 completions out of 22 attempts for 322 yards, 2 touchdowns, and no interceptions. This was a complete 180 from his last game against the Vikings when the Bears' QB threw 5 interceptions.
The run game complimented the passing attack by keeping the offense balanced. David Montgomery ran for 125 yards on 16 attempts with 2 touchdowns while Tarik Cohen pitched in with 5 attempts for 16 yards and 1 touchdown.
Two weeks prior, the Bears' defense couldn't get home in the pass rush and had no sacks. This week with Mack returning from injury, Mack posted no sacks but the All-Pro edge rusher took the double teams while the rest of the line reached the QB for 6 sacks and a forced fumble. The pass rush also contributed to a multitude of errant throws which helped the back seven make 5 interceptions and a forced fumble of their own.
All in all, the Bears couldn't have scripted a better revenge game against their division rival.
While the Bears sit at 2-4 for the season, they still possess a 2-1 division record and hope to extend their win streak to 2 when they face off against the Los Angeles Rams next week.
The Chicago Bears entered New Orleans coming off a tough loss against the Vikings the week prior. They started the game slow on offense, but their defense was able hold the Saints to two field goals in the first half, keeping the Bears in the game.
In the final two minutes of the half, the Bears offense exploded and culminated in a touchdown pass to Allen Robinson to take the lead heading into halftime.
The Bears run game was stagnant. Unable to get much going on the ground, Chicago relied on the arm of Montana to get them through the game. While he didn't throw a pick in the first half, during a productive first drive of the second half the Bears QB threw a pick six in which the Saints followed up with a 2-point conversion, tying the game. During the next drive Montana threw a pick in the red zone, and the Saints capitalized by driving down the field and scoring on a Kamara run, to take a 21-14 lead.
The Saints held the Bears in check for the rest of the game, grabbing a third pick as Montana threw a hail mary into the end zone on the Bears final play of the game.
With the Saints holding Montgomery to 40 rushing yards on the day when he had 125 rushing the week prior, the Bears' QB Montana wasn't able to limit his mistakes in the second half, ultimately leading to the Saints win.
The Bears hope to rebound against their division opponent in week 7. If they lose again against the Vikings, the Bears will fall to 1-5 and will have a steep hill to climb to get back into the playoff race.
The Chicago Bears visited the Minnesota Vikings with high hopes to bring home a win after their bye week. These aspirations were quickly squashed.
Joe Montana kept trying to get the ball over the middle to his receivers and had some success, but Eric Kendricks showed the rookie why he is considered elite. Kendricks intercepted three balls that went his direction and forced another turnover through a forced fumble.
Montana tried to hit his slot receiver Scotty Miller on the perimeter more than once, to have Miller get hit in the hands twice, dropping both passes for interceptions. Miller only caught one other ball on the day on the goal line for -1 yards.
While Montana hadn't had a perfect game all year, this game was the young rookie's first complete implosion. The Bears' QB totaled five interceptions and two fumbles lost.
The Bears' defense was sorely outclassed on the line of scrimmage against the Vikings offensive front. With LOLB Mack still another week or two away from returning from a dislocated elbow, Chicago wasn't able to reach the QB for a sack all night. Without a pass rush, the Vikings seemed to throw at will against the Bears.
Ultimately the Bears were held to no touchdowns until the final two minutes of the game when Montana threw a beautiful deep ball over the top to WR Mooney on a deep streak route.
It wasn't enough though as the Bears lost to the Vikings 10-49, with two of the Vikings touchdowns coming from defensive touchdowns; one pick six and one fumble recovery.
The Bears won't have long to try for revenge against the Vikings. These two teams meet again in two weeks in week seven. Hopefully with Mack back on the field and with home field advantage, the Bears are able to bounce back against their division rival.
PS. This is your new Bears beat reporter for the year. Win, lose, or draw, you can expect more accounts of the Chicago Bears games throughout the 2021 season.