I mean, wow. The Bears’ 22-16 comeback victory over the Green Bay Packers will become a core memory for viewers, a story that will be passed down from generation to generation. That’s what Bears fans are like.
There’s no way you’re reading this without watching highlights or watching Saturday’s game live, but forgive me for a quick recap. The Bears were in dire straits on Saturday, trailing by 10 points in the fourth quarter. Then they battled to tie the game, capitalizing on an onside kick with about two minutes left, throwing a touchdown pass to an undrafted free agent in the fourth quarter to tie the game, and turning the Packers over in overtime before Caleb set up DJ.
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[MORE: Inside Bears’ Caleb Williams, DJ Moore touchdown play that beat Packers]
Got it? Yes. Me neither, I’ve rewatched it a thousand times. A late night and a crazy end to the game delayed our Bears report card another day, but we haven’t forgotten it.
Let’s take a look at some gaming results, shall we? While there were plenty of highlights at the end, we won’t forget the first three and a half quarters when rating it.
Crash attack
The Bears rushed for 150 yards and averaged 5.8 yards per carry. That money includes some quarterback running backs and DJ Moore’s gadgets to add to that money. Efforts from DeAndre Swift and Kyle Monangay were still good, but the inability to sustain drives limited the overall volume of the ground game. The Bears didn’t have enough offensive opportunities overall, rushing the ball only 26 times. By their lofty standards, this was tedious preliminary work.
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grade: B-minus
passing offense
Caleb Williams and the Bears’ aerial attack were terrible for most of this game until the biggest moment. Chicago then tied the game on a recovered onside kick. Williams came to life in the biggest moments, throwing an expert pass to Jahdae Walker on fourth down to tie the game, and it was a play from Moore that you can admit you’ve seen 100 times. This is a difficult question to grade. They were terrible for a long time but eventually thrived. What is more valuable? Strong finishing ability.
grade: B+
[READ: Bears 22, Packers 16: Three observations in Chicago’s NFL Week 16 OT win]
charge defense
Grady Jarrett had seven tackles on the day, six of which resulted in a breakup. TJ Edwards had a big interception in a short yardage situation. Those moments are huge. The overall run defense isn’t very good. The Bears rushed for 192 yards on 44 carries, allowing Green Bay to dominate the game and control much of the game. But Nashon Wright forced a fumble at the Bears’ 2-yard line. It’s hard to argue with that. Again, it’s tough here, but we’ll look at the overall performance.
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grade: C-Plus
pass defense
The Bears got backup Green Bay quarterback Malik Willis to make some good plays, although he was a so-so pass rusher downfield (and that’s being merciful). He and Jordan Love have a combined passer rating of 109.4. Jordan Love was sacked by Austin Booker in the second half and suffered a concussion from a helmet-to-helmet collision. Romeo Doubs had some big plays, including a 33-yard touchdown pass. While nothing flashy, the pass defense did its job as the Packers went 0-for-5 in the red zone.
grade: C
special teams
Cairo Santos were awarded the match ball for their performance on Saturday night. This is well deserved. Despite the unpredictability of the wind, he hit three key shots — goals without which the Bears wouldn’t have won the game. He kicked a perfect onside kick which was recovered by Josh Blackwell (who also received the match ball). He opened overtime with a perfect kickoff. While Moore and Williams will be best remembered for this fight, it was Santos’ performance that will live on forever.
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grade: A+++++
[READ: How Bears tight end Colston Loveland earned Ben Johnson, Caleb Williams’ trust]
Counseling
Packers head coach Matt LaFleur seems to have found a way to get the best out of the Bears, even with a backup quarterback. We can’t ignore the poor skills on the 4th-and-1 Early on, a simple run would have been enough, but Ben Johnson provided some great play design to get the Bears back into the game and then win the game. And Dennis Allen made his defense perform well in the red zone and take the ball away. But overall, these two have built a winning culture that allows the Bears to persevere through tough times.
grade: Second
Bears Scorecard: NFL Week 16 team scores over the Packers appeared first on Marquee Sports Network – Home of the Cubs, Bears, Red Stars and Sky.