The Chicago Bears hosted the defending AFC Champion New England Patriots on Thursday Night Football this past week. Here are my top three reasons Chicago won the game. Let’s get to it!
It’s hard to summarize what we all witnessed Thursday night. Not only did Chicago host one of the best teams in the league, but they also didn’t play their best ball in the process – which usually equates to a loss for The Beloved. But not these Bears. Not only do they believe they can beat anyone, they believe in each other. Whether it is Caleb Williams believing in Rome Odunze and Colston Loveland after they drop an easy pass early in the game, only to come up clutch when it matters most. Or the Head Coach believing in his kicker to nail a career-long kick despite already missing a shorter kick earlier in the game.
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We also saw the belief of the coaching staff (and GM Ryan Poles) in the players who have been brought along over the course of time to play a prominent role in the victory. Guys like D’Marco Jackson, who had never started a game before becoming a Bear, or Daniel Hardy, who had been sequestered to special teams before being called upon to play more on defense than he ever has as a Bear, only to show some serious juice off the edge rushing the passer and an ability to disrupt the passing game. We could also talk about various rookies stepping into large roles or the return of Kyler Gordon – a player many openly wondered if he had played his last snap in Chicago – but the theme is hard to miss.
There is a palpable level of belief with this team. So much so that I am skeptical that the Bears win that game without it.
Everyone has been talking about Caleb Williams since the game ended on Thursday, and rightfully so. The Iceman was once again played like a top QB in the league and was pivotal in the win. What I don’t hear, however, is how integral D’Andre Swift was against New England. Though the stat line was nothing noteworthy to look at – 22 carries for 78 yards with a TD and a long rush of 10 yards – Swift was consistent throughout. If you have known me for a while, you have long known I have been a believer in Swift’s game, before, during, and after his first season in Chicago, when he posted some career lows across the board as a rusher. But the way his game has evolved the more time he has spent in this offense has been so fun to watch.
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Rightfully known as a big-play-back, it was the methodical 2-4 yard runs that wore down the Patriots’ defenders all night, where he continually ran with aggression and forward lean. Of course, you also saw a few explosive runs where he made the first guy miss in the hole and maneuvered his way through multiple other defenders when there appeared to be nowhere to run – but Swift was huge against New England, and his 26 total touches were a season high for the former Georgia Bulldog. And he said it best when he pointed out how much he needed this “mini-bye” that comes with playing on Thursday one week and Monday night the following. When he returns to action, I am sure nobody will appreciate Kyle Monangai’s return more than he will.
Tied with the aforementioned running back for third on the team in catches (4) and targets (4) against the Patriots, Luther Burden III, AKA “The Problem Child” (courtesy of Caleb Williams), made the most of each one – leading both teams in yards from scrimmage with 130 and added a single rush for 7 yards to boot. Burden was a beast on Thursday, consistently getting open for Caleb Williams and making defenders miss after the catch for extra yards.
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Like Swift, Burden is a big play waiting to happen each time he touches the ball, and it seems past due for him to be leading the team in targets moving forward instead of being third, which he has been in three of the last four contests. Unlike Swift, Burden picked up chunk gain after chunk gain Thursday night, where he averaged more than 30 yards per catch (!), and unlike Rome Odunze and Colston Loveland (or even Kalif Raymond), Burden caught everything thrown his way. If LB3 can continue to play the way he has and provide that spark to this offense, Chicago will be hard to stop.
