Bears-Raiders Week 4 Recap
The Bears pulled out a nail-biting 25-24 win against the Raiders on Sunday. As a Bears fan, i’m thrilled that they are 2-2 going into their bye week.
Regardless if you’re a fan of either team, this was one of the best finishes of this years NFL season. The Chicago Bears pulled off a 25–24 road victory over the Las Vegas Raiders and it came down to the wire. A blocked field goal by Josh Blackwell, who preserved the Bears’ one-point victory.
Game Summary
This was a back and forth game the entire 60 minutes as the lead changed hands multiple times in the second half, and nothing was settled until the final seconds of the game.
With 1:34 remaining in the game, D’Andre Swift punched in a 2-yard touchdown to give the Bears the lead. As a Bears fan, I’ve seen this situation too many times where they would grab the lead with minimal time left in the game and the opposing team would march down the field, score, and win the game. So, when I saw 1:34 left on the clock, I didn’t get overly excited.
Now with the ball, the Raiders had a chance to win as they did move the ball into field goal range. From where the Raiders had the ball, it would be 54-yard field goal to take the lead (and most likely win the game), but Blackwell got a hand on the ball with 33 seconds left.
The Bears’ defense forced four turnovers this game, a forced fumble and three interceptions, two by Kevin Byard.
The Raiders’ Maxx Crosby was a problem for the Bears the entire game. He put constant pressure on the Bears’ offense, notching tackles for losses, and even grabbing an interception by swatting one of Caleb’s passes at the line of scrimmage. It looked like Crosby was playing 1 on 11 ball!
Key Stats
Bears Offense
Caleb Williams ended up throwing for 212 yards and 1 touchdown. He had a 59.5% completion percentage. Not a great game for Caleb, but stepped up when it mattered.
Rome Odunze had 4 catches for 69 yards and a touchdown. He is having an outstanding, breakout season in year 2. With another TD reception Sunday against Las Vegas, it made him the league’s only receiver to score in each of the first four games.
D’Andre Swift struggled once again as he had 14 carries with only 38 rushing yards. With that being said, he did step up at the end of the game and scored the go-ahead (Game winning) touchdown late in the game.
The Bears’ rushing attack was largely contained as the Raiders held them to 69 yards on 26 carries (2.7 yards per carry), including eight tackles for loss.
2nd round pick Ozzy Trapillo came in to take over at Right Tackle. This was his first career game and was thrown to the wolves right away having to face Maxx Crosby, who is an elite pass rusher. Ozzy played 40 snaps, didn’t allow a sack, didn’t allow a QB hit, no penalties, and only allowed 2 hurries. Excellent debut! I’m assuming he’ll be at right tackle from now on and Darnell Wright will move to left tackle, as Braxton Jones was benched.
Raiders Offense & Standouts
Rookie Running Back Ashton Jeanty had a monster performance! He had 155 scrimmage yards and three total touchdowns (rushing and receiving). Fans were already labeling him as a bust after not doing too much, stats-wise, his first three games, he really had a nice breakout performance against the Bears defense.
Despite the efforts from Crosby and Jeanty, the Raiders couldn’t overcome the four turnovers and penalties cost them through the entire game.
The Raiders’ ground game was strong overall as they racked up 240 rushing yards at an average of 7.7 yards per carry and allowed no sacks. If they limited the turnovers and penalties, they could have secured a victory here against the Bears.
Defense & Special Teams
Kevin Byard had a big game on defense as he recorded two interceptions.
Tyrique Stevenson added another interception. He has had an excellent two weeks in a row in the secondary.
The Bears forced a total of 4 turnovers.
On special teams, Josh Blackwell’s blocked field goal made the difference to win the game for the Bears.
Chicago kicker Cairo Santos converted four field goals (from 46, 43, 52, and 51 yards).
Key Takeaways
Character Win
Under new coach Ben Johnson, this game showcased the Bears’ resilience. As I alluded to earlier, this is a game the Bears lose the past few years. This was an ugly win for them, but in the past they wouldn’t have ugly wins, but ugly losses.
2. Many mistakes for Vegas
Despite having a breakout running game and flashes of brilliance on both offense and defense, all the turnovers and penalties really derailed the Raiders’ push to beat the Bears. In a one-point game, those errors proved costly.
3. Roster Strengths & Concerns
The Bears still need more consistency in their run game and need to make a dent with more explosive plays.
The Raiders need to tighten up the turnover margin and protect the football in close games. The Raiders are tied in 1st with the most turnovers in the NFL with 8 total turnovers in four games.
Jeanty’s emergence is a bright spot for Las Vegas, but it needs to be consistent. He had 138 rushing yards on 21 carries against the Bears. In his first 3 games of the season he had 144 yards on 47 carries.
4. Momentum Heading into the Bye Week
With this win, Chicago improves to 2–2 and have won two games in a row after two bad losses. They carry a lot of momentum going into their bye week. They will be fresh and healthy coming off the bye to take on Washington
-Chris