👋 Good morning!
Some might say that was the perfect Sunday.
It was the type of day that gives you some pep in your step to start the week.
Bears unbelievable last-minute miraculous win? Check.
Packers and Lions both lose at home? Double check.
Good, Better, Cardiac Arrest
With 2:29 left in the fourth quarter, the scoreboard inside Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati read: “Bears 47, Bengals 27.”
The 20-point lead was short-lived, as Tremaine Edmunds’ 96-yard interception return for a touchdown was called back due to Edmunds being ruled down by contact at the Bears’ 4. The clock was reset to 2:42 and the Bears’ lead was back to 41-27.
One minute and 52 seconds of game time and 14 plays later, the scoreboard read: “Bengals 42, Bears 41.”
But what nearly became the Bears’ latest heartbreaking loss in a devastatingly long list of past brutal defeats instead became another sign of a changed culture.
The Catch: The hope was for Colston Loveland to make the catch and get down to give the Bears’ offense enough time to clock it without any timeouts to give Cairo Santos a shot at a game-winning kick.
Instead, Loveland, who set career highs in receptions (6) and yards (118) on Sunday, bounced off two defenders and housed it for a 58-yard touchdown to put the Bears back on top with 17 seconds left.
Loveland said after the game: “Caleb (Williams) delivered (the ball) right on the money, right in my chest. I happened to kind of spin around and was like, ‘Man, I’m still up, might as well go try to score this thing.’ But it’s tough. If I get tackled, we might not have had enough time to clock it. So it was just kind of an ‘in the moment’ thing.”
The Quarterback: Caleb Williams was far from perfect. But his best throw came with the game on the line. And when it results in a win, that’s all that matters.
Williams finished 20-for-34 passing for 280 yards and rushed for an additional 53 yards. He also picked up his first two career receptions, with the first going for six on a trick reverse called “Hot Potato.”
On the play, Williams took the snap in an empty backfield, ran right and pitched to Rome Odunze, who reversed left and gave the ball to DJ Moore, who found Williams alone in the front right corner of the end zone.
Williams on his TD catch: “It was something we’ve been practicing for the last two weeks, and it finally showed up on game day. … ‘Hot Potato’ ended up looking really good this week. I felt really confident, and I know coach did too, about calling it.”
Williams became the first traditional quarterback with multiple catches in a game since Dallas Texans QB Bob Celeri caught a pair of passes back on October 26, 1952.
Thanks to his own receptions, Williams’ 114.8 passer rating actually ranked third for the Bears on Sunday behind Moore (118.8) and Tyson Bagent (118.8).
There’s plenty to clean up after a game like that. There’s no reason things should’ve gotten that tight in the end.
And the Bears’ special teams unit had an incredibly rough day.
Cairo Santos missed a kick that was negated by a defensive offsides. The Bengals returned the opening kickoff for a 98-yard touchdown — just the second kickoff returned for a score in the NFL this season. And of course, the onside kick.
Defensively, despite forcing three turnovers, 40-year-old Joe Flacco still threw for 470 yards and four touchdowns against Dennis Allen’s squad.
But when the Bears needed an offense-driven victory, they delivered.
Rookie Kyle Monangai’s 178 rushing yards was the 18th-best single-game performance in Bears history. Brittain Brown scored his first regular-season touchdown since November 13, 2021…when he was a senior at UCLA!
Sure, the Bengals’ defense is downright awful. But in need of a “get-right” game, and with the defensive and special teams units struggling mightily all day, Ben Johnson’s offense got it done. Finally.
Bears 47, Bengals 42
Knicks 128, Bulls 116: All good things must come to an end, right? The Bulls’ undefeated streak to begin the season was fun while it lasted. But Josh Giddey’s triple-double was enough to keep the Knicks’ insanely hot shooting from three (20-42) at bay.
Giddey scored 23 points and added 12 rebounds and 12 assists. Knicks guard Jalen Brunson led all scorers with 31 points.
Ayo Dosunmu, who had nine assists in the Bulls’ win over the Knicks on Friday night, missed the game with a quadriceps injury.
Before the game, the Bulls also officially assigned first-round pick Noa Essengue to the G-League’s Windy City Bulls.
Golden: Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner, left fielder Ian Happ and center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong added some hardware to their collections on Sunday night, each winning a Rawlings Gold Glove Award.
The win was Hoerner’s second career Gold Glove, having first won the award back in 2023. Happ has won the award four consecutive seasons.
Oh…Hello.
🐻 Hoge & Jahns
9:00 on YouTube
📺 CHGO Bears
1:00 on YouTube
📺 CHGO Cubs
2:00 on YouTube
📺 CHGO Fire
4:00 on YouTube
📺 CHGO Bulls
4:30 on YouTube
📺 CHGO White Sox
5:30 on YouTube
🏒 Blackhawks at Kraken
9:00 on CHSN
📺 CHGO Blackhawks
Postgame on YouTube
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