👋 Good morning!
Bill Parcells used to say, “You are what your record says you are.”
It doesn’t matter how the Bears have eked out their wins; what matters is that they’re 7-3 and alone atop the NFC North.
The road only gets tougher from here, but if we learned anything about the Bears on Sunday, it’s that they’ve truly figured out how to win by any means necessary.
The Cardiac Bears
Breathe. The Bears have done it again, capturing a lead in the final minute for the third time this season.
It sure wasn’t pretty, but there’s no need to apologize for winning ugly.
Game Balls: Bears coach Ben Johnson handed out game balls to kicker Cairo Santos, return specialist Devin Duvernay and CEO Kevin Warren after a thrilling 19-17 victory.
Santos was an obvious choice after nailing a game-winning 48-yard kick as time expired to put the Bears on top. But that kick was in range thanks to Duvernay’s clutch 56-yard kick return to the Vikings 40 with 41 seconds left.
Johnson also shouted out Warren, who spent 15 years as an executive with the Vikings from 2005 to 2019. Warren also turns 62 today.
Johnson on Duvernay’s return: “We absolutely needed that. … He was able to capture it on the bounce there and got us right there on the cuff of field-goal range. We were just a little bit out of it, and we were able to run just enough to feel good about our kick from there. He got one of the game balls because of that. Very well deserved.”
Johnson on Santos: “He embodies what we are as a team: very resilient.”
The Quarterback: Caleb Williams’ performance won’t get much attention in any highlight reel. He finished 16-for-32 passing for 193 yards, adding 26 yards on four rushes.
Williams pulled a rabbit out of his hat a few times more on Sunday, escaping heavy pressure, but struggled to hit receivers consistently downfield. Granted, his receivers struggled in the drops department for the second consecutive week.
Vikings DC Brian Flores blitzed Williams a whopping 66.7 percent of the quarterback’s dropbacks. He was sacked just twice — both on the same drive to open the fourth quarter.
Ben Johnson on Caleb Williams’s performance: “Hard to say. I gotta look at the tape.”
Fast Facts:
Denied: Sunday marked the first time in four tries that the Bears kept Aaron Jones out of the end zone since the running back signed with the Vikings in 2024.
Jones has scored 14 total touchdowns in 17 career games against the Bears. While with the Green Bay Packers from 2017-2023, Jones scored 11 touchdowns in 13 games against the Bears.
Improvement … sort of! Sunday’s win was the first time this season that the Bears were shut out in the first quarter. They were held scoreless in the first 12 times last season.
Take The North: With the Lions’ loss on Sunday Night Football, entering Week 12 is the latest the Bears have held sole possession of first place in the NFC North since the 2018 season.
The 2018 Bears were also 7-3 through Week 11. Oddly enough, the 2018 season was also the last time before this season that the Packers had a game end in a tie.
From Way Downtown: With his 54-yard field goal in the second quarter, Cairo Santos overtook ex-Bears kicker Robbie Gould for the most made 50-yard-plus field goals in franchise history (24).
Santos tied former Bear Kevin Butler for second place (16) in Week 3 of last season. He’s come a really long way since being called “Carlos” by ex-Bears head coach John Fox back in 2017.
Picked: Safety Kevin Byard III inched closer to the throne as the league’s active leader in interceptions with his 34th career pick in the second quarter. Vikings safety Harrison Smith, who played in his 200th regular-season game on Sunday, has 37.
Byard leads the NFL with five interceptions this season. Bears linebacker Tremaine Edmunds and cornerback Nahshon Wright are tied with Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker Devin Lloyd for second place with four apiece.
The overall sentiment in the locker room after the win was equal parts relief and acknowledgment that the Bears still need to find their killer instinct.
That’d certainly raise the expectations for the Bears down the stretch, but in the meantime, it doesn’t matter how they’re adding tallies to the win column so long as they keep doing it.
Bears 19, Vikings 17
Jazz 150, Bulls 147 – F/2OT: If you’re looking for good news out of this game, it’s that Coby White finally made his season debut after missing the first 11 games with a calf strain.
White scored 27 points in 30 minutes on 5-of-14 shooting. White also went 14-for-14 from the free-throw line. His return is a big one for the scuffling Bulls, but it wasn’t enough in double overtime.
Jazz forward and #BullsLegend Lauri Markkanen led all scorers with 47 points, sending the Bulls to their fifth straight loss.
After a 5-0 start to the season, the Bulls are 6-6 with a matchup against the 10-2 Denver Nuggets up next.
No Captain, My Captain: Blackhawks captain Nick Foligno will miss the next four weeks after exiting Saturday’s win over the Toronto Maple Leafs late in the second period.
Foligno immediately headed to the locker room after blocking a shot off his hand. In 15 games this season, Foligno has six assists and has yet to score a goal.
It’s the third-longest stretch to begin a season without a goal for Foligno, who didn’t score until his 19th game of the 2021-22 season with the Bruins, and didn’t score until his 25th game of the 2010-2011 season with the Senators.
Minnesota!
Thanks for the love, Alary’s. Heck of a showing in St. Paul.
🐻 Hoge & Jahns
9:00 on YouTube
📺 CHGO Bears
1:00 on YouTube
📺 CHGO Cubs
2:00 on YouTube
📺 CHGO White Sox
5:00 on YouTube
📺 CHGO Bears After Dark
7:00 on YouTube
📺 CHGO Bulls
Pregame at 7:30 on YouTube
🏀 Bulls at Nuggets
8:00 on CHSN
📺 CHGO Bulls
Postgame on YouTube
Something on your mind? Rate this issue and leave a comment, question or topic to discuss!
Talk to you tomorrow!
– P.N.
