CINCINNATI (670 The Score) \u2014\u00a0What a game.<\/p>\n
The Bears earned a thrilling 47-42 win over the Bengals on Sunday at Paycor Stadium in a wild contest that had unlikely heroes, trick plays, eight lead changes and one last game-changing play. Here are the observations from Chicago’s victory in\u00a0the Queen\u00a0City.<\/p>\n
What did we just watch?
The theme of this weekly observations column is to draw specific takeaways from a game and to explore underlying\u00a0themes, but that just\u00a0wouldn\u2019t\u00a0seem right for this one.<\/p>\n
There was just so\u00a0much\u00a0in this game \u2013 89 points, 1,071 yards of offense, countless pivotal moments \u2013 that\u00a0it feels\u00a0impossible to pinpoint\u00a0anything in particular. So\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0get caught up in semantics or search for deeper meaning. This was a roller-coaster ride of a game and a memorable win for the Bears.<\/p>\n
Just enjoy it. The Bears are finding ways to win despite playing an inconsistent brand of football. Chicago is 5-3 and firmly in the\u00a0NFC playoff picture\u00a0at the midway point of the regular season.<\/p>\n
What matters the most from this victory is that the Bears have a head coach in Ben Johnson who’s reshaping their culture. The Bears punched back against the Bengals and landed the last blow on quarterback Caleb Williams’ game-winning 58-yard touchdown pass to tight end Colston Loveland with 17 seconds left. In years past, there would be no late, stunning rally for the Bears.<\/p>\n
Chicago is accustomed to heartbreaking losses and being on the wrong end of routs, so as Johnson noted, there’s no need for the Bears to apologize for this type of win.<\/p>\n
The Bears are still a\u00a0long\u00a0way from playing their best football. The Bengals amassed 495 yards of total offense, with 40-year-old quarterback Joe Flacco throwing for a career-high 470 yards. Somehow, the Bears’ special teams were significantly worse than their defense, and Chicago’s penalty issues persisted.<\/p>\n
If the Bears\u00a0want to beat good teams in the second half of the regular season and reach the playoffs, they\u00a0won\u2019t\u00a0win many games playing like they did Sunday. But this is a well-coached team that’s developing on the fly and winning games while doing so.<\/p>\n
Monangai\u00a0breaks out
Bears rookie Kyle\u00a0Monangai\u00a0isn\u2019t\u00a0the first running back\u00a0selected in the seventh round\u00a0out of Rutgers to run with anger and purpose.<\/p>\n
Three years ago, the Chiefs selected running back Isiah Pacheco from the Scarlet Knights\u2019 program and have since leaned on his relentless rushing style. With that in mind, the comparison for\u00a0Monangai\u00a0was natural.<\/p>\n
Like Pacheco,\u00a0Monangai\u00a0is\u00a0a determined\u00a0running\u00a0back who carries the football with anger.\u00a0With Bears lead running back D’Andre Swift sidelined by a groin injury Sunday, Monangai made the most of his chance in rushing 26 times for 176 yards.<\/p>\n
Monangai\u00a0averaged 6.8 yards before contact on the day \u2013 hitting the hole with purpose \u2013 and then kept driving his legs.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe work I put in, I expect the results that I get,\u201d\u00a0Monangai\u00a0said. \u201cBut that\u00a0doesn’t\u00a0mean that\u00a0I’m\u00a0satisfied or anything like that. I\u00a0got\u00a0to keep going. It’s more just letting myself know I’m on the right track, but now I\u00a0got\u00a0to keep going, put my foot on the gas and continue to keep this train going.”<\/p>\n
Swift’s health status remains unclear for the Bears’ game against the Giants next Sunday. If he’s out, the Bears can feel good about\u00a0Monangai\u00a0in their backfield. And if Swift returns, Chicago\u00a0now seems to have\u00a0a tandem in place.<\/p>\n
Monangai\u00a0might be quite a find in the last round of the NFL Draft.<\/p>\n
Hail Mary denied
In October 2024, Commanders\u00a0quarterback Jayden Daniels lined his team up against the Bears from his own 48-yard line and then delivered a game-winning 52-yard Hail Mary touchdown pass on the final play.\u00a0That\u2019s\u00a0the same spot on the field where Flacco and the Bengals were with four seconds remaining Sunday.<\/p>\n
The difference this time around was how the Bears\u00a0elected\u00a0to defend the play. Former Bears head coach Matt\u00a0Eberflus, the play-caller on defense, rushed three defenders on Daniels. That gave him the time to extend the play and get his heave into the end zone.<\/p>\n
This Bears coaching staff rushed six on Flacco, who\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0have the needed window to uncork a throw to the end zone. Bears cornerback Nahshon Wright intercepted a pass that descended just past the 20-yard line.<\/p>\n
With six rushers against six blockers, such a play has to be blocked seamlessly for the quarterback to get off\u00a0a good heave.\u00a0Bears defensive end Montez Sweat beat his man off the\u00a0edge\u00a0and\u00a0didn’t let that happen.\u00a0The rush complemented the secondary, which had five defenders tracking four receivers.<\/p>\n
Rushing three decreases the chance of getting pressure on the quarterback. It leaves eight defenders against five potential receivers \u2014 but also creates the opportunity for disaster, as the Bears discovered against the Commanders in 2024.<\/p>\n
Credit to\u00a0Johnson\u2019s staff for doing it the right way.<\/p>\n
Extra points
— A brutal day for the Bears\u2019 special teams started on the opening kickoff with poor coverage against Bengals returner Charlie Jones, who took it 98 yards the other way for a touchdown.<\/p>\n
—\u00a0Before becoming an NFL tight end, Cole Kmet was a left-hander at Notre Dame who had 66 strikeouts in 65 innings. He delivered a strike early to receiver Rome Odunze on a trick play, but Odunze dropped it.<\/p>\n
— Odunze has a bad case of the drops.\u00a0It\u2019s a problem.<\/p>\n
— New nickelback C.J. Gardner-Johnson brought juice to the defense in his first game with Chicago.<\/p>\n
— Among the aspects that were lost in the crazy game: Bears punter Tory Taylor had a 71-yard boot in the second quarter.<\/p>\n
—\u00a0The Bears\u00a0need to re-evaluate their kicker position and whether Cairo Santos should lose his job to Jake Moody, who’s on the practice squad after performing well when Santos was sidelined by injury.<\/p>\n
— Bears reserve running back Brittain Brown had never recorded a\u00a0regular-season\u00a0carry prior to Sunday. His third ever rush in the NFL went 22 yards for a touchdown. It came while\u00a0Monangai\u00a0was having his ankle taped on the sideline. Elevated from the practice\u00a0squad Saturday, Brown made the most of his\u00a0moment.<\/p>\n
—\u00a0Williams had two receptions while receiver DJ Moore had a passing and rushing touchdown on a wild day.<\/p>\n
— Johnson was in his bag of tricks all\u00a0afternoon.<\/p>\n
— The\u00a0knock on\u00a0Bears linebacker Tremaine Edmunds was once that of\u00a0a good player\u00a0who didn’t make enough great, game-changing plays. He now has four interceptions in eight games and is playing at a Pro Bowl\u00a0level.<\/p>\n
Chris Emma covers the Bears, Chicago\u2019s sports scene and more for 670TheScore.com. Follow him on Twitter\u00a0@CEmma670<\/a>.<\/p>\n