The Chicago Bears traveled to Atlanta this week to take on the Falcons and imposed their will from start to finish. Here are my top three reasons Chicago won the game. Let’s get to it!
1. Competitive Fire
Call it competitive fire, juice, edge, ‘want-to,’ whatever works for you. From the opening kickoff through the closing seconds, the Chicago Bears simply wanted this game more than Atlanta. Despite what many people realize, that matters even at this level. Chicago came out to play in this one, and you could tell it meant something to them in all three phases. I’d be remiss not to mention the masses of Bears fans that traveled to Atlanta for this one too.
From the kickoff teams blowing up ball carriers, to the punt team perfectly executing some “Banana Balls” to Caleb Williams igniting the offense on the field or defense on the sidelines, these Bears were going to go down swinging. An encouraging sign after last week’s defeat at Lambeau. Zavier Scott looks like an absolute keeper on this team, and his juice on special teams stands out. Daniel Hardy had himself a game both in the third phase AND on Defense with Montez Sweat out. Noah Sewell made his presence felt as well and the contrast between what Kalif Raymond brings to what his predecessor Olamide Zacchaeus brought is night and day – and that’s only the reserve players! When you have your stars putting forth that same selfless effort to win games (spoiler alert – like the two guys listed below) then you have a fighters chance every week. And when your stars are as talented as they are in Chicago, good things can happen. REALLY good things. I might even call them super.
2. Iceman
Caleb heard all the noise, yes. But in my opinion, his biggest motivating factor is and has always been winning ball games as starting quarterback and leading his team to new heights. Well, he made quite the impression Sunday, completing over 80% of his passes with zero turnovers and 1 TD pass, in addition to a career-best mark for consecutive completions with 12 straight complete throws. And that doesn’t count the multiple throw aways he had either. Caleb was on fire. When he is healthy and playing like that, this offense will be hard to stop. Remember, Chicago didn’t even have their RB1B in Kyle Monangai this week either. I said it on Bears Over Beers last week that I hoped he learned from Case Keenum how explosive this offense can be even without him playing Superman in the pocket and not only did he allude to it leading up to this game, but it showed on the field. Chicago has playmakers at each position. All he has to do is get it to them. On Sunday, he did just that with EIGHT players securing at least 2 catches. Caleb is back, people. Cannot wait to see him at home this week against last year’s MVP runner-up and fellow 2024 rookie classman, Drake Maye. Expect fireworks.
3. Spidey
Not to be outdone by the epic return of Caleb Williams AKA Iceman, Kyler Gordon AKA “Spider Man” or “Spidey” had arguably the most impressive performance of the afternoon. Easing back into full-time action this week, Spidey played only 16 defensive snaps. In those snaps, he accumulated 4 tackles, 3 sacks, 3 tackles for a loss, 2 forced fumbles, and 2 QB hits. Spider Man is an absolute terror for opposing offenses, and we didn’t really even get to see him in coverage, where he is equally as dangerous.
After all he’s been through with the public outcry over missing so much action and reports of tension in the locker room, it was huge to see his performance this week and earn himself a game ball from Ben Johnson postgame. With the struggles this defense has had to start the season, particularly in the secondary, Gordon’s return couldn’t have come at a better time as Chicago has the Patriots, Seahawks, and Buccaneers before the Week 10 BYE – and ALL in Primetime.