Bears studs and duds in thrilling comeback win vs. Vikings originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
They did it. They finally did it. Instead of squandering another golden opportunity to win a game, the Bears found a way to win with a thrilling two-minute comeback drive. The win gave Justin Fields a rare, clutch fourth-quarter performance. It gave Matt Eberflus his first win against an NFC North opponent. It wasn’t pretty, but it was a breakthrough after weeks and weeks of coming up short.
Here are the studs and duds from Week 12:
STUDS
Johnson is on a quest to earn All-Pro honors this year, and Monday night was a big step towards that goal. The big highlight was an athletic interception in the second quarter where Johnson fully extended to make a catch while backpedaling in zone defense. Johnson had another opportunity for an interception– and probably a touchdown too– when he perfectly undercut a pass with nothing but green grass in front of him. But he couldn’t reel in the ball to finish the play. Johnson was strong outside of his pass coverage, too. He made a couple of good open field tackles, which is a must for corners in Matt Eberflus’ offense.
With Tyrique Stevenson sidelined Smith drew the third start of his career, and he made the most of it. The big charge for Bears rookie DBs has been to limit big plays down the field, and Smith succeeded. He gave up some catches, but no explosives. More importantly, Smith did a great job of keeping receivers and ball carriers in front of him and made many open field tackles. The cornerback left the game in the fourth quarter but still ended up leading the team with eight tackles. Easy to see why the coaching staff is so high on his future.
Santos missed his first field goal attempt of the game, and for most of the night that moment felt like a harbinger of missed opportunities to come. But Santos, who has been one of the most reliable kickers in the NFL this year, shook off the rare miss and hit on his next…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/bears-studs-duds-thrilling-comeback-041146290.html
Author : NBC Sports Chicago
Publish date : 2023-11-28 04:11:46
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