Five Bears whose stock went up or down in NFL Week 9 win vs Bengals
Two days removed from Halloween, Ben Johnson went into his bag of tricks to exploit a Cincinnati Bengals defense that has struggled this season.
With the help of their head coach’s creative play calls, a physical running game and Colston Loveland‘s fourth-quarter heroics, the Chicago Bears defeated the Bengals 47-42 in a wild game Sunday at Paycor Stadium.
Three Bears players — Caleb Williams, Cole Kmet and DJ Moore — threw a pass on the first offensive drive. In the fourth quarter, backup quarterback Tyson Bagent completed a 20-yard pass to Williams.
Johnson’s creativity showed up throughout his team’s fifth win of the season, but the defense and special teams were exposed.
Here are the five Bears players who raised or lowered their stock in the NFL Week 9 game.
Stock up: DJ Moore
The Bears wide receiver started the game with two receptions on the opening drive. He picked up 16 yards after the Bengals committed an illegal-contact penalty on third-and-10. Two plays later, Williams found Moore for a 19-yard gain on second down.
With the Bears’ offense facing fourth-and-goal from the Bengals’ 2, Johnson called his own version of The Philly Special. After a shotgun snap to Williams, the Bears QB handed the ball to wide receiver Rome Odunze on an end-around, and he then tossed the ball to Moore. Williams leaked into the end zone, and Moore completed his first career pass to his QB for a touchdown.
Moore scored on a 17-yard run after the Bengals claimed Moore fumbled at the goal line. The play was reversed on review, though, and Moore, who had four receptions for 72 yards, was given a TD.
Stock up: Kyle Monangai
With starter D’Andre Swift sidelined by injury, Monangai took over as the Bears’ lead back. The rookie took full advantage of his opportunity, running for 176 yards on 26 carries.
The Bengals’ defense had allowed the most rushing yards in the NFL entering Sunday. Monangai, a seventh-round pick in this year’s draft, ran with physicality between the tackles and used his speed on the edge to take advantage of open lanes that the Bears’ offensive line created.
Although it’s a one-game sample size against a bad run defense, Monangai proved he can take on the workload required for a No. 1 running back. His performance should earn him more handoffs this season.
Stock up: Colston Loveland
The Bears’ top-10 pick had his breakout game.
Loveland completed the Bears’ comeback win with a 58-yard catch-and-run touchdown with 17 seconds left in the game. The rookie tight end bounced off a tackle after making a catch in the middle of the field, then outran Bengals defenders to paydirt.
Johnson told reporters after the game that Loveland was Williams’ primary read on the play. Williams gave Loveland an opportunity in a big spot, and the rookie capitalized.
Loveland also scored on the Bears’ opening drive of the second half. The Bears had a mismatch with Loveland (6-foot-6, 241 pounds) against Bengals cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt (5-foot-11, 200 pounds), and used it to their advantage on third-and-goal from the 4.
Loveland ran a slant route and outmuscled Taylor-Britt to create separation. Williams fired a pass in the middle of the end zone to Loveland for the score.
Loveland finished with a career-high six receptions for 118 yards and the two TDs.
Stock up: Austin Booker
After the Bears’ Week 8 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, the defense suffered a significant loss with Shemar Turner’s season-ending ACL injury and Dominique Robinson’s ankle injury, which will keep him out for a few weeks.
So, to help their pass rush, the Bears activated Austin Booker from injured reserve. The second-year pro from Kansas played just 37 total defensive snaps Sunday, but he made one of the biggest plays of the game.
The Bengals started the fourth quarter with a second-and-6 from their 48, where Booker won his one-on-one matchup against left tackle Orlando Brown Jr., then strip-sacked QB Joe Flacco.
The Bears capitalized on the takeaway with a Cairo Santos 36-yard field goal for a 34-27 lead.
Stock down: Bears special teams
Special teams coordinator Richard Hightower will have a rough time reviewing the film after his unit’s performance.
It started on the opening kickoff, with Charlie Jones’ 98-yard return for a Bengals touchdown — foreshadowing what would transpire for the Bears’ third phase.
On the Bears’ final possession before halftime, Devin Duvernay returned the kickoff 52 yards, but it was called back because of Jahdae Walker‘s holding penalty. So, instead of starting on Cincinnati’s 38-yard line, Chicago took over on its own 20.
The offense still managed to drive down the field to attempt a field goal. But Cairo Santos‘ 47-yard try was blocked by Joseph Ossai, and the Bengals went into halftime with a 20-17 lead.
The Bears’ special-teams penalties continued as they entered the third quarter, when Durham Smythe was called for an illegal-formation infraction on Chicago’s kick return.
After the Bengals scored a touchdown to cut the Bears’ lead to 41-35 with 1:43 left, Cincinnati kicker Even McPherson delivered an onside kick. Bears defensive end Daniel Hardy went to block the front line, but his foot touched the ball, and the Bengals recovered it.
Flacco drove Cincinnati down the field, and his 9-yard TD pass to Andrei Iosivas gave his team a 42-41 lead with 54 seconds left.
Hightower will have plenty to clean up on special teams before the Week 10 home game against the New York Giants.
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