Bears Rewatch Revelations: Multiple young players stand out as Chicago wills itself to victory

Rewatching a Chicago Bears game sometimes can feel like a chore, but not today.

Heck, I’d watch Sunday’s win over the 49ers a third time and I probably will. What a gutsy performance by the Bears to come away with the win.

I was up in the press box for the game, so the “rewatch” was actually my first time watching the broadcast.

Here are some observations, thoughts, and analyses that came to mind while rewatching the Bears’ victory over the San Francisco 49ers.

Offense

On the first series of the game, after Justin Fields was sacked on third down, the quarterback called over Ryan Griffin and had a discussion. Griffin chipped on Nick Bosa on the play before releasing. Whatever the conversation was, it’s nice to see Fields immediately discussing what went wrong and being the leader.
Early on in the game, the 49ers got the best of the Bears’ offensive line by running stunts. Charles Omenihu lined up between Sam Mustipher and Teven Jenkins and ended up looping all the way around to rush from the outside of Braxton Jones whose hands were already full. Omenihu was able to run right by Mustipher and Cody Whitehair to get after Fields.
Speaking of Fields, I still don’t know how he got that ball off to David Montgomery to convert the team’s first third down of the game.

Downfield blocking in the screen game was non-existent on the Bears’ third series of the game with missed blocks from Khari Blasingame and Cody Whitehair.
Khalil Hebert’s ability to maintain his forward momentum through contact is impressive.
On Herbert’s 12-yard run before halftime, it was RG Teven Jenkins with the seal block, allowing Hebert to slip right on by. Herbert was much more effective than David Montgomery on the ground, why?
On that same drive, Jenkins helped Larry Borom and gave Nick Bosa a shot that took him to the ground. He kept his head up and also went out to get a block on Arik Armstead who was chasing after Fields.
Cole Kmet missed a couple of key blocks.
Dante Pettis’ touchdown doesn’t happen without a key downfield block from Equanimeous St. Brown, an element of St. Brown’s game that has been discussed a few times at CHGO.
Khalil Herbert’s 10-yard run in the red zone during the fourth quarter came behind a strong block by Teven Jenkins to create enough room for the running back to squeeze through. Jenkins appears to have flashed way more than Lucas Patrick in their split duties. I don’t know how you can’t get excited by his performance.
Kudos to Luke Getsy, or whoever, made the decision to ride with Herbert in this key red-zone opportunity. I’m unsure if David Montgomery would’ve done the same in this one.

49ers did a good job of displacing DT Justin Jones and running in his gap early. For a 3-tech, that is not good. He’s supposed to be getting into the backfield, not pushed a few yards downfield.
Chicago generated good pressure when the Bears load up the left side of their defensive line with Al-Quadin Muhammad at DE and Trevis Gipson at DT.
Armon Watts, who Chicago recently claimed off waivers, made his impact felt with a key pressure on third down to force an errant throw.
Nicholas Morrow, who played in his first game since the 2020 season, left a few plays on the field. Time will tell if that can be cleaned up and if the linebacker can reach the ball carrier to make the tackle. But also, was it just his footing with the soggy field?
Chicago’s SAM linebacker, Matthew Adams, made the most of his opportunities. He only played 15 snaps on defense, as the Bears were mostly in sub-packages, but he was always around the ball. A very good defender against the run, which is exactly what you are looking for at the position.
Rookie Dominique Robinson made two splashes with key third-down sacks, but an underrated play was on Trey Lance’s third-down draw with 7-minutes remaining in the second quarter. He immediately recognized it, spun off the tackle and started chasing Lance down from behind. Once he got to the quarterback, he punched at the ball.

Jaquan Brisker is dangerous in the box with his closing speed. That ability to shoot the gap and close allowed him to get a key tackle for loss inside the 10-yard line. He also was flying toward Deebo Samuel on a swing pass outside, forcing him to juggle and ultimately drop it.
Dominique Robinson’s hustle was on display again, chasing down Trey Lance from behind and getting in on the tackle after chasing him completely across the field. He went from outside the left hash a few yards behind the line of scrimmage to meeting Lance six yards down the field on the opposite sideline. No loaf there.
On Eddie Jackson’s interception, everybody on defense sprinted downfield and looked for someone to block. That was reminiscent of the Lovie Smith days, and a pleasure to watch again.

Dane Cruikshank took a very good angle to take down Ray-Ray McCloud on the 49ers first punt return of the day. He broke down, had to slip behind Patrick Scales, and ended up getting right to the spot McCloud was trying to get to and immediately closed that gap.
Matthew Adams now shows up in punt coverage with a good tackle.

I hope that you enjoyed this week’s Rewatch Revelations! Who knows what may be uncovered after rewatching the next week’s game in Lambeau?