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Let’s take a look at the best plays by the Bears in their Week 15 win over the Vikings.
The Chicago Bears kept their playoff hopes alive with a 33-27 victory over the Minnesota Vikings, which featured some impressive drives by the offense and some big stands by the defense.
Let’s take a look at the best plays by the Bears in their Week 15 win over the Vikings.
Chicago Bears third-year defensive lineman Bilal Nichols was the best defender on the team in Week 15 against the Vikings.
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Chicago Bears third-year defensive lineman Bilal Nichols is enjoying a quietly productive season as a primary contributor on defense, and he enjoyed one of the best games of his young career in Sunday’s 33-27 win over the Vikings.
Nichols ended the game as the highest-graded defender on the team, per Pro Football Focus, with an 85.5. He scored a 77.6 against the run and a 76.2 for his pass rush.
Sunday’s performance was Nichols’ second-best grade from PFF this season. He registered an elite 93.4 score against the Lions in Week 13.
Nichols is enjoying the best year of his career, from an analytics standpoint, through 15 weeks. His season-grade now sits at 76.5, which tops his rookie-year mark of 75.3. Remember: Nichols has already logged 566 snaps this year. He totaled just 361 as a rookie, so his higher grade — while only 1.3 points above his 2018 mark — is much more impressive.
Second-year cornerback Duke Shelley and rookie Kindle Vildor both ranked at the bottom of Chicago’s defenders. Shelley scored a 52.2 while Vildor logged a 50.4.
In what was essentially a playoff game, the Bears fought to keep their postseason hopes alive with a 33-27 win over the Vikings.
In what was essentially a playoff game, the Chicago Bears fought to keep their postseason hopes alive with a 33-27 win over the Minnesota Vikings. It certainly felt like a playoff game, especially with the back-and-forth in the second half, Cairo Santos’ clutch field goals and a failed Vikings Hail Mary at the end of the game.
The Bears offense was once again the talk of the game, as they put up 30 points for the third straight game. It was another beautifully-called game by offensive coordinator Bill Lazor, who leaned heavily on running back David Montgomery — who had 146 yards on 32 carries — and continued to utilize quarterback Mitchell Trubisky’s strengths.
While Chicago’s defense struggled containing Vikings running back Dalvin Cook, who had his best outing against the Bears with 132 yards on 24 carries, they did come up big with the game on the line. Chicago’s defense came up with a big stop on fourth-and-1, which gave the ball back to the Bears offense and led to a field goal that put them up six. The defense also survived a late rally by the Vikings in the final minute, breaking up a Hail Mary attempt.
The Bears advance to 7-7 on the season and keep their slim playoff chances alive. After losing six straight games, Chicago has won their last two and still have something to play for in late December.
The Bears defeated the Vikings 33-27, keeping their hopes for a postseason berth alive. Here are the studs and duds from Sunday’s game.
Week 15 was a pseudo playoff game for both the Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings. With both teams coming into the week at 6-7, the loser would see their playoff chances all but evaporate going forward.
When the dust settled, the Bears emerged victorious with a 33-27 win, climbing back to .500 and keeping their hopes for a postseason berth alive. Here are the studs and duds from Sunday’s game.
Here are seven Bears players that shined in Chicago’s 36-7 victory over Houston.
The Chicago Bears finally broke their six-game losing streak, and all it took was playing their best game of the season against the Houston Texans in a 36-7 victory. The Bears improved to 6-7 on the season, keeping their slim playoff chances alive.
Here are seven players that shined in Chicago’s Week 14 win over Houston.
The Bears defense has had an impressive outing in the first half, including Khalil Mack’s sack of Deshaun Watson in the end zone.
The Chicago Bears defense is on track for quite a rebound game against the Houston Texans following back-to-back disappointing outings.
After allowing the Texans to march down the field and score a touchdown, the defense answered in impressive fashion. Outside linebacker Khalil Mack has been a force this afternoon, and he recorded his first sack since Nov. 1, which just happened to be in the end zone for a safety.
But before Mack’s heroics, it was defensive tackle Bilal Nichols that sacked Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson for a loss of 10 yards, which put Houston back on its own 9-yard line. It was Nichols’ fourth sack of the season.
Put some RESPECT on @BNichols98's name!
📺: CBS#HOUvsCHI | #DaBears
📺 pic.twitter.com/IF9NKWes9M— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) December 13, 2020
Then it was Mack coming up big with a sack of his own on Watson, which came in the end zone for a safety that put the Bears up 16-7 in the second quarter.
.@FiftyDeuce out here on neighborhood watch! SAFETY!
📺: CBS#HOUvsCHI | #DaBears pic.twitter.com/mBRgDuwmxH
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) December 13, 2020
In the first half, Mack has recorded a sack, a safety, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and a pass deflection.
The Bears lead the Texans 23-7 in the second quarter.
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Here’s a look at how the stock is trending for some Bears players and staff after Week 13.
The Chicago Bears lost their sixth straight game — an embarrassing 34-30 loss to the Detroit Lions, where Chicago blew a 10-point fourth-quarter lead and fell to 5-7 on the season after a 5-1 start.
There was plenty of good and bad — mostly bad — for the Bears against the Lions. Here’s a look at how the stock is trending for some Bears players after Week 13.
Anthony ‘Spice’ Adams preached simplicity when it came to solving the Bears’ problems on offense.
You can pick out pretty much any negative adjective or term to describe the 2020 Chicago Bears offense and any one of them would be valid. The unit ranks in the bottom of the league in nearly every statistical category. Now that they’re out of their bye week with six games to go, can they turn things around to go on a late-season run? One former Bear lays out the recipe on how to do just that and more.
Former Bears defensive tackle and social media star Anthony “Spice” Adams gave his advice and thoughts to Bears Wire on how Chicago can remedy their offensive woes. Adams also shared as his thoughts on the running game, who on the Bears reminds him of a younger Spice and even grilling tips for the Thanksgiving holiday.
Adams, who played defensive tackle for the Bears from 2007-11, preached simplicity when it came to solving the Bears’ problems on offense.
“Just throw away half of the playbook,” Adams said, literally. “You look at an offensive players playbook, and that thing weighs 50 pounds. Get it down to 25 pounds. Get it to something where, the offensive line, they love mauling people. Give them an offense where they can maul somebody, where they can double team the nose, double team the three technique, on up to the linebacker. Run some powers, get back to the nitty gritty, put a fullback in there and go ‘I’ formation. Go goal line on the 20 yard line and make sure we are going to run the ball. We’re going to run power, we’re going to run trap, counter.
“All the bread and butter. Get back to the smash mouth, snot in your nose football. Get back to the basics. Then, everything else will open up. Once you establish that run game, teams got to respect it. They have to. Then that’s going to open up the play action.”
The running game is an area that has plagued coach Nagy over the course of his tenure with the Bears, who has lost the luster from his shine recently. Adams believes the offense has become too predictable over the last few weeks.
“The offense is sputtering,” he said. “Sometimes we move the ball well when we absolutely need to, but sometimes we go three and out. We haven’t been able to run the ball as effectively as we normally would, which kind of allows teams to peel their ears back and just go ‘I know the Bears aren’t going to run on me and if they do run, they’re going to try and run with Cordarrelle Patterson and it’s not going to work. We’ve seen that a billion times. Teams are making us one dimensional. The fact that we’re not going down the field with that, because we can’t, we’re not getting the protection that we need to. A lot of teams are peeling their ears back and trying to rush the passer to get to our quarterback.”
The Bears certainly have become one dimensional, as they rank third in the NFL in pass attempts per game. Fortunately, fans won’t have to carve time out of their Thanksgiving holiday this year to watch the offense underperform and can instead focus on the cooking, or grilling in Spice’s case.
“I’ve partnered with Kingsford and they’ve been sending me these pellets and I’ve been using a smoker tube and I put the pellets in there,” Adams said. “I let the smoke do the cooking of the turkey, the chicken, or the ham. There’s nothing like that bold, smoky flavor, especially from Kingsford pellets because they’re 100% hardwood. There’s nothing like the smoke of a hickory, or a mesquite.”
Adams offered up a quick and easy meal to prepare on the grill as well; A whole chicken.
“Just get like a smaller version, something you can put a little TLC in and you can start in the morning and cook as long as you want,” he said. “Just let the smoke do the work, get some Kingsford pellets in that thing and woo!”
Spice was fired up about his grilling opportunities this Thanksgiving and had lots of praise for Kingsford, but also had that same enthusiasm for a current Bears player on the defensive line. When asked which player reminded him of himself during his playing days, Adams didn’t hesitate.
“I like Bilal (Nichols),” he said of the third-year pro. “I think Bilal is one of those hard-working guys who has a chip on his shoulder, has something that he has to prove. He’s been getting better every year. He can play multiple positions because he’s so athletic. He can play end, he can play on the inside. With Eddie Goldman opting out of the season, it was a chance for him to get in the middle and show what he can do there and he’s been flourishing there. I like his motor, I like his attitude. I think he’s a good, young player that’s going to last a long time in this league.”
Nichols and the defense have continued to be one of the top units in the NFL, while the offense maintains its status as one of the worst. Will Nagy and the coaching staff take Adams’ advice this Sunday evening and commit to the running game like they did in September? Should the Bears want to make a run at the postseason, they’ll first have to run the ball to get their offense in gear and take pressure off the quarterback. Better start ripping those pages, Nagy.
If the Bears continue to keep Vikings RB Dalvin Cook in check, there’s a good chance Chicago wins on Monday night.
The Chicago Bears defense has faced two of the game’s best running backs over the last two weeks in Tennessee’s Derrick Henry and New Orleans’ Alvin Kamara. And they’re going to face arguably the best running back in the NFL right now in Minnesota’s Dalvin Cook when the Bears host the Vikings on Monday Night Football.
While facing Cook remains a tall task for this Bears defense, they’re going to take the same approach they’ve used against the likes of Henry and Kamara. And, hopefully, the product will be similar.
“The past two backs we’ve played are unbelievable backs, superstars, and this guy’s no different,” inside linebackers coach Mark DeLeone said Monday. “He’s a special player. I’ve been watching him all morning. So it’s going to take everything we’ve got. But I know one thing, I know about our defense, he’s going to get everything we’ve got.”
Just last week, the Bears defense held Henry to his second-lowest rushing total this season with 68 rushing yards. But Cook presents a different challenge for this Bears defense, which puts the pressure on them to contain him on Monday night.
“Derrick is downhill,” said defensive tackle Bilal Nichols. “Once he gets to top speed, he’s hard to stop. Dalvin is more change of direction. Once he plants that foot, his ability to cut back and just get vertical is tremendous. And that’s what makes him such a great player. And his ability to also be able to break tackles and put pressure on guys in open space.”
When comparing running backs, it’s important to note the difference between Henry and Cook — which is their involvement in the passing game. Henry wasn’t present in the passing game last week while Cook has been a dual threat player on offense that makes him dangerous.
“[Cook] has game-breaking speed,” DeLeone said. “It’s going to take a swarm. It’s going to take our whole defense every single play to get him down. And he can do it in the run and the pass game.”
But just like with Henry and Kamara, expect Cook to have a few plays where he does break free for a big gain. You can’t stop a guy like Cook, you can only hope to contain him.
“He’s going to make plays, guys,” said DeLeone. “Just like Kamara had a play, just like Derrick Henry. They’re special players, and they’re going to make plays. You just can’t let one play affect the next play. You’ve got 11 guys when the ball is snapped, 11 guys playing like a bunch of crazed dogs and [playing] with their hair on fire.”
The Bears have stopped Cook in the past. Back in 2018 — on that eventful Sunday Night Football game — Chicago’s defense stifled Cook, holding him to just 12 yards on nine carries and three receptions for -2 yards. Later that season, the Bears held Cook to 11 rushes for 39 yards and four receptions for 21 yards. While 2019 was better for Cook, it wasn’t by much. Cook gained 35 yards on 14 carries and hauled in six catches for 35 yards.
Can the Bears continue to keep Cook in check? If the answer is yes, there’s a good chance Chicago wins on Monday night.
The Bears released their Friday injury report, and there are certainly some concerns on the defensive side of the ball heading into Week 7.
The Chicago Bears released their injury report for Friday ahead of Monday night’s game against the Los Angeles Rams, and there are certainly some concerns on the defensive side of the ball heading into Week 7.
Outside linebacker Khalil Mack did not practice on Friday with a back injury, while defensive tackle Akiem Hicks was sidelined for the second straight practice with an illness.
Bears coach Matt Nagy told reporters that Mack’s injury was nothing major, just soreness, and he’s being precautionary more than anything. As for Hicks, Nagy said he’s sick and wasn’t able to practice, although it has nothing to do with COVID-19.
#Bears Friday Injury Report pic.twitter.com/vCvLPVYBEX
— Chicago Bears (@BearsPR) October 23, 2020
Cornerback Buster Skrine also did not practice for the second straight day with an ankle injury, and his status for Monday night is likely up in the air. Safety and special teams ace Sherrick McManis also missed his second straight practice with a hamstring injury.
Defensive tackle Bilal Nichols was limited with a sore knee and Safety Deon Bush was also limited for the second straight as he recovers from a hamstring injury.
Offensive lineman Rashaad Coward, defensive end Brent Urban, receiver Javon Wims, offensive lineman Jason Spriggs, safety Eddie Jackson and offensive lineman Alex Bars were all full participants on Friday.
