Bears Win 25-24 Which is... Fine

The Bears win against the Raiders has me conflicted.  On one hand this is the NFL and a win is a win.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with adding a digit to first number in your season record and there is something to be said about winning games in an ugly way.  I’m also a little baffled with some of the play calling from Ben Johnson and I’m not very impressed with Caleb on an otherwise impressive team.

                Kevin Byard is absolutely the MVP of this game.  I doubt this is a controversial take and I think anyone who watched this game would agree, but I would be remised if I did not shout out his fantastic athleticism.  His two interceptions were exactly what should have happened while playing opposite Geno Smith.  Tyrique Stevenson has also been starting to make up for his bad start to the season with a third grab of a Geno Smith football.  Perhaps this is a symptom of being a bigger fan of watching football offense, and I am more than willing to admit that – but all of this defensive prowess was lost on what I thought was a very sloppy offense.

                Last week I lauded Ben Johnson’s play calling.  I thought he really stepped into his own and was calling a game so different than what I had seen before in a Chicago Bears offense.  While I appreciate coach Johnson’s attitude and culture building, I don’t fully understand what he was doing with all of the shotgun play calls that left Caleb Williams exposed and frantic, leading to multiple overthrows that felt reminiscent of a Matt Eberflus game.  Maybe Ben was trying to give Caleb Williams a couple “gimmies” of what maybe Caleb thinks he’s more comfortable with.  I think that Caleb Williams gets in his own head when he has a bad drive and it is difficult for him to come out of that slump.  Coming from one glass case of emotion to another – I am confident in this take.  What I liked about last week was Ben Johnson somehow pulled Caleb out of this slump and I think a lot of that was pushing him with a faster paced under center offense.

                It’s funny, I can almost relate to Packers fans this week.  They tied the Cowboys which – sure, you can’t be upset about a loss but you’re not happy they won.  That sentiment is a lot closer to how I feel coming out of this Raiders game.  I wasn’t sold that the offense was building on the game against the Cowboys.  Also we let Maxx Crosby dismantle us piece by piece the entire game.  I do not understand how you miss adjustments on this.

                Could have been better, could have been worse.  Bears win on a blocked field goal, THANK YOU Joshua Blackwell.  Bear Down I guess.