The Chicago Bears (2-4) have their first road win of the season as they defeated the Baltimore Ravens 27-24 in overtime. Rookie quarterback Mitchell Trubisky won his first game in the NFL in his second career start. This was the first road win for the Bears since 2015 when they defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on December 27th of that year.
The Bears had control of this game late, but some questionable coaching decisions on offense and collapse on special teams allowed the Ravens to force overtime. The big play was a Michael Campanaro 77 yard punt return for six and a two-point conversion with 1:37 left, all after the Bears failed to convert on 3rd&1 which would have ended the game.
Regardless Trubisky and running back Jordan Howard set up a game-winning field goal from Connor Barth in overtime.
Quick summary
The Bears had leads of 10-3, 17-3 and 24-13 in this game and it seemed to be in full control of Chicago before overtime. The run-heavy offense did not generate much in the first half, but a trick play that involved Tarik Cohen getting the ball and throwing a dime to Zach Miller in the endzone got the Bears their first touchdown. The second half saw Trubisky throw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Dion Sims and an Adrian Amos 90 yard pick-6 which was all the scoring for the Bears in regulation.
Both Ravens touchdowns came in the second half via a punt-return, including the Campanaro one with under two minutes to go.
The Bears defense was very good today while the special teams struggled mightily. The defense gave up a total of nine points which all were scored on Justin Tucker field goals, so the special teams gave up more than the defense. Regardless the team went to overtime and both teams possessed the ball, punting once before the Bears got the ball a second time.
The winning drive was set up by a heroic 53 yard run by Howard and a 23-yard off-balance pass from Trubisky to Kendall Wright on third down. Barth's game-winning field goal was for 40 yards as he kept it inside the right post.
Trubisky and the offense
The rookie finished his day 8-16 with 113 yards and a touchdown. The offense was still very run-heavy with most of Trubisky's passing attempts coming on third down in quick plays.
Jordan Howard rushed for 167 yards on 36 carries and Tarik Cohen rushed for 32 yards on 14 carries. Blocking from the tackles and tight ends struggled today resulting in a lot of run plays that went nowhere, fumbles and Trubisky being sacked multiple times. But the talent of the young rushing core still put up solid numbers and rushed for 10 first downs.
The receiving core did very little as Wright was targeted three times, the most of any of receiver. Tight ends Zach Miller and Dion Sims recorded both touchdown catches. Each tight end was targeted three times each only.
The defense
The reason the Bears had the lead in most of the game was the defensive play from the team. They forced three turnovers including a fumble and two interceptions off Joe Flacco.
Adrian Amos and Bryce Callahan recorded the interceptions. The player of the game deserves to go to cornerback Kyle Fuller, who covered his man all day today and did not allow Flacco to make big throws downfield while making six tackles. He even assisted in tipping the ball that was intercepted by Amos.
Amos led the way in tackles with eight along with the pick-6. Danny Trevathan returned from his suspension and made six tackles and recorded a sack. Other two sacks for the Bears defense today came from Akiem Hicks and Pernell McPhee. Overall a great performance from both the front seven and the secondary.
