November 9, 2021
Cairo Santos’ desperation 65 yard field goal attempt and the Bears came up short in their bid to upset the Pittsburgh Steelers. Steeler kicker Chris Boswell’s 40 yard field goal with 30 seconds left gave the Steelers a 29-27 victory. Even though the Bears outplayed the Steelers, they weren’t able to avoid their fourth consecutive defeat.
In what was one of the worst officiated games I have ever seen, the Bears ended up on the short end of the stick. They had 12 penalties for 115 yards. Most of these were how stupid can you be penalties, e.g. too many men on the field. These penalties were critical in this loss.
I am not that upset that the Bears lost. The sting was lessened by the play of rookie quarterback Justin Fields. He was terrific and it looks like the Bears have found the franchise QB they have spent years looking for. He completed 17/29 passes for 291 yards with one touchdown and one interception and ran for 45 yards. He also showed extreme composure in a hostile environment. He had his longest completion of the year, a 50 yarder to Marquise Goodwin. The only problem is, first and goal at the ten yard line usually results in a Bears field goal. They could have scored a touchdown if tight end Jimmy Graham hung onto a catchable ball in the end zone. About midway through the third quarter, Fields threw a touchdown pass to Graham that was negated by a penalty. James Daniels was flagged for an illegal block which would have been the right call if he hadn’t fallen down and couldn’t make the block. Again they settled for a field goal and trailed 14-6. The Steelers led 20-6 heading into the final quarter. Early in the fourth, Fields led the Bears on an 82 yard touchdown drive. The TD came with the Bears in Willdcat formation. David Montgomery took the snap but instead of running, pitched the ball to wide receiver Darnell Mooney who waltzed 15 yards to the end zone. This is the prettiest play of the year to date. Fields was on fire and led the Bears to a 75 yard touchdown drive, capped by a gorgeous 16 yard thread the needle touchdown pass to Mooney giving the Bears a 27-26.
Cole Kmet, who keeps getting better, had 6 catches for 87 yards. Although not up to his standards, Allen Robinson got involved with 4 catches for 68 yards, including a 34 yard completion on the final drive. Much to my chagrin, David Montgomery got the start at running back. Overall, his numbers looked good. My problem with Montgomery is he can run for a ten yard gain and then he can run three more times and not get ten yards.
It may seem that the defense played bad in surrendering 29 points. However, due to the offense not clicking and poor punt coverage, the Steelers only needed to get 54 yards and then 30 yards for two touchdowns in the first quarter. They held the Steelers to 285 yards. Special teams forced a fumble return for a touchdown. It was real nice seeing Eddie Goldman come alive. You have to believe with a week off Khalil Mack and Akiem Hicks will be healthy and the defense will get better. Now if we can only find someone to replace cornerback Kindle Vildor.
The key moment of the game came in the fourth quarter. Edge rusher Cassius March, sacked Steeler QB Ben Roethlisberger with under 4 minutes left. He was penalized for taunting. This call was very controversial and instead of punting, the Steelers got a fresh set of downs. This penalty stymied the Bears momentum. The Steelers took precious time off the clock before they were held to a field goal. Fields then drove the Bears 75 yards and the Bears were ahead 27-26. The problem is there was still 1:45 minutes left for the Steelers to get in position for the winning field goal. Their final drive was helped by three consecutive off-sides penalties. Lining up in the neutral zone multiple times is just plain stupid.
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