Bears’ preparation uncovered a key weakness that enabled the special teams to call game on the final blocked field goal vs. the Raiders
Came through in a big moment.
Week 4 was a defining win for the Chicago Bears to prove this team is capable of winning gritty games that need to be grinded down to the end.
Speaking of the end, the Bears came out of Week 4 with a victory thanks to a blocked field goal by backup cornerback and core special teamer Josh Blackwell on basically the final play of the game to seal a 25-24 win over the Las Vegas Raiders. And it turns out the Bears discovered a little wrinkle that made that play possible.
“Throughout the week, (long snapper) Scott Daly gave us a little tip with how the snapper moved the ball a little bit before he snapped it,” Blackwell explained. “The first two (field goals) we got really good jumps and I’m like ‘I’m close’ like imma get one. (Special teams coordinator Richard Hightower) said we gotta get this kick blocked and I got a good jump.”
Turns out, Hightower even knew Blackwell was going to come through on that final play for Chicago.
Bears knew the game-winning play was going to happen
“(Blackwell) came through for us right when we needed it,” Johnson told reporters. “I’m listening on the headset and Coach Hightower, who just does such an incredible job with our special teams unit, he’s kinda narrating it in real time. He’s like ‘yeah, Blackwell’s going to get this one for us, he’s going to come through’ and sure enough, he came to light just like he thought.”
Those little nuggets in the preparation always have the chance to turn into big moments come game time and that hint from Daly allowed the Bears to exploit the Raiders’ weakness and create a game-winning play.
It reminds me of what happened to the Bears last season when the Green Bay Packers realized Bears’ kicker Cairo Santos had a low kick trajectory on long attempts and a strong interior push could lead to a tipped kick. And sure enough, the Packers won because of that.
Preparation goes a long way and that’s why Johnson called the team out for needing to practice at a championship caliber level every single day because you never know what each game will come down to or what will be needed to win a game. On Sunday, it came down to Blackwell making a big play.
“I was so proud of him,” Johnson added. “He’s a guy that is not only a key cog to what we’re doing on special teams but a key contributor there as a backup in our DB room. That was huge for him.”
That play slammed the door closed on the Week 4 win for the Bears and proved it sometimes takes all three phases to play for all 60 minutes to come out on top. A much needed team win to really bring this entire locker room closer together and prove the hard work pays off.
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