The Chicago Bears’ home opener against the San Francisco 49ers was an unbelievable comeback. The first half went pretty poorly with the Bears being shut out 7-0, an offensive struggle. A few issues that were occurring last year were still present this year, one of them being the offensive line. Quarterback Justin Fields didn’t have much time to operate and the offensive consistently had poor starting field position. Running back David Montgomery was pretty inefficient too, given his volume. However, Fields used his legs for a good amount, juking out a 49ers linebacker on a highlight reel first down pickup.
The defense made some very impactful plays, with Eddie Jackson and Dominique Robinson standing out. Jaylon Johnson also made an early effort by punching out the ball out of 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel for the fumble. Robinson played a massive force, working for a solo sack and a combined sack along with Roquan Smith.
With only three completions at halftime, a turning point came in the third quarter. On a passing play with the pocket collapsing, Fields eluded two edge rushers rolling left, and hit a wide open Dante Pettis for a 51 yard touchdown. Fields spectacularly kept the play alive while Pettis kept moving to find open holes in the defense, while Equanimeous St. Brown provided a tremendous block downfield to assist. With another big stop on defense, the Bears came back with another great drive, ending with Fields hitting an open St. Brown for an 18 yard touchdown, putting them up for good. Eddie Jackson came up with a big interception in the fourth quarter, stopping the 49ers on yet another drive. Reading the play the whole time, Jackson lurked for the pick that led to a Khalil Herbert touchdown. This was the last of the 19 unanswered points by the Bears to shut the door on the 49ers.
Overall Reaction: Bears beat 49ers 19-10
The offensive line needs to improve at giving Justin Fields more time in the pocket and David Montgomery better run blocking. Fields looked pretty solid with a great second half, leading a pretty efficient offense to take the lead. He looked exceptionally well in rollouts and when he ran. As predicted earlier, backup running back Khalil Herbert had some nice plays as the change-of-pace back, including a touchdown.
As for the defense, they stepped up huge. Making big plays throughout the whole game, the Bears were able to get stops consistently. Roquan Smith and Dominique Robinson dominated up front, while Jaylon Johnson and Eddie Jackson were huge in the secondary. Although allowing the 49ers to get going early, they bottled them up after half along with shutting down their passing offense.
Last but not least, punter Trenton Gill was great today. He punted over 230 yards with a long of 58 yards. Kicker Cairo Santos missed two extra point kicks unfortunately, but it didn’t end up being a factor and it was understandable considering the wet weather conditions.
