By Dan Wiederer, Kevin Fishbain and Tobias Bass
It wasn’t pretty, but the Chicago Bears escaped with a 25-24 win over the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday at Allegiant Stadium, spoiling a breakout day for rookie running back Ashton Jeanty.
Chicago seized the lead late in the fourth quarter on a D’Andre Swift touchdown run, though a two-point try failed, leaving the Bears ahead by just one. With 1:34 remaining, Smith marched the Raiders into field-goal range, but Josh Blackwell blocked Daniel Carlson’s 54-yard attempt, sealing Chicago’s second straight victory.
Bears quarterback Caleb Williams showed flashes despite an uneven day, throwing for 212 yards with a touchdown and an interception. At 2-2, Williams and first-year head coach Ben Johnson now head into a bye week before visiting Washington to face the Commanders.
Jeanty, the Boise State product, entered the matchup with 144 rushing yards and one touchdown on the season, then erupted for 138 yards on 21 carries and added three total scores — two through the air — despite the loss.
Raiders quarterback Geno Smith’s up-and-down season continued; he ranks sixth in passing yards but also leads the league with seven interceptions.
The Raiders (1-3) travel next to Indianapolis to take on one of the AFC’s early surprises, the Indianapolis Colts.
No guts, no glory
It’s amazing the Bears found a way Sunday, and amazing they will march into their early bye week at 2-2 with a double dose of relief and momentum after an impressive late rally Sunday in Las Vegas. It’s an amazing gift Williams has, the ability to take game-on-the-line pressure and turn it into magic. On Sunday, it was a 69-yard touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter by Williams and the offense that provided them a 25-24 lead with 1:34 remaining. And it’s truly amazing they were in that position to pull off this victory, a win sealed when Blackwell, the special teams ace, blocked Carlson’s 54-yard field goal with 33 seconds remaining.
It’s amazing because for much of the afternoon, the offense was totally discombobulated. Dropped passes. Batted passes. Errant snaps. Trick plays that didn’t work. Another pile-up of penalties. And more squandered opportunities than one could count. Williams isn’t unlikely to repeat as NFC Offensive Player of the Week after posting a 73.3 passer rating at Allegiant Stadium. The Bears’ running game averaged a meager 2.7 yards per attempt. And now there are new questions about the offensive tackle situation after Braxton Jones was benched in Sunday’s first half, leaving the Bears with two very green tackles in Theo Benedet and Ozzy Trapilo to finish the game.
The Bears couldn’t take advantage of four defensive takeaways and twice, after Kevin Byard interceptions set them up inside the Raiders’ 25-yard line, they went backwards on scoring drives and had to settle for field goals. They also came away scoreless on a possession that started at the Raiders’ 20 when Williams was intercepted by Maxx Crosby on a pass that Crosby batted into the air.
However, the Bears have themselves a quarterback in Williams who is fearless in crunch time, who has shown time and again over his 21 NFL starts that he can be at his best when his best was needed. And that’s a feeling they will wrap their arms around going forward, even as they dive into an offensive clean-up process that is sure to be challenging and demanding. — Dan Wiederer, Bears senior writer
Jeanty’s breakout performance
The Raiders got a full glimpse of the game-changing running back Jeanty can be. Sure, it came against a below-average Bears run defense, but he had a 64-yard touchdown and finished with 139 rushing yards to go along with two receiving scores. When Las Vegas’ offense did just about anything other than hand to Jeanty, the rate of success dropped. Raheem Mostert added a 38-yard run and Smith had clutch throws in the red zone, plus a key scramble in the second quarter, but otherwise, the passing offense was a mess. Jeanty, though, can be what Crosby is to the defense, which is exactly why the Raiders drafted him. Crosby was a menace without even recording a sack. He had a pick, what seemed like 100 batted passes and three tackles for loss. He was everywhere, but the rest of the Raiders’ defense still allowed six scoring drives. Las Vegas can keep building around those two players, which is a good thing, but it’ll need more help against better opponents. — Kevin Fishbain, Bears senior writer
What the Bears need to fix defensively
The Bears’ defense didn’t have its best day, giving up 240 rushing yards to the Raiders, including a 64-yard score to Jeanty. However, it made the key plays when needed, such as picking off Smith three times and holding the Raiders to a field goal in the fourth quarter, and then a third-down stuff of Jeanty before Blackwell’s blocked field goal won it. This was an escape-from-Vegas victory for the Bears, who should be getting reinforcements back on defense after the bye with T.J. Edwards, Grady Jarrett and Kyler Gordon. There’s a lot to be sorted out on that side of the ball, especially a pass rush that had zero sacks and only one QB hit on Smith. But to enter the bye with a 2-2 record without those starters on defense, while giving up a ton on the ground and without much of a pass rush, is a major relief. The defense was opportunistic and timely, and that was the difference on Sunday. — Fishbain
(Photo: Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune / Tribune News Service via Getty Images)