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In a season filled with fourth-quarter comebacks and jaw-dropping throws from Caleb Williams, the “Cardiac” Bears earned their first playoff win since 2010 in on-brand, dramatic fashion. After rallying from a 21-3 deficit, the Bears rallied to defeat the Packers 31-27, pulling off the largest playoff comeback in franchise history. Ben Johnson and Caleb have transformed the Bears’ culture in just a season, making the past decade’s quarterback and coaching blunders seem like a distant memory.
With the “never quit” attitude that Ben Johnson has instilled in the players’ heads, the Bears fight throughout the whole game to win and are a dangerous threat to come out of the NFC. However, the Bears have several areas that must improve before they play the Rams on Sunday. While their seventh total 4th-quarter comeback was nothing short of spectacular, the defense, playcalling, and decision-making from Caleb early on are going to need to vastly improve if the Bears want to continue their playoff run.
Keys to a Chicago Bears’ Playoff Victory Over the Rams
Defense
The biggest and most obvious key to defeating the Rams is strong defense. Defensive woes have been a consistent area of concern for the Bears all year, as the unit ranks 23rd in points per game allowed with 24.6 and 29th in yards per game allowed with a whopping average of 365.1 yards. Last weekend’s game was no different, especially in the first half. The Bears allowed the Packers to gain 231 total yards in the first half, which put them at their 21-3 deficit. Nick McCloud and Jaylon Johnson notably stood out with poor coverage in the secondary.
Whatever speech that Dennis Allen gave the unit at half turned the fortunes around significantly, as the defense held the Packers’ offense to 150 yards and just 7 points after halftime. Montez Sweat and Austin Booker found ways to get to Jordan Love consistently and combined for nine tackles and five QB hits. A more consistent performance from Sweat and a commitment to running blitz attacks will be crucial when facing the Rams’ high volume passing offense. Sweat and Booker’s second half pressures on Love made all the difference in the improved pass rush and overall defensive effort and will be essential to carry over versus the Rams.
Giving Kyler Gordon a full snap count will also make a huge difference, as the secondary played significantly worse early on when McCloud was seeing snaps over Gordon. A healthy Gordon is arguably the team’s best option at cornerback right now, with Johnson lacking the breakaway speed prior to his groin injury. Gordon receiving a larger share of snaps over McCloud and Nahshon Wright is something that Dennis Allen must prioritize if he wants the best shot at containing Puka Nacua and Davante Adams this Sunday.
Playcalling/Converting on 3rd and 4th Downs
This is something that Ben Johnson needs to be more conservative with, as his gambles on 4th down and inefficient third down play calling showed his hand and put the Packers at a huge advantage point. It was clear that Ben did not trust the defense to contain Jordan Love, as they went for it on 4th down six different times throughout the game. Four of these six attempts took place in the first half (three of them consecutive), including a headscratching attempt at the 32-yard line that resulted in a Packers touchdown on the next drive.
While Ben had valid reasoning in not trusting his defense, this risky playcalling will eventually come back to bite them. Caleb and the Bears offense were only able to convert on two of the six fourth down attempts, failing to capitalize on drives that already lacked momentum. Playing to keep the defense off the field ended up allowing 14 points off of failed fourth-down conversions, which at least one of these touchdowns allowed could have possibly been prevented if Ben decided to punt.
Ben and the Bears need to learn from the in-game adjustments they made, as they went from a one-for-six third down conversion rate in the first half to five-for-nine in the second half. As long as the Bears maintain offensive efficiency and go for the smart playcall over the gamble, they should come out with a stronger start and performance in the first half.
Passing Game
Although Caleb Williams saved the day with his late-game heroics, his first three quarters were far from perfect. In fact, he arguably played one of his worst games of the season outside of the fourth quarter. In the first half, Caleb threw for a mere 78 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions off of busted fourth-down plays. This is obviously out of character for Caleb, as he tried to make the big play on 4th down instead of making the typical smart plays that he does. While some of the questionable throws were made because of unfavorable game script, these are going to be plays that Caleb should study during film sessions to see where he can improve for this week.
The receiving corps also had its fair share of struggles in the first half, as Luther Burden notably ran the wrong route on one of Caleb’s interceptions and Rome Odunze had a key drop on third down. Caleb and the receiving core will need to get on the same page much earlier and continue to limit drops in order to survive another week in the playoffs.
Now that he has a week of playoff experience under his belt, Caleb knows what to expect despite facing a tough Rams defense. If Caleb returns to making the smart throw instead of playing hero ball, the offense should bounce back and score points earlier in the first half.
What do you think will be the keys to the Bears’ success? Let me know in the comments.
