In a turbulent week for the Chicago Bears, the changes made seemed to have paid off, but they were haunted by old demons.
Caleb Williams stood out on his team’s final offensive sequence to set up a potential game-winning field goal by Cairo Santos, but the punt was blocked, leaving the Green Bay Packers ahead by 20 at 19.
This week, Chicago announced it had fired offensive coordinator Shane Waldron and handed the reins of the offense to Thomas Brown. We felt a selection of games which allowed Caleb Williams to be more confident, and above all, he was better protected by his offensive line.
Trailing by one point in the final moments of the fourth quarter, the young player had only been the victim of a sack in the quarter at that moment. The Packers defense, however, followed up with two consecutive sacks. On a long third down, Williams was able to avoid pressure and then joined Rome Odunze on 16 yards. He then converted the fourth down and three yards with a nice pass once again to Odunze.
The young quarterback thus led the offensive unit into Packers territory and Santos found himself in front of a 46-yard field goal for the victory on the last play of the game. The punt, however, was blocked by Karl Brooks of the Packers and they began the celebrations with no time left on the clock.
Williams thus saw victory elude his team after a game of 231 yards and 23 passes completed in 31 attempts. D’Andre Swift stood out on the ground with a 39-yard touchdown run that made it 19-14 Bears in the third quarter.
“There were a lot of positives to build on,” Bears head coach Matt Eberflus said. This is what needs to be done. Over the past three weeks, the offense hadn’t played well. We didn’t play well on defense. We hadn’t done much together in the last three weeks, but today we played complementary football. »
Jordan Love didn’t have the best of his games with an interception and he was held up at the goal gate on a fourth down, but he got up at the right time. The quarterback can thank Christian Watson for a spectacular diving catch in the fourth quarter and he led his team into the pay zone with this 60-yard play.
Love completed the job with a one-yard touchdown run to give Green Bay a 20-19 lead. The quarterback finished the game with 261 yards and the Packers now have a 7-3 record.
“We knew it was going to be a four-quarter game, a four-quarter battle,” Love said. And I’m proud of the guys. No one batted an eyelid, no one flinched. It was by no means our best game. »
This is another painful defeat for the Bears, especially after the one against the Washington Commanders on the desperation pass during the last play of the confrontation. Chicago is now 4-6 in last place in its division.
Green Bay beat Chicago for an 11th straight time, while handing the Bears a fourth straight loss overall.
The Packers will host the San Francisco 49ers next Sunday. The same day, the Bears will be at home against the Vikings.
Successful return for Anthony Richardson
Anthony Richardson scored his second rushing touchdown of the game with 46 seconds left to help the Indianapolis Colts defeat Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets 28-27.
Richardson was back in his starting position after being replaced by Joe Flacco in his team’s last two games. He responded by orchestrating a victorious sequence in the final moments of the match.
He connected with Alec Pierce for 39 yards then Josh Downs for 17 to put the ball at the 10-yard line. Three plays later, Richardson ran left and reached the end zone to score the game-winning touchdown for the Colts (5-6). Jonathan Taylor was stopped on the two-point conversion, giving Rodgers and the Jets one last chance.
True to form since the start of the season, the Jets were unable to regain the lead. Kwity Paye had two sacks, the last one ending the game.
Richardson, the fourth overall pick in 2023 and the second-youngest starting quarterback in the league, had perhaps his best game in the NFL, and it did so against the league’s oldest quarterback in 40-year-old Rodgers. Richardson completed 20 of 30 passes for 272 yards and a touchdown to Downs and had 32 yards rushing.
For his part, Rodgers threw two touchdown passes. Breece Hall caught one of his passes and ran for another, but the Jets (3-8) lost for the seventh time in their last eight games and fell to 1-5 under coach -acting chief Jeff Ulbrich.
A 4th win in 5 games for the Rams
Matthew Stafford threw for 295 yards and four touchdowns, including one on a 69-yard play to Cooper Kupp in the second half to help the Los Angeles Rams defeat the Patriots 28-22.
Puka Nacua caught seven passes for 123 yards and a touchdown while Kupp had six catches for 106 yards and two touchdowns for the Rams (5-5), who have won four of their last five meetings.
The Californian team is 3-1 since the returns of Kupp and Nacua.
Kyren Williams had 86 yards rushing and Michael Hoecht blocked a convert to keep the Patriots within a single possession when they made it 28-19 early in the fourth quarter.
Drake Maye threw for 282 yards and two touchdowns, one of which was scored by offensive lineman Vederian Lowe, for the Patriots (3-8), who have yet to win two games in a row this season.
The Patriots are 1-3 at home after going 1-7 last season at Gillette Stadium.
Hat trick for Taysom Hill
Taysom Hill reached the end zone on a 75-yard run and the New Orleans Saints defeated the Cleveland Browns 35-14.
Hill totaled 138 rushing yards, including three touchdowns. His other successful breakthroughs were 10 and 33 yards. Hill also returned a 42-yard kickoff.
Alvin Kamara added 67 yards on 16 carries.
The Saints (4-7) have won their two games since Darren Rizzi took over as head coach.
Derek Carr had 248 air yards, including a 71-yard touchdown pass to Marquez Valdes-Scantling (most of the route was covered after a short pass).
For the Browns (2-8), Jameis Winston had 395 air yards, including two touchdown passes.
Jerry Jeudy signed an 89-yard reception for a touchdown, on a play similar to that of Valdes-Scantling.
Jeudy rushed for 142 yards on six catches.
Dustin Hopkins missed field goal attempts of 51 and 32 yards in the second quarter.
Dolphins add to Raiders misery
Tua Tagovailoa threw three touchdown passes and the Miami Dolphins outscored the Las Vegas Raiders 34-19.
Tagovailoa had 288 air yards, including touchdown passes of 1 and 57 yards to Jonnu Smith, a tight end. The latter recorded 101 yards of catches.
An eight-yard connection to Tyreek Hill also added six points to the board, capping a 97-yard drive.
Among six runs earning points for the Dolphins, three lasted more than seven minutes.
Miami reached the 30-point mark for the first time this season.
De’Von Achane made it 23-12 with a two-yard touchdown run early in the final quarter.
The Dolphins saw their record drop to 4-6 while the Raiders slipped to 2-8, following a sixth straight loss.
Gardner Minshew had 282 air yards, with two touchdown passes and an interception.
Tight end Brock Bowers caught 13 passes for 126 yards. One of his catches was 23 yards for a touchdown.
Darnold does the job
Sam Darnold rushed for 246 yards passing, helping the Minnesota Vikings to a 23-13 win over the Tennessee Titans.
Darnold completed two touchdown passes and drove into the penalty area, guiding the Vikings to their third straight victory, making it 8-2.
On the third play of the game, Jeffery Simmons recovered a fumbled ball from Vikings running back Aaron Jones.
Darnold didn’t flinch, keeping his club undefeated in five games against AFC teams this season.
Jordan Addison was spotted on a 47-yard pass and run play for a touchdown before the end of the first quarter. That propelled Minnesota to a 16-3 cushion at the half.
Andrew Van Ginkel stepped up with sacks in two straight games.
Will Levis of the Titans (2-8) had 295 air yards including a 98-yard touchdown pass to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine in the third quarter.
The Titans had already been punished nine times at the half, for 71 yards. The Vikings’ first offense came after Tennessee’s eighth. In the end at this level: 91 yards of penalties for the Titans, against 35 for Minnesota.
