Bear Digest

Bears Winners and Losers from Week 4 24-18 Win Over Rams

Analysis: The players and coaches who came away with the best positions in Sunday's Bears win over the Rams.

Gene Chamberlain

Roschon Johnson blasts ahead toward a touchdown.
Roschon Johnson blasts ahead toward a touchdown. / David Banks-Imagn Images
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Sometimes winners are losers and losers become winners.

And sometimes coaches are just dumb.

Rams super genius coach Sean McVay decided it was good to try and block Montez Sweat with a tight end.

"I felt disrespected, honestly, man," Sweat said after the game.

Disrespected means might sound like someone feels like a loser, but in the end Sweat was the winner as he took advantage of the slight to pick up a strip-sack that Kyler Gordon recovered and set up the first Bears touchdown at the Rams 16 in Sunday's 24-18 Bears win.

There were other Bears winners in Sunday's game and some losers but not very many. When you win at home and lead for most of the game, there shouldn't be many losers.

Here are the winners and losers as the Bears pulled back to .500 on the season.

Winners

DE Darrell Taylor

He hit Matthew Stafford and caused Jaquan Brisker's game-ending nterception. At least the broadcast crew for Fox felt it was too high and should have been 15 yards against the Bears, getting the Colts out of a hole. No flag. Everyone go home. And Stafford didn't say too much about it so perhaps the officials had it right. One replay angle showed no contact with his head.

S Jaquan Brisker

He already had one interception taken away with an official's call that he hadn't re-established he was on the field of play with two feet, and had an unnecessary roughness penalty in the first quarter for a late hit along the sidelined. So one more tough break might have been the one to break him. But he got the call, the ball and the Bears got the win.

RB D'Andre Swift

The player the Bears paid for in free agency surfaced for the first time and was ever so explosive. He put on a Neal Anderson or Matt Forte type of performance with 93 yards rushing and 72 receiving on seven catches. Swift didn't deserve some of the criticism he'd been getting on social media after a slow start.

RB Roschon Johnson

He was a winner even without center Doug Kramer blocking from the fullback position at the goal line, and especially one afterward when it opened a hole for a TD run. His seven runs for 26 yards didn't look as impressive on the stat sheet as they did on the field. They were all tough runs and he punished Rams tacklers.

SHANE WALDRON GOES FROM ZERO TO ALMOST A HERO

CALEB WILLIAMS PICKS AND CHOOSES HIS WAY TO A WIN

BEARS PIECE TOGETHER 24-18 WIN OVER RAMS

TE Cole Kmet

He could have been a big loser after a couple presnap penalties but also redeemed himself with a huge 22-yard catch to set up Swift's leaping bolt up the middle for the game-deciding 36-yard TD run. One other Kmet winning play: He threw the block that knocked Michael Hoecht all the way to the ground, giving Swift the chance to leap over him and then bolt for those 36 yards on the decisive touchdown. Penalties can be forgiven for that type of production. At least two penalties can.

P Tory Taylor

It might have been the greatest Bears punting day ever. Not only did he get three downed inside the 10, he had back-to-back punts in the fourth quarter downed at the 8 to leave Stafford facing a long field to try and win it. Taylor got one of those to back up like a sand wedge and another on a 66-yard punt to go out of bounds. His 55.4-yard average for five punts ranked third for a game in Bears history besides the ones downed in close.

"Great punt and pin," coach Matt Eberflus said. "The punter was great today. Tory was awesome, switching the field several times, using them as a weapon."

C Doug Kramer

Who could have thought this. The third-team center is a hero for the day? His blocks from a fullback position in a Refrigerator Perry type role were crushers, one giving Roschon Johnson room to plow in for a TD. Could Kramer get a pass thrown his way in the future?

“You never know. You never know," Eberflus said. "I know he's one of our Chicagoland guys (Hinsdale Central). I was excited for him. I really was. It was good to see him in there playing fullback. He did a good job reporting when he came in there. So it was good. It was good, and having those downhill plays is always good."

QB Caleb Williams

Look mom, no interceptions. No lost fumbles.

He had a 106.6 passer rating in his fourth start. It took Justin Fields 15 starts over two years before he had one as good or better.

TE Marcedes Lewis

The Big Dog played his 272nd NFL game, a record for tight ends.

"At the end, I gave Marcedes Lewis the game ball because it's his 272nd game in the NFL," Eberflus said. "He's 40 years old and been playing tight end a long time. So that's a pretty big moment for anybody.

"He was a little bit emotional in there, and it was good. It's good to see those guys. I love the guys in the room. They're passionate, they love each other, and they're a tight group. As a coach, and coaches, the best moment for you is when you have a victory and you get to see those guys smiling in the locker room. So that was good to see. With that, I'll take questions."

OK, OK we get it.

Offensive Coordinator Shane Waldron

With 24 points scored, no one can be too critical. He bought himself another week.

The Losers

Offensive Coordinator Shane Waldron

How can he be a winner and loser? Anyone who threw that many wide receiver screens can't be considered a winner only, and he's lucky if people don't start calling him Shane Getsy after that.

G Teven Jenkins

He didn't get to join in on the fun because he left with injured ribs, which can be pretty painful and also take a while to heal.

KR Velus Jones Jr.

Sat out his third straight game inactive after his muffed kick in the opener.

G Nate Davis

For the second straight game he had to come in after another offensive line injury when he has a groin injury himself.

Twitter: BearsOnSI

Published
Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.