Dhruv Koul shares his in-game reactions, thoughts and observations from the Bears-Raiders game at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. Follow him on Twitter @DhruvKoul to continue the conversation.
LONDON, England — After a dominating performance last week against the Minnesota Vikings at Soldier Field, the Chicago Bears flew across the pond to take on the Oakland Raiders at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London today. As the first NFL showcase abroad this season, this was an opportunity for the Bears to head into their bye week in great shape in the NFC at 4-1, especially with a difficult schedule ahead.
This game was significant not only for the standings, but because it was Khalil Mack’s first game against his former team. As we all know, Oakland traded him before the start of last season, stamping the Bears’ defense as the best in the league and the team overall as legitimate Super Bowl contenders. As you can imagine, this was the dominant story line all week. Here’s my Twitter Thoughts thread from before the game:
The Bears needed a win in London with the difficult schedule coming up. And for all of the concerns about a potential trap game, in the end, the Bears roared back from a brutal opening half, only to lose in heartbreaking fashion. What a terrible loss heading into the bye week. The resilience was great to see, but the Bears did too many dumb things today.
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I shared my in-game reactions, thoughts and observations from the Bears-Raiders battle below. Follow me on Twitter @DhruvKoul to continue the conversation.
Thoughts and Observations
1. The Bears get a big boost on defense as Akiem Hicks and Roquan Smith are officially active for this game. Meanwhile, the Raiders are without DE Clelin Ferrell, WR Tyrell Williams, and G Gabe Jackson. Those are significant pieces out. Like I said in my pre-game Twitter Thoughts thread, in addition to rookie RB Josh Jacobs, look for TE Darren Waller to get the ball quickly and in high volumes from Oakland QB Derek Carr. The Bears will need to tackle well on defense today.
2. Akiem Hicks went down on the Raiders’ first drive with a gruesome looking elbow injury. It looked like his elbow popped out of its socket after some friendly fire contact with Khalil Mack’s helmet. It did not look good. If it’s a dislocation, those are generally 4-6 week injuries (at least). Tough blow for the Bears.
3. The Raiders’ offensive line straight up dominated the line of scrimmage in the first quarter. On the second drive, Derek Carr had all day to throw and their RBs were getting 3-4 yards before initial contact. The Bears’ defense has looked slow and certainly lost so far. The first quarter ends with the Raiders having first down at the Bears’ 12 yard line. They’ve looked crisper and better prepared to start the game. The Bears need to wake up. They’re already lucky not to be down 3-0 already due to a personal foul penalty on Richie Incognito knocking them out of FG range on the first drive.
4. First play of the second quarter — the Raiders’ offensive line picked right back up and created an open lane for Josh Jacobs. Raiders up 7-0 and looking to be in complete control.
5. Ensuing drive — Chase Daniel stared down Javon Wims on third down and threw it right into the belly of the defender. An easy INT sets up Oakland on the Bears’ 25 yard line and in business to put the Bears on the ropes very early…
…A third down hold by Kyle Fuller set Oakland up with a first-and-goal at the two yard line, and the next play, they scored. The Bears are getting absolutely embarrassed on both sides of the ball.
6. More of the same so far. The Bears went three-and-out quickly on the ensuring drive and the Raiders rammed the ball down the Bears’ throats on the ground to set up another field goal. The Bears are down 17-0 with about two minutes left in the first half. Jon Gruden’s side has absolutely destroyed the Bears so far. This has been absolutely humiliating for Matt Nagy’s side.
This is how the half ended. Bears get the ball back after halftime, but it might not matter.
7. What a crazy sequence to open the second half in London. The Bears initially went three-and-out, thanks to a bad drop on third down by Anthony Miller. After the Bears punted, Derek Carr pitched a second down ball to nobody (clearly a miscommunication), and Khalil Mack recovered the live ball. Three plays later, the Bears found the end zone to get back into this game, 17-7.
Huge shot in the arm there for the Bears. After it looked like they would stumble through this game and into the bye week, that break gives them some life. Let’s see how they capitalize moving forward.
8. What a turn of events here in London. After Deon Bush saved the Bears’ defense with a strong tackle of Darren Waller on third-and-11, the Bears orchestrated a beautiful 90-yard touchdown drive, highlighted by a deep ball catch by Anthony Miller that was Randy Moss-esque. Beautiful.
A couple plays later, Daniel rolled right and found Allen Robinson for a touchdown. Raiders lead 17-14, but this was exactly the kind of response the Bears needed. They got a break on that fumble, and they’ve capitalized so far.
The play designs and diversity of personnel on that drive were beautiful. Miller got the ball a few times, J.P. Holtz got the ball on a screen, Cordarrelle Patterson took a sweep for a few yards. It was fun. However, the run blocking just isn’t good. David Montgomery is an excellent RB and he can’t get going. The Bears may need to seriously look into switching James Daniels and Cody Whitehair again after the bye week.
9. Seriously, stunning turn of events here in London. After the Bears got the Raiders to punt, Tarik Cohen flipped the field with a beautiful 71 yard punt return to set the Bears up on Oakland’s 16 yard line. After offsetting penalties, Allen Robinson displayed a double-move, the corner bit, and he snagged Daniel’s pass in the end zone. The Bears are up 21-17 now. This has been absolutely unbelievable.
10. After an unsportsmanlike penalty on the Bears post-touchdown, the Raiders took the kickoff to Chicago’s 35 yard line. I’m not sure why they called the penalty, but it hurt the Bears.
Alas, in an even crazier turn of events than we’ve seen so far, Sherrick McManis punched the ball out of Trevor Davis’ grasp just before he crossed goal line and Prince Amukamara recovered. This game is insane.
11. This must be said for the rest of his career:
12. The Bears got bailed out big-time. Mo Hurst had a free run at Chase Daniel and crushed him as he got the ball out; the ball sailed over Tarik Cohen and into the belly of a Raiders’ DB for an INT. That should’ve been Raiders’ ball in plus territory. Instead, they called roughing on Hurst, so the Bears kept the ball. I think that was a weak call, so big break for the Bears. They keep driving with 9:53 left in the fourth quarter.
They ended up punting and downing the ball inside the five yard line. Raiders take over at their own three yard line with 7:49 left.
13. Well, this game has taken a turn for the worst. After the Bears had Oakland stopped deep in their own territory, a running-into-the-kicker penalty gave the Raiders enough yardage to try a fake punt. They converted. And then the Bears suddenly forgot how to tackle.
The Raiders then executed a beautiful drive down the field that took a lot of time off the clock. And they scored a play after the two minute warning. Josh Jacobs again. Bears down 24-21 with 1:56 left. Heartbreaking loss, if it comes to that.
14. After a strong start on the ensuing drive, Daniel was picked off on a terrible lob into triple coverage. What a brutal, brutal, brutal loss today. Just stunning.
15. The Bears head into their bye week now, disappointingly at 3-2, and await New Orleans in two weeks. We’ll see if Mitch Trubisky is back by then. But the Bears missed out on a golden chance to head into their bye week strong. What an ugly loss. This will hurt badly and fester for two weeks.
