Jake moody Caleb Williams, Jake Moody embody Bears’ newfound resilience in ‘Monday Night Football’ win over Commanders
LANDOVER, Maryland — Any frequent traveler is familiar with the problems Jake Moody faced in his hotel room Sunday night.
The shower water temperature was impossible to control — he ultimately chose “ice cold” over “blazing hot.”
The bed was too small — he prefers to lie down comfortably.
As if kicking off in an NFL game the next night wasn’t difficult enough.
Cairo Santos had been battling a thigh injury all week, and Moody, who had been on the Bears’ practice squad for the past month after being abruptly released from San Francisco, learned he would be added to the team shortly before the team departed for the national capital. On Monday, he hit shots of 47 and 48 yards in the first quarter and a 41-yarder in the third quarter, and his 48-yarder early in the fourth quarter was blocked.
Under the uncomfortable conditions of last night, and like the Bears’ team on Monday night, nothing was easy, especially considering the rainy conditions and their past struggles. So when he hit the game-winning 38-yard shot as time expired to defeat the Commanders 25-24, it felt like a symbol of the resilience he and his current franchise have struggled to find, but perhaps will find this season.
Not bad for a player who was just introducing himself to his teammates at the start of the game. Practice squad kickers, of course, aren’t the center of attention… unless they become heroes.
Moody said, “Obviously, it feels amazing. It’s always nice to make the game-winning shot. To do it for a new team in your first game is huge. … It’s great to be a part of a team like that, and we’ll keep moving forward.”
The icy water in his shower also permeated his veins. Moody joked that this could become a pre-game habit for him going forward. More importantly, the Bears are starting to develop a habit of winning games they’ve previously lost. “Probably should have lost.” These are games the Bears have lost for the better part of the last decade.
After blocking a field goal to beat the Raiders 25-24 in Week 4 and doing the same in Week 6 – amid a bye week – Chicago has won consecutive games by exactly one point for only the second time in franchise history. The last time? In 1962, during the Halas and Ditka era.
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Indeed, the Bears lost a similar game last season when they gave up a “Hail Mary” pass from Jayden Daniels to Noah Brown and lost 18-15. So when Daniels fumbled a snap on third-and-1 with more than three minutes left, the Chicago offense had only one thing on their mind.
“Now it’s time to win the game and not give them the ball again,” said Caleb Williams with a knowing smile on his face. “We’ve seen they can be explosive in these situations, and I think the defense did a great job again, but our approach was to hold the ball, run the ball, make them use timeouts, stay inbounds, play smart situational football at the end of the game, and win.”
On a night when very few things went according to plan, this drive was the breakthrough. D’Andre Swift had two big runs. Williams, playing the smart situational football he wanted, took a little damage by sliding inbounds, rather than running out of bounds, throwing the ball, or forcing a fumble.
Swift said, “Finding ways to win tough, close games, even when we’re not playing well, not necessarily all four quarters, but still finding a way to win, that’s the biggest thing for us right now.”
The Bears seemed to have won the game despite their own weaknesses. In the second quarter, Chicago failed to convert a fourth-and-1 point. On the last play of the third quarter, Williams mishandled the snap on third-and-1 and lost 5 yards, blocking Moody’s kick. Despite a 55-yard touchdown pass to Swift, the Bears failed to convert a two-point field goal. They had nine penalties and several crucial drops for 84 yards.
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