It’s Khalil Mack’s World, We’re Just Living In It: BEARS 20, BUCCANEERS 19

Cairo Santos made the kick.

DeAndre Houston made the stop.

And the Chicago Bears *FINALLY* beat Old Man Brady.

Yep, that’s exactly how we would’ve drawn it up before the game.

It wasn’t pretty. Nor was it easy. But it was exhilarating as heck as the Bears secured a 20-19 win at Soldier Field on Thursday Night Football. I’d wish good luck to whomever is responsible for explaining how this one ended up in the win column for the Bears, but I suppose that’s my job. WELP, here goes nothing.

It’s Khalil Mack’s world and we’re just living in it.

The Bears aren’t in this game without Mack, who delivered a performance that reminded us why the team was justified in surrendering multiple first-round picks to acquire him in the first place.

Mack’s night deserves a breakout line of its own: 2 sacks, 3 QB Hits, 2 tackles-for-loss, 2 solo tackles, 1 pass defended.

Not mentioned in stats listed above was one (1) move straight out of the NWO:

https://twitter.com/FieldYates/status/1314390101087133698?s=20

I’m certain Brady would’ve ran circles around this group if it wasn’t for Mack’s constant pressure. Fortunately for the Bears, Mack was constantly wrecking things for the Buccaneers’ offense. You just love to see it!

To be fair, Mack wasn’t alone in leading the Bears to victory.

Cairo Santos made two pressure kicks in the fourth quarter, including the game-winner from 38-yards-out with 1:13 left in regulation. Santos making clutch kicks is impressive on its own. But it should be amplified by the fact that the team hosted Kai Forbath for a tryout on Wednesday. Making pressure kicks with the game on the line is one thing. Doing so when your job could be hanging in the balance with one false step is on another level.

Credit Nick Foles for pulling a rabbit out of his hat. Foles threw for just 243 yards, averaged 5.8 yards per attempt, and tossed his third interception in as many games. But when Chicago faced an early 13-0 deficit, Foles rallied for two touchdowns in the span of two minutes before the end of the first half to take a 14-13 lead. Foles didn’t make a ton of big plays, but he made them count.

And with that, the Bears are 4-1. They have a signature win under their belt and extra time to let it sink in before their next game against the Panthers on October 18. There are still things to work on — mostly on the offensive side of the ball. And we’ll cross that bridge when we get there. However, in this moment, we’ll enjoy the rest of our night.

At least we’ll enjoy it more than Brady will.

(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

written by

Luis C. Medina, who you can find on Twitter at lcm1986, has been covering the Chicago Bears at Bleacher Nation since 2017. Since then, he has written about 3 head coaches, 5 play-callers, and 11 starting quarterbacks. Previously, Luis wrote about the Cubs and MLB at BN (2015-16) and worked in the Chicago Tribune sports department (2011-16). He also co-hosted a Cubs postgame show, Outside the Ivy, in 2019.

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