Biggest Takeaways from Chicago Bears' Week 9 Win
The Chicago Bears have struggled to close out close games this season, but the team was able to come away with its third victory of the season in Week 9 against the San Diego Chargers.
The Chargers took an early 13-0 lead on Monday Night Football, but the Bears bounced back in the second half and improved to 3-5 on the year with a 22-19 victory over San Diego.
“We were doing what we needed to do, we just needed to stop shooting ourselves in the foot,” tight end Martellus Bennett said about Chicago's early struggles, per WGNRadio.com's Adam Hoge. “So we put the gun away and stopped shooting ourselves in the foot.”
Chicago racked up 446 yards of total offense, and the defense held the Chargers to just 339 yards of total offense. The Bears did turn the ball over twice in the first half, but the defense finished the game with one takeaway.
The Bears will not have a lot of time to celebrate, as they will head to St. Louis in Week 10 on short rest to take on the 4-4 Rams at the Edward Jones Dome on Sunday.
What are our biggest takeaways from Chicago's Week 9 victory over the Chargers on Monday Night Football?
Lamarr Houston Proved He Can Still Rush the Quarterback
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The Bears signed pass-rusher Lamarr Houston to a long-term deal during the 2014 offseason, but the former Oakland Raider struggled to get after the quarterback and missed the final eight games of last season with an ACL injury.
He moved to outside linebacker this offseason, but he has played sparingly this year. According to Pro Football Focus, Houston played just 119 of the team's 440 snaps on defense through the first seven games of the year.
Houston saw an increase in snaps on Monday night, and the veteran outside linebacker finished the game with two tackles, two sacks, two tackles for loss and four quarterback hits. Both of his sacks came on San Diego's final drive of the game.
“Just hard work, man. Lessons of hard work,” Houston said after the game, per Mark Potash of the Chicago Sun-Times. “It feels great anytime you get a sack—especially at the end of the game.”
Houston played aggressively all night long, and he used his strength and motor to beat right tackle Joe Barksdale on both of his sacks.
"Straight power off the edge by Lamarr Houston," tweeted CBSChicago.com's Dan Durkin. "Got his hands under Barksdale to win the edge both times. Relentless."
Houston has been a disappointment since signing with the Bears last offseason, but he showed progress against the Chargers in Week 9. He needs to improve his explosiveness off the snap of the football, but he showed off his good hands and solid technique on both of his sacks Monday night.
It will be hard for him to get more reps at the position with Pernell McPhee, Sam Acho and Willie Young currently ahead of him on the depth chart, but if he can continue to produce in the coming weeks like he did against the Chargers, the Bears will have a hard time keeping him off the field.
Alshon Jeffery Has Been Unstoppable Since Returning from Injury
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When healthy this season, Alshon Jeffery has been one of the league's best wide receivers.
After recording five catches for 78 yards in Week 1 against the Green Bay Packers, Jeffery did not set foot on the field until the Bears took on the Detroit Lions in Week 6 due to an injury. Since returning from his hamstring injury, Jeffery has posted three straight 100-yard receiving games.
Jeffery hauled in eight catches for 147 yards with one touchdown against the Lions, he recorded 10 catches for 116 yards with one touchdown against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 8 and he finished Monday night's game against San Diego with 10 catches for 151 yards.
Jeffery failed to register a catch on the first three passes thrown his way Monday night, but he eventually hauled in 10 of the next 13 passes thrown his way. He struggled against second-year cornerback Jason Verrett early in the game, but after the former first-round pick was replaced by Steve Williams due to an injury, Jeffery had his way in the passing game.
The former South Carolina Gamecock did a great job of creating separation on plays down the field, and he showed off his strong hands in traffic numerous times on Monday night.
“This is what I do,” Jeffery said after the game, per Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times. “Catch the ball.”
When the Bears have needed a play in the passing game this season, Jeffery has been quarterback Jay Cutler's most reliable target. Even though Jeffery and Cutler were not on the same page early in the game when Cutler's pass was picked off by Verrett and returned for a touchdown, Cutler was still willing to go back to his former Pro Bowl receiver.
Jeffery is set to become a free agent at the end of the season, but if he continues to produce at a high level like has when healthy this year, the Bears may be wise to sign him to a new deal before the 2015 season ends.
Jay Cutler Bounced Back After an Ugly Start
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Cutler has done a nice job of protecting the football this season, but the veteran quarterback turned the ball over twice in the first half.
His first turnover came late in the first quarter when edge-rusher Melvin Ingram knocked the ball out of his hands on San Diego's 23-yard line. Even though Cutler had two hands on the ball, Ingram was able to knock the ball loose, and safety Eric Weddle recovered the fumble.
Two possessions later, Verrett intercepted Cutler's pass intended for Jeffery and returned the ball 68 yards for the touchdown.
Despite his early struggles, Cutler bounced back late in the first half and finished Monday night's game with 345 passing yards on 27 completions with two touchdowns, one interception and a quarterback rating of 100.5.
Cutler has had a tendency to fall back on bad habits when things are not going right, but he was able to brush aside his turnovers and put together a solid outing in Week 9. He did a nice job of stepping up in the pocket to avoid pressure, and although he did struggle with his mechanics at times, he made big plays with his arm when he needed to.
His first touchdown of the night to tight end Martellus Bennett made the veteran quarterback the team's all-time leader in touchdown passes with 138, and he is currently in the midst of one of his best NFL seasons despite missing a start against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 3.
Cutler has thrown for 1,787 yards with 10 touchdowns and five interceptions this season, and his 89.6 quarterback rating is the highest of his career. He is currently completing 62.8 percent of his passes, and he has been sacked just 10 times this season.
After the game, Hoge pointed out just how effective Cutler has been in the fourth quarter this season.
"Jay Cutler’s fourth quarter numbers this season: 44/74, 508 yards, five touchdowns, two interceptions. 91.47 passer rating," tweeted Hoge on Monday night.
Cutler has long been known for his ill-timed turnovers, but his game-winning touchdown pass to backup tight end Zach Miller on Monday was his 12th game-winning touchdown pass in the fourth quarter since 2009—the most in the NFL during that time, per the NFL Network's official Twitter account.
The veteran quarterback looked a bit shaky under center to start the game, but he bounced back in the second half to put up one of his best performances of the season.
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Kicker Robbie Gould Struggled for the Second Week in a Row
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Before Chicago's Week 8 contest against the Vikings, kicker Robbie Gould had connected on all 15 of his field-goal attempts, including four attempts over 50 yards.
He missed a 51-yard attempt against Minnesota after connecting on two field goals earlier in the game, and he missed his two attempts against the Chargers on Monday night.
Gould's first miss of the night came on a 47-yard field-goal attempt in which he kicked the football wide left, and his second miss came on a 34-yard attempt that hit the left upright. The veteran kicker has been one of the NFL's best since entering the league in 2005, and his two misses in Week 9 surprised NFL.com's Chris Wesseling.
"Can’t remember the last time I saw Robbie Gould miss a field goal before Week 8," Wesseling tweeted. "Now he’s missed three in the past two games."
After the game, Gould said he could only blame himself for his misses, per Adam Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times:
"I just missed both of them. Here’s the thing: I got to make them. It’s what I’m going to do. You guys expect anything out of me other than that? I’ve got to make them. I have to do my job more for the team to be above the line to win at times. I didn’t do that tonight. Other guys played well. I didn’t do my job. That’s what it is. I didn’t play well.
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Prior to Gould's miss in Week 8 against the Vikings, he was one of the team's most reliable players. According to Jahns, prior to Monday night, Gould had not missed two field goals in a game since December 2013.
In the end, Gould's misses on Monday night did not cause the Bears to lose the game, but if he struggles throughout the final eight games of the season, the team may need to look for another option in 2016.
Jeremy Langford Looks Like a Starting-Caliber Running Back
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With Matt Forte on the sidelines due to a knee injury, the Bears were forced to lean on two young running backs Monday night.
Second-year man Ka'Deem Carey got the start against the Chargers at running back, but he was overshadowed by rookie Jeremy Langford.
Carey carried the football seven times for 28 yards, but Langford was Chicago's workhorse in Week 9. Langford carried the football 18 times for 72 yards with one touchdown, and he also caught three passes for 70 yards.
The former Michigan State standout was an effective runner between the tackles because of his willingness to drop his shoulder and fight for extra yards, and he also found success when running the football to the outside because of his speed and athleticism.
He had a key drop in Week 8 against the Minnesota Vikings late in the game, but he made up for that on Monday night with a diving catch for 31 yards.
“That was my whole point—to make up for that play last game,” Langford said, per Jahns. “You want to forget about those plays, but you want the coaches to trust in you and Cutler to trust in me, and he did. I had to go out there and make that play.”
Even though Langford did not get the start, the coaching staff clearly had confidence in the young running back's game. He was asked to make key blocks in the passing game, and he did a nice job all night of identifying where the Chargers were going to bring pressure.
Langford showed off his terrific burst and toughness all night long on Monday, and he proved in his first real opportunity this season that he has the ability to be a starting-caliber running back in the NFL.
San Diego entered Monday night's game as one of the league's worst against the run, and Langford will face the difficult task of going up against St. Louis' vaunted defense in Week 10 if Forte is once again unavailable.
Statistical information courtesy of ESPN.com unless otherwise noted.
Matt Eurich is a Chicago Bears featured columnist for Bleacher Report and a member of the Pro Football Writers of America.
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