Chicago Bears pull off overtime stunner vs. Pittsburgh Steelers: highlights

After failing to seal close games in the past, the Chicago Bears busted out a shocking win against the Pittsburgh Steelers in overtime.

I have seen quite a few football games, but I can honestly say that the Chicago Bears showed me something today I hadn’t seen before.

For most of the game, I wouldn’t have said that as a positive. And yet, somehow at the end of it all, the Bears pulled out a game they deserved to win from the beginning.

Imagine that…

For the second time this season, the Bears surprised a tough opponent at home and had themselves in position to win. And for a second time, the Bears charitably wanted to give the visiting Pittsburgh Steelers the game.

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But Jordan Howard, Tarik Cohen and a determined defense simply wouldn’t allow that to happen.

The Chicago Bears might play like a losing football team at times, but boy do they have guys who can make winning plays. Sometimes, on a given Sunday, that’s enough.

Howard, Cohen save Bears

Howard could have sat out the entire fourth quarter and overtime, and I wouldn’t have blamed him.

But the man simply wouldn’t give up. His sheer will not to bow to excruciating pain energized this Bears offense late in the game.

Howard finished with a rugged 138 yards on 23 carries, including his walk-off 19-yard touchdown in overtime.

Whatever it takes.

His counterpart, Cohen, nearly ended the game with an electrifying run on which he stepped out of bounds at Pittsburgh’s 37. If he hadn’t, he would’ve easily had this year’s best touchdown run by a mile.

They made up for a worthless performance from Glennon (15/22, 101 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT).

Seriously, not screwing up most of the time can’t be the bar the Bears set for the quarterback play. Then, not being able to trust him not to throw a potentially gut-wrenching interception deep in Bears territory?

Sorry, but Glennon deserves no credit for this win. I predict he’ll definitely start until Week 5 against the Minnesota Vikings for sure. After that, all bets are officially off.

If the Chicago Bears are capable of pulling out wins like this without his help, perhaps they can do more without him.

Defense starts strong, ends stronger

Fortunately, Howard and Cohen’s heroics propped up another valiant effort from the Chicago Bears defense.

Rebounding from a tough week against Tampa Bay, the Bears bottled up the Steelers’ potent attack all game long.

The great Antonio Brown had a trademark big game, which just comes as expected at this point. But the Bears held Ben Roethlisberger to a relatively quiet game, allowing just Le’Veon Bell managed just 61 yards rushing on 15 carries. Martavis Bryant caught just two passes for 30 yards.

They did everything you would hope for from a defensive unit against a great offensive team, limiting them to just 17 points in regulation. And, for once, their effort was rewarded.

Bears overcome brutal sloppiness

All the good feeling aside, the fact that the Chicago Bears nearly blew this game the way they did should still concern everyone.

How have we come to a point where things like that first-half ending happen to this team?

How can Marcus Cooper, with a chance to put the Bears up two scores at the half after returning a blocked field goal, lose focus at the ONE YARD LINE? Oh wait, that’s giving him too much credit. He lost his focus long before that. Otherwise, he never would’ve been caught from behind by a tight end.

And how could the Chicago Bears offense bungle the reprieve, committing a false start penalty standing right over the goal line?

Add that to dropped passes by receivers and tight ends—Markus Wheaton had an especially bad day. Then, throw in a costly fumble (?) from Jordan Howard and multiple false start penalties. And, how about another late-game interception from Glennon that the Steelers turned into points?

They were lucky and resilient enough to pull this game out. But for each one of these games, there will be, and have been, nine games like this out of ten.

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Enjoy this one, Chicago Bears fans. It’s way past time to see one of these games break their way.

But don’t view this as a sustainable model for the future. Change still needs to happen in order for this team to take their next step.