One of the biggest talking points to come out of the Chicago Bears’ 47-42 road win over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday was the performance of the special teams unit. While Chicago’s offense gave Bears fans something to cheer about, the special teams left much to be desired and almost cost them the game.
With 1:43 left in the contest, all the Bears ST unit had to do was recover an onside kick from Bengals kicker Evan McPherson ice the game. However, that was not the case. The onside kick hit off the toe of Bears defender Daniel Hardy, which was recovered by Bengals LB Oren Burks.
From there, the Bengals put together a six-play, 57-yard scoring drive that saw the Bears' defense give up the lead. Thankfully, the Bears' offense bailed out the special teams unit as Caleb Williams hit Colston Loveland for a game-winning 58-yard TD.
Despite the late-game heroics, it should not let Hightower and his unit off the hook, which had issues even beyond just the onside kick gaffe.
Richard Hightower on Hot Seat After Unsettling Performance from Bears’ Special Teams
Of course, Chicago allowed a game-opening kickoff return touchdown for 98 yards, which put the Bears in a hole immediately. Then, they had a return by Devin Duvernay negated by a Jahdae Walker holding penalty, and a blocked Cairo Santos’ field goal from 47 yards in the second quarter.
All of these things happened in the first half, if you can believe it. Thankfully, for Bears fans, that was the only miscue for Santos.
However, seeing the kick return unit give up 267 combined yards on seven returns is less than ideal and further builds the case why some Bears fans want to see Hightower out the door. His unit has been a weak spot for much of the season, including in the disappointing Week 8 loss to the struggling Baltimore Ravens. The Bears allowed 30.8 yards per kick return, and it subsequently put their defense in tough field position all game long.
If you’re a Bears fan, you want this unit to be a positive weekly, or at the very least not a clear negative. Instead, special teams keeps making headlines for all the wrong reasons on Sundays, and that is the biggest indictment against Hightower's ability to effectively coach this group.
At 5-3, it's clear Chicago can contend in the near future. But the higher this team moves up in terms of tiers, the less margin for error there is. Special teams is one operation where even one mistake can lose something like a playoff game, and the repeated issues on this unit make it clear this is a liability for Ben Johnson trying to turn this franchise around.
A loss in Week 9 may have totally sealed his fate, but Hightower is still inches away from the chopping block despite Sunday ending with another victory.