The Chicago Bears protection — after struggling to decelerate Miami Dolphins and large receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle for almost three quarters — lastly got here up with stops on three consecutive drives.
But a Bears offense that had been buzzing a lot of the sport couldn’t provide you with a profitable drive because the Dolphins held on for a 35-32 victory Sunday at Soldier Field.
Trailing by three factors with 2 minutes, 50 seconds to play, the Bears’ drive stalled following two incomplete passes from quarterback Justin Fields. One deep shot went to new Bears large receiver Chase Claypool, who was blanketed by cornerback Keion Crossen and security Jevon Holland. The fourth-down cross to Equanimeous St. Brown slipped via St. Brown’s arms.
Fields rushed for 178 yards — an NFL document for a quarterback in a regular-season sport — and a landing and accomplished 17 of 28 passes for 123 yards and three touchdowns.
Hill caught seven passes from quarterback Tua Tagovailoa for 143 yards, and Waddle had 5 catches for 85 yards.
After the Dolphins led 21-17 at halftime, the Bears and Dolphins simply traded touchdowns to open the second half. Tagovailoa hit Waddle with an 18-yard landing cross to cap a four-play drive.
Fields responded on the following collection by working 61 yards for a landing. Fields weaved amongst Dolphins defenders on the 45- and 50-yard strains and sped by missed tackles from Duke Riley and Keion Crossen. Darnell Mooney made a block within the purple zone to assist Fields get into the tip zone.
Fields hit Trevon Wesco with a two-point conversion cross to chop the Dolphins’ result in 28-25.
But on third-and-7 on the next drive, Tagovailoa hit Jeff Wilson Jr. with a 10-yard landing cross on the next drive to make it 35-25 Dolphins.
After the Bears protection got here up with a cease on fourth-and-6 at their very own 35-yard line, the Bears went 65 yards to attain. Fields had runs of 14 and 17 yards on the drive and hit Cole Kmet for the tight finish’s second landing of the day, a 4-yarder.
Bears security Eddie Jackson was referred to as for cross interference towards Waddle on the following drive, costing the Bears 47 yards. But the Dolphins stalled on fourth-and-1 on the 14 when Tagovailoa’s cross to Durham Smythe fell out of attain.
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Here’s how the Week 9 sport unfolded at Soldier Field.
Inactives introduced
Bears large receiver/returner Velus Jones Jr. is inactive for Sunday’s sport.
Jones, the Bears’ third-round choose this spring, was not on the damage report all week. He performed 15 snaps on offense and had eight special-teams performs towards the Dallas Cowboys in Week 8.
The Bears acquired large receiver Chase Claypool this week, and Claypool is anticipated to get restricted snaps on offense. The Bears even have large receivers Darnell Mooney, Equanimeous St. Brown, N’Keal Harry and Dante Pettis — who doubles as a returner — lively.
Pettis changed Jones on punt returns after Jones muffed two punts, however Jones returned one kickoff towards the Cowboys.
Also inactive for the Bears are offensive linemen Alex Leatherwood and Ja’Tyre Carter, tight finish Jake Tonges and cornerback Lamar Jackson.
For the Dolphins, large receivers River Cracraft and Erik Ezukanma, working again Myles Gaskin, quarterback Skylar Thompson and offensive lineman Austin Jackson are inactive.
Fallout from Roquan Smith commerce
Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson was leaving Halas Hall on Monday afternoon when he caught wind of the staggering information. Linebacker and group captain Roquan Smith had been traded to the Ravens. Johnson froze.
For the second consecutive week the Bears had dealt away a revered group chief, playmaker and well-liked teammate. Smith’s exit, 5 days after defensive finish Robert Quinn was traded to the Eagles, felt like an uppercut to the jaw after a Week 7 punch to the intestine.
By Wednesday morning, the emotional dip for Bears gamers was plain. Safety Eddie Jackson, who was promoted to take Quinn’s captain position final weekend, got here to the group’s walk-through and was bowled over by the silence.
“You could hear a pin drop,” he mentioned.
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Concussion dialogue
Former Bears defensive finish Robert Quinn couldn’t wrap his head round it.
Like the nationwide TV viewers on Sept. 29, he noticed the arresting photos of Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa mendacity immobile close to the 50-yard line together with his arms frozen above him in a fashion in line with a mind damage throughout a sport towards the Cincinnati Bengals.
And Quinn noticed the scene from the week earlier than, when Tagovailoa hit the bottom exhausting on a success from a Buffalo Bills defender, shook his head barely, ran a number of steps after which stumbled to the bottom. Tagovailoa returned to that sport after the stumble was chalked as much as a again damage after which performed towards the Bengals 4 days later.
“I don’t see how people didn’t stop it instantly (against the Bills). He’s walking and he just literally collapsed,” Quinn mentioned. “I’m not in the medical field, but I do know when something doesn’t look right. … I hope Tua approaches the situation and handles the situation as it should be handled. I hope he gets everything he deserves and more. To be put in that situation like that, especially dealing with your brain, that’s the one thing you can’t replace.”
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Halftime: Dolphins lead Bears 21-17
Dolphins kicker Jason Sanders missed a 29-yard field-goal try large left within the ultimate seconds of the primary half, however Miami leads the Bears 21-17 at halftime.
The Bears offense operated easily within the first half, however the Dolphins answered each single time — apart from that miss.
Bears quarterback Justin Fields accomplished 11 of 15 passes for 94 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 53 yards on seven carries. Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa accomplished 11 of 13 passes for 162 yards — 12.5 yards per try — and a landing.
After Fields threw a 16-yard landing cross to large receiver Darnell Mooney to chop the Dolphins result in 21-17 with two minutes to play, the Dolphins marched to the Bears’ 11-yard line earlier than the protection got here up with the cease.
The distinction for the Dolphins was a particular groups landing on the one tried punt of the half.
Dolphins linebacker Jaelan Phillips blocked Trenton Gill’s punt and Andrew Van Ginkel scooped up the soccer and returned it 25 yards for a landing for a 21-10 lead.
The Bears briefly had a 10-7 lead. With Phillips chasing him, Fields hit tight finish Cole Kmet with an 18-yard landing cross. Kmet cruised into the tip zone with assist from a block from Equanimeous St. Brown.
But the Dolphins simply answered once more with Tagovailoa’s 3-yard landing cross to Tyreek Hill to go up 14-10. Tagovailoa hit Hill with a 25-yard cross and Jaylen Waddle with a 26-yard cross on the drive. The Dolphins obtained to the 3-yard line after Bears defensive finish Dominique Robinson was referred to as for roughing the passer following Tagovailoa’s 4-yard cross to Jeff Wilson Jr.
Bears kicker Cairo Santos made a 32-yard subject aim on the opening drive for a 3-0 lead.
Wide receiver Chase Claypool had his first catch with the Bears — a 1-yarder — and in addition drew a 28-yard cross interference penalty on Dolphins cornerback Keion Crossen. That obtained the Bears to the 20-yard line, however David Montgomery was stopped for no acquire, Fields threw incomplete ultimately zone at Mooney and Fields scrambled for six yards earlier than the Bears opted to kick.
The Dolphins responded with a 75-yard landing drive capped by Raheem Mostert’s 1-yard scoring run. The drive included Tagovailoa’s 18-yard cross to Trent Sherfield on third-and-2 and a 32-yard cross interference penalty on Bears cornerback Kindle Vildor ultimately zone towards Hill.
Vildor injured his ankle on the play, and the Bears categorized him as questionable to return.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com