An enigmatic day for a star-crossed group that ended in spectacular fashion with Marquess Wilson catching a 22-yard pass from Jay Cutler late in the fourth quarter to set the stage for a winning Cutler-to-Matt Forte touchdown pass 3 minutes later. Some superb work by one player, not so superb by some others and not enough production early in a winnable game.
Through most of the first half and even into the third quarter, a corps depleted with Alshon Jeffery and Eddie Royal inactive with injuries gave Cutler very little in the way of separation. That very likely lay behind part of coordinator Adam Gase taking few shots down the field against a Kansas City defense that increasingly stacked the box and defied the Bears to beat it one-on-one almost anywhere throwing.
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Wilson produced one of his best-ever games, better as it went along as Cutler’s confidence appeared to grow as Wilson worked against the Chiefs secondary.
“A quarterback always gains trust when a guy catches the ball,” Wilson said, laughing. “Drops lose confidence, but I think it’s getting higher.”
High enough that it was to Wilson that Cutler went against late double coverage from the Kansas City 22. “It was just a ‘corner’ [route],” Wilson said. “I got out of my break and saw the ball in the air. I knew I just had to get there. I knew I had to get it.”
If there was an unpleasant surprise it was tight end Martellus Bennett catching just four of the 11 passes directed to him, with Bennett dropping two balls, one on the final drive that went for a touchdown but needed to overcome a Bennett drop deep in Kansas City’s end.
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Bennett was not alone in costly drops. Josh Bellamy caught four passes in the third quarter but let a long first-down pass go through his hands in the fourth quarter, and was injured on the hit just after the ball went incomplete.
A false start by tight end Zach Miller pushed the Bears back near their own goal line in the first quarter, from where a sack and forced fumble gave the Chiefs a first touchdown.
Moon's Grade: B+