Why Bears cornerback Kyler Gordon was the clear MVP in win over Jaguars

So far this season, Film Study has stayed focused on the Bears’ offensive line and quarterback Caleb Williams.

The eyeballs shifted to the defense for the London mauling of the Jaguars, mainly because one player leaped off the video screen. The clear MVP of Sunday's game was nickel Kyler Gordon. He wasn't on the field in the fourth quarter, but will get a chance to heal up during the bye week.

On Jacksonville's first drive, Gordon lined up in front of wide receiver Christian Kirk, then sprinted into the backfield to drop Travis Etienne for no gain. Kirk seemed caught off guard by Gordon's burst and ended up making a futile blocking attempt after it was too late.

The Jaguars’ offense delivered a nice opening drive. At one point, Gordon probably could have had a sack, but defensive end Darrell Taylor got in his way and QB Trevor Lawrence was able to spin away and run for a first down.

To start the Bears' second defensive drive, Gordon again attacked as if he was shot out of a cannon and dropped Etienne for a loss of 2. On Jacksonville's fourth and fifth drives, Gordon made third-down stops both times, dropping Lawrence and tight end Evan Engram short of the sticks.

Now in his third season, the early line on Gordon was much better in run support than pass coverage. But he's found a home at nickel back, where covering slot receivers puts him closer to the box. It will be interesting to see if teams start scheming to get him wider at the snap.

Plenty of moves have paid off in recent years, but Ryan Poles selecting Gordon and safety Jaquan Brisker in the 2022 second round ranks near the top of the best decisions.

Honorable mention for defensive MVP, both in this game and all season, goes to linebacker T.J. Edwards. Whenever there's a play that needs to be made, he always seems to come through.

The Lake Villa native had two effective blitzes Sunday, one of which set up a sack by Montez Sweat. He backed up in coverage and helped create an end zone incompletion on Jacksonville's first drive and force a field goal.

Then the turning point of the game was Edwards' forced fumble on the opening play of the third quarter. The Jaguars had a perfect play called, sending wide receiver Parker Washington to push the cornerback deep, then dropping Engram underneath.

It was a 24-yard gain, but Edwards punched the ball out at the end, setting up the touchdown that put the Bears up 21-3. Lawrence knew it was a game-changer right away, pounding his palm to the turf in frustration after attempting a tackle during the fumble return.

Flipped script

One bit of news that came out this week was D.J. Moore revealing Bears offensive coordinator Shane Waldron scripted the opening plays against Jacksonville, after not doing it earlier this season. Coach Matt Eberflus suggested the staff listened to advice from the team leaders and made a change.

Remember, though, the Bears went three-and-out on their first two drives. The script itself was not successful. Jacksonville was the team with a crisp opening series. Then the Bears' third drive started well only because the Jaguars badly overpursued a run play and let D'Andre Swift cut back for a 12-yard gain, then were flagged for pass interference.

After a nice third-and-six conversion, featuring a dodged tackle by Roschon Johnson, Waldron called one of the most creative plays in team history for the opening 31-yard touchdown to Cole Kmet.

Williams faked a lateral pass left to Keenan Allen, then spun and faked a screen right to Swift. Kmet hit defensive end Travon Walker once and took off downfield, while guard Matt Pryor ran out to fake-block for Swift. Walker could have buried Williams for a sack, but he thought the throw was going to Swift and jumped out to try to deflect the pass.

If two failed drives leading to a brilliant TD was all in the script, then kudos to Waldron.

Worst play

The one where Caleb Williams threw a pass directly into Pryor was a lowlight, but it came with an explanation. Teven Jenkins actually pancaked ex-Bear Roy Robertson-Harris, then Braxton Jones tripped over the two of them, allowing Josh Hines-Allen to come free and force Williams to unload.