Bears Film Study separates the fine line between lucky and good

Film study can break down what happens between the lines. Maybe it can explain why the Bears have found the magic touch this season.

They were certainly fortunate in Saturday's victory over the Packers. Romeo Doubs could have simply caught and secured the onside kick late in the fourth quarter. Without a facemask penalty on Green Bay's Warren Brinson, the Bears would have faced fourth-and-25 on their second-to-last drive, which ended with a field goal. Then the Packers fumble in overtime was just a drop by quarterback Malik Willis.

If any of these plays go the other way, no one's wearing cheese-grater hats around Chicago.

Maybe the Bears did nothing to swing those plays in their favor. But they continually stepped up and put themselves in position to benefit from those mistakes, which is the story of this season.

Just before the overtime fumble, there was an open-field tackle by T.J. Edwards against Willis that forced the fourth-and-1.

Cairo Santos made all three field-goal attempts on a windy day, and maybe his onside kick was the perfect bouncing knuckleball that was difficult to catch.

No one can say the Bears defense played great in this game, since the Packers never punted. But this was the ultimate “make them snap it once more” type of game that can win in football.

So really, take your pick on where the Bears won this game. Green Bay ran 10 plays inside the Bears' 10-yard line and never scored a touchdown from there.

Twice in those situations, the Packers managed to get top receiver Christian Watson matched against a Bears linebacker in the end zone but couldn't connect. Edwards forced the incomplete to set up Green Bay's first field goal, and Tremaine Edmunds was on coverage to force a second field goal.

Unsung hero

Plenty of candidates for this award, but the pick here is defensive tackle Grady Jarrett. He had the look of a potential free-agent bust early in the season when the Bears were weak against the run. He's clearly on the downside of his career at 32, after making the Pro Bowl twice in Atlanta.

But after missing three games with an injury, Jarrett has looked like a completely different player, now a strong point in the defense. On Saturday, he had 7 tackles and a pass deflection. One particular highlight was when he chased down Josh Jacobs on a screen pass at the 5-yard line, helping force a field goal.

Best play

Beyond D.J. Moore's game-winner, the answer would have to be the Bears second-snap of the third quarter, the pass to Kyle Monangai in the flat that went for 34 yards.

At the time, the Bears trailed 6-0 and the offense desperately needed some life. Packers linebacker Quay Walker blitzed up the middle untouched, because center Drew Dalman turned to block someone else, but there was nobody there. So this could have been a disaster.

Caleb Williams unloaded it quickly, and then Cole Kmet quickly shifted from running a pass route to making a key block. He did the same thing not long ago.

Worst play

After the Bears' first field goal in the third quarter, the Packers received the kickoff and the first snap could have been a much bigger play. The Bears defense bit really hard on play action, and the result was something of a three-on-one break.

Watson, Matthew Golden and Luke Musgrave all got behind their coverage with only Kevin Byard back deep, panicked over which of the three to cover. The Packers ended up with a 26-yard pass to Musgrave on a play that could have easily resulted in a 65-yard touchdown if Malik Willis threw it to Watson.

The Bears returned the favor, sort of, on the game-winning pass. The Packers bit hard on the play-action, but the Bears sent just one player deep, and Williams found him.