Roquan Smith's big day ends with pick that leads to Bears' game-winning FG

It's been a rough couple of months for Roquan Smith, but with one snatch of the football Sunday the Bears' linebacker made everyone forget about contract talks, trade demands and questionable injury designations.

All anyone wanted to talk about after the Bears' 23-20 victory over the Houston Texans at Soldier Field was Smith's stunning fourth-quarter interception that led to Cairo Santos' game-winning 30-yard field goal. It was the icing on an already tasty performance by Smith, who led the Bears with 16 tackles.

“He flies all over the field so much, it's hard to recognize,” said defensive lineman Trevis Gipson. “He's like a blur.”

Smith's clutch play — made possible thanks to Angelo Blackson tipping the ball at the line of scrimmage — came as Houston faced a third-and-1 from their own 26-yard line. The ball floated right to Smith and he returned it 18 yards to the Texans' 12.

“I couldn't believe he threw it,” Smith said. “I felt like if I would have had a little more juice in me I could have cribbed it (scored).”

After Smith was tripped up, he raced into the end zone and flung the ball into the stands. Asked who it was intended for, Smith said: “To all my supporters. I threw it to all 'em. And saying F you to all the ones that don't.”

OK. A bit of a strange message there, but it mirrored this game, which was strange in a lot of ways.

The Bears (2-1) lost David Montgomery (ankle/knee) and WR Byron Pringle (quad) to injuries in the first quarter. Neither returned. Head coach Matt Eberflus said Montgomery is day to day, “so that's a positive.”

Khalil Herbert stepped up in Montgomery's absence, running for 157 yards on 20 carries, including a 52-yarder to open the second half. The Bears finished with 281 yards on the ground, with rookie Trestan Ebner gaining 23 yards on 7 carries, WR Equanimeous St. Brown picking up 43 on a pair of sweeps and Justin Fields finishing with 47 yards on 8 attempts.

It was the most rushing yards by the Bears since September 30, 1984.

“You've got to be able to control (Fields) a lot better than that,” said Texans coach Lovie Smith, whose team is now 0-2-1. “We haven't given up a lot of big, explosive plays until today. Those runs really did hurt us.”

Fields remains a serious work in progress as a passer, however. And he knows it.

“I just played like trash,” said Fields, who was 8 of 17 for 106 yards with 2 interceptions. “I played terrible. Really just got to be better.”

Fields' first interception came on an errant throw on a pass intended for an open Cole Kmet. Instead, the ball sailed right to Texans safety Jalen Pitre. On the second pick, Fields forced a deep ball to Darnell Mooney on third-and-6 on the first play of the fourth quarter. Kmet was wide open in the flat and likely picks up the first down if Fields goes that direction.

“I wanted to get the ball to Darnell,” Fields said. “He was running on a Mike (or middle) linebacker, so I wanted to get the ball to him (on the) back shoulder or something like that. The ball just sailed too high and the safety got there.”

The game was tied 20-20 at that point, and Justin Jones (sack) and Nicholas Morrow (tackle for 5-yard loss) stepped up to keep it that way.

The Bears took an early 10-0 lead on a 47-yard field goal by Santos and an 11-yard run by Herbert. The Bears gained 111 yards on their first 9 rush attempts, with 29 coming on a scramble by Fields and 41 coming from St. Brown.

The Texans fought back, however, thanks to a big half from RB Dameon Pierce. The rookie piled up 63 rushing yards on 11 attempts, and his 1-yard TD run midway through the second quarter gave Houston a 14-13 lead.

In the end, though, Smith and Blackson were there to save the day.

If Smith really wants a long-term contract that pays him in the neighborhood of $18 million then he needs to deliver performances like this almost every week. Only true difference makers on defense deserve that kind of money.

Smith, for one, believes more of these are definitely coming.

“I've showcased what I can do year in and year out,” he said. “Not having camp, first two games (I was) still working my way in. But, hey, third game normally feeling myself out.

“So I think here on out you can expect some big things.”