Rookies Step Into The Spotlight In Wild 47-42 Bears Win

GOOD MORNING, CHICAGO FANS

Hope you had a great Halloween! All of the Chicago sports reunions were a bit scary this week (Toews, Zach and DeMar) as our teams and favorite players are always on the move.

Instead of looking back, we can enjoy Chicago here and now. The Bulls, Bears, and Hawks all have winning records, and the Bears pulled off a wild shootout win!

CHICAGO BEARS

W - BEARS 47 BENGALS 42

ROOKS TO THE RESCUE

This game was tailor made to be a shootout. What did we get? A historically high-scoring, gut-wrenching, 11-touchdown, 1,071 yard, 89-point heart attack on a football field.

An enticing battle locked into a 20-17 halftime score turned into a Bears blowout. They had a 41-27 lead when Tremaine Edmunds dove for his 4th INT on the season and returned it all the way back for a Pick 6. Unfortunately, Edmunds was ruled down by contact, and the comeback began.

A Bears 3-and-out was followed by 2 quick 32-second and 49-second TD drives, thanks to a successful onside kick, to give the Bengals an improbable 42-41 lead. They left 54 seconds on the clock for Caleb Williams, and he took advantage. He connected with Colston Loveland for a 58-yard game-winning strike to send the sideline into a frenzy.

Standouts:

• Colston Loveland: 6 receptions, 118 yards, 2 TD (first career TDs)

• Kyle Monangai was the workhorse back thanks to D’Andre Swift’s injury, and he had an incredible day running the football! (26 carries, 176 yards)

• Austin Booker returned from injury with a statement strip sack after schooling tackle Orlando Brown Jr.

• The rhythm passing game was out of sorts, but Caleb Williams still played well and kept his poise through the chaos (20/34, 280 yards, 3 TD)

Quick Hits:

• Ben Johnson’s bag of tricks worked! Happy Halloween! DJ Moore threw a TD pass and ran for a TD, Caleb Williams caught 2 passes including 1 for a TD, Tyson Bagent completed a throw to Caleb, and Cole Kmet even threw a missile that was called back on a review.

• Charlie Jones returned the opening kickoff for a TD as the Bears kick coverage continues to look awful

• Montez Sweat nearly had another strip sack, but they ruled that Flacco’s arm was moving forward

• Joe Flacco threw for 470 yards, and Tee Higgins (121 yards, 2 TD) made Nahshon Wright look silly all day

• Brittain Brown was elevated from the practice squad to fill in at RB and got his first NFL carries. He ran for a smooth 22-yard TD!

• It felt like both teams were trying to out-penalty the other, but the Bears actually stayed in single digits with 7 penalties for 43 yards

• Cairo Santos had a field goal miss taken off the board because of an offsides penalty, and he later had another attempt blocked

STAR OF THE WEEK ⭐ Kyle Monangai

26 carries, 176 yards, 6.8 yards per carry, 3 receptions

PLAY OF THE WEEK 🎥 Colston Loveland game-winner pinball

Signed DB C.J. Gardner-Johnson to the active roster. You may remember CJGJ as the thorn in the Bears’ side, especially during the 2020 season. His chirpiness on the field forced unnecessary retaliations by Javon Wims and Anthony Miller (in the playoff game!). The Bears brought him in to play slot corner with Kyler Gordon out for an extended period of time, and his familiarity with Dennis Allen should be a boost! He got a sack on a blitz yesterday!

Activated Austin Booker from IR, placed Shemar Turner on the IR with a torn ACL (out for the season)

Signed DE Jonathan Garvin and OL Royce Newman to the practice squad

How historic was yesterday’s game vs. the Bengals?

• 1st win in Bears history when allowing 42+ points

• 576 yards of offense: 6th most in Bears history

• 30 first downs: most since 2016

• Williams: 1st player in NFL history to have 275+ passing yards, 50+ rushing yards, and 20+ receiving yards in a game

• Loveland: 1st Bears rookie TE with 100+ receiving yards in a game since Mike Ditka in 1961

• Monangai’s 176 yards: 2nd most rushing yards by a Bears rookie (Anthony Thomas in 2001)

• Flacco’s 470 yards: 2nd most passing yards vs. the Bears (Vince Ferragamo in 1982)

SCHEDULE 📅 SUNDAY vs. Giants

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

W - BLACKHAWKS 7 SENATORS 3

TIP OF THE HATTY

• Connor Bedard’s first career hat trick! He scored on a filthy top-shelf snipe, a coast-to-coast wrister, and a quick shot off of a faceoff

• Hawks had another brutal 2nd period after jumping out to an early 4-0 lead

• 4 Hawks besides Bedard had 2 points

L - JETS 6 BLACKHAWKS 3

THE CAPTAIN RETURNS

• Jonathan Toews (1 assist) came out on top in his first game against the Hawks

• Spencer Knight and the young defensemen had nights to forget against the powerhouse Jets

• Hawks’ only goal in the first 50 minutes of play was gifted to them when a dump-in bounced right to the crease

L - OILERS 3 BLACKHAWKS 2 (OT)

CANADIAN AFTERTHOUGHT

• Evan Bouchard scored the OT winner in front of a distracted fanbase during Game 7 of the World Series

• Andre Burakovsky had 1 goal and 1 assist

STAR OF THE WEEK ⭐ Connor Bedard

3 goals and 4 assists (7 points) on 12 shots

PLAY OF THE WEEK 🎥 Andre Burakovsky between-the-legs goal

Nick Foligno dressed up as Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni for Halloween, and Sirianni returned the favor 😂

SCHEDULE 📅 M/W/F/SUN

CHICAGO BULLS

W - BULLS 128 HAWKS 123

CRAZY EIGHTS

• 8 Bulls scored in double figures to earn their first 3-0 start since 2021-2022

• Bulls finished 16/43 (37.2%) from 3PT after going 5/23 in the 1st half

• Ayo Dosunmu (21p, 4/6 3PT) continues to OWN the Hawks in his career

W - BULLS 126 KINGS 113

LITTLE BROTHER REIGNS

• Matas Buzelis put on a show (27p/5r) with former teammates Zach LaVine (30p) and DeMar DeRozan (19p) back in town on the visitors’ bench

• Bulls shot 14/32 from 3PT (43.8%) and dominated on the boards (46-31)

• Josh Giddey keeps filling up the box score! (20p/8r/12a)

W - BULLS 135 KNICKS 125 (NBA CUP)

PARTY LIKE IT’S 1996

• Bulls started fast with a 72-53 1st half en route to their first 5-0 start since the 1996-1997 season

• Giddey scored a career-high 32 points with 10r/9a

• Rare 0 steal game for Tre Jones, 0 rebound game for Buzelis, and 0 turnover game for Giddey

L - KNICKS 128 BULLS 116

NEW YORK DOUBLE TAP

• Knicks had shooters open all night and won the game from the 3PT line (20/42, 47.6%)

• Giddey had his first triple-double of the season! (23p/12r/12a)

• Knicks made all 22 of their free throw attempts 😯

STAR OF THE WEEK ⭐ Josh Giddey

23.3p/10.8r/9.5a per game, 3 double-doubles, 1 triple-double

PLAY OF THE WEEK 🎥 Matas Buzelis reverse dunk

Assigned Noa Essengue to the G-League

Ayo Dosunmu missed yesterday’s game due to injury but should return soon. He’s performed up to Sixth Man of the Year status to start the season!

Next 4 games will be a gauntlet: 76ers, Bucks, Cavaliers, Spurs

SCHEDULE 📅 T/F/SAT

CHICAGO CUBS

OFFSEASON

Gold Glove Winners:

Ian Happ (4th consecutive)

Pete Crow-Armstrong (1st)

Nico Hoerner (2nd)

The evil empire Dodgers won back-to-back championships after an all-time 7-game World Series vs. the Blue Jays!

SAY WHAT?

A CITYWIDE SALUTE

Tre Jones

Jones has been vocal about cancer research in support of his mom. See his story below:

MILD TAKE

A deep bench should never be your biggest strength.

The Bulls have blown by supposedly powerful Eastern Conference foes like the Pistons, Hawks, Magic, and Knicks to start the season.

What was the overarching word from Bulls players and coaches? They were too deep. Nobody could keep up with them in the 2nd half. The 2025 bench mob was way better and way faster than every other second unit in the league.

It’s important to have a deep roster and win on the margins when the starters take a breather. A quality bench definitely leads to more wins. But for a serious NBA contender, a bench is far down the list of priorities.

The Bulls are currently 3rd in the NBA in bench scoring. Ayo Dosunmu has led the way with other big contributions from Kevin Huerter, Jalen Smith, and even Patrick Williams. When Coby White returns, Tre Jones will slide into that second unit as well. As soon as Ayo missed a game, the team defense was tested and beaten in New York.

Bench success is a step in the right direction from last season, but it’s not THE step. You need stars. You need suffocating defense. You need selfless offense with a whole host of sharpshooters. If the Bulls’ bench scoring or defense ever fades back to reality like it did yesterday, the losses will quickly return. They may be deep, but they aren’t built to dominate.

HITTING THE LINKS

Joe Cowley - Bulls are building something special, and it starts off the court (Chicago Sun-Times)

Ben Pope - How Jeff Blashill's seven-defenseman lineups affect the Blackhawks' distribution of ice time (Chicago Sun-Times)

Mark Lazerus - Jonathan Toews brings healthy body, healthy attitude to his first game against the Blackhawks (The Athletic)

Chicago Blackhawks - Every Shift Season 4 Episode 1: Fight For Your Teammates (YouTube)

TWO MINUTE WARNING

Thanks for reading! Who reaches 6 wins first? The Bears or Bulls?