Bears deliver final punch in wild shootout win over Bengals

CINCINNATI — Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams has frequently stated that he feels calmest when games are on the line. The former No. 1 pick has gone as far to say his heart rate drops when the pressure to deliver is at its highest.

That’s the opposite of how Bears safety Kevin Byard felt in the waning moments of Chicago’s stunning 47-42 win over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.

“It’s like taking years off my life,” Byard said. “It’s super special. This is the greatest game, greatest sport in the world, just the emotions up and down. For the fans that stayed, they definitely got their money’s worth.”

After the Bengals scored two touchdowns in a 49-second span to erase Chicago’s 14-point lead, the Bears pulled off their fifth win of the season when Williams delivered a 58-yard touchdown to rookie tight end Colston Loveland with 17 seconds remaining.

“We knew it was going to be a shootout,” Williams said. “One of those games.”

The Bears’ defense watched the pendulum swing twice on two plays late in the fourth quarter. Byard picked off Bengals quarterback Joe Flacco with 3:07 remaining and saw a 90-yard return get wiped away because of a pass interference call on Chicago cornerback Nick McCloud. Two plays later, Flacco was picked off again as Bears linebacker Tremaine Edmunds appeared to run back a 96-yard touchdown but was subsequently ruled down by contact at Chicago’s 4-yard line.

The Bears saw their lead disappear when Flacco connected with tight end Noah Fant for a 23-yard touchdown and converted the 2-point attempt. Cincinnati then recovered an onside kick and took a one-point lead six plays later.

“It was bad on our part,” Bears safety Jaquan Brisker said. “We were up two touchdowns. We’ve got to capitalize on the back end. Obviously, the offense had our back. It’s an ugly win, but we’ll take it.”

Trailing 42-41 after Cincinnati’s back-to-back score, the Bears’ offense began its final drive with 50 seconds on the clock. After back-to-back incomplete throws, Williams scrambled for 14 yards and then hit Loveland over the middle for the winning score.

“That was probably the craziest play I ever seen other than the blocked field goal,” Brisker said.

Added safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson of Loveland: “He was picking the knees up. He was gone. He was like a NASCAR.”

In the home locker room, Bengals players and coaches tried to process a second shock defeat in as many weeks. Last weekend, the Bengals gave up a 15-point lead to the previously winless New York Jets and allowed a touchdown in the final minute for a 39-38 home loss.

What happened Sunday was just as tough for Cincinnati (3-6) to stomach.

“It’s sick,” Bengals coach Zac Taylor said. “It’s sick to lose like that. It’s sick. That’s what happened. So we gotta own it.”

The Bengals continue to see exceptional offensive performances squandered by poor defensive play. They’re the first team in 59 years to score 38 or more points in back-to-back contests and lose both.

Cincinnati running back Chase Brown noted that the defense played well earlier in the season when the offense struggled following quarterback Joe Burrow’s turf toe injury. But Brown lamented the team’s inability to have the offense and defense clicking at the same time, and its inability to find a win.

“We put the ball in the end zone and go up a point at the end,” Brown said. “Finish the f—ing game. Just end it. Like, that’s it. That’s what we need to do, just end the f—ing game. Make them [give] us the ball back, let us f—ing go to ’22 Victory’ and let’s end the game. That’s how I feel.”

It spoiled perhaps the best performance of Flacco’s 18-year NFL career.

Despite dealing with a sprained AC joint in his throwing shoulder, he threw for a career-high 470 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions. Flacco, 40, led Cincinnati on two late scoring-drives in the closing minutes. He found wide receiver Andrei Iosivas for a 9-yard touchdown pass with 54 seconds remaining, putting the Bengals ahead by a point.

But it didn’t last.

“I think when you’ve played a lot of games, the way you lose doesn’t make it any worse, necessarily,” Flacco said. “I think you learn that these games come down to the last minute and you’ve got to be ready for anything.”

In the end, it was the Bears who were able to flip a calamitous collapse into a road victory.

“We’ll never apologize for winning in this league. It’s very hard to do,” Byard said.