The Robbie Gould revenge game.
The former Bears kicker scored all 15 points for San Francisco today as the 49ers took care of the Bears by a final score of 15-14. His chip shot with four seconds left put the 49ers in front for good.
Besides being painstakingly boring, the game was also one of the worst coached games of the season for Chicago. Again, they only called three first down passes in the entire game, one in which Mitchell Trubisky barely mustered 100 yards passing. He did have a passing touchdown on the second drive of the game, but that was the only drive which didn’t end in a punt. The Bears had fewer yards of offense today than they did against Philadelphia last week.
The most worrying thing, however, was the Bears running game. Going against the league’s third-worst run defense, Jordan Howard only managed 38 yards rushing today. No one else topped Howard today for Chicago.
The last drive, a 93-yard one which ended with the final Gould field goal, consisted of incredibly blown clock management. The Bears, with two timeouts, allowed the Niners to pick up the first down which iced the game instead of letting them score, which would have yielded a better result. Even after that, they refused to let the Niners score the touchdown, but rather let them drain the clock before the field goal which ended the game.
On the ensuing kickoff, the Bears were not able to pull off a miracle, and Tarik Cohen’s illegal forward pass ended the game.
Player Of The Game
While no one deserves this nod, someone had to get it, and that someone has to be Tarik Cohen. While Cohen did nothing offensively, his work as a punt returner today was nothing short of spectacular.
Cohen’s touchdown return in the second quarter was highly reminiscent of legendary return-man Devin Hester, as he weaved his way through the entire Niners team before waltzing into the end zone.
That wasn’t Cohen’s only return, however, as he had another long return negated by a stupid block-in-the-back penalty from Ben Braunecker. It occurred off the play, so it didn’t exactly help Cohen, who was able to go 60 yards before running out of gas and being brought down deep in Niners territory.
Play Of The Game
I just touched on it, but the play of the game is rather obviously the Tarik Cohen punt return touchdown.
According to the CBS broadcast, Cohen ran 127 yards on the return, which saw him field the ball on his own 40-yard line and eventually retreat to his own 24. If it didn’t remind you of some of Hester’s magical returns, I don’t exactly know what to tell you.
Tarik Cohen, you. are. ridiculous.
What’s Next?
Chicago Bears (3-9) @ Cincinnati Bengals (5-6, pending result vs. Steelers on Monday Night Football)
Sunday, December 12th
12:00 PM
FOX