The Chicago Bears and Cincinnati Bengals played one of the most thrilling games of the NFL season Sunday, a rollercoaster ride that ended with a 47-42 win for the Bears.
Joe Flacco threw for 470 yards and four touchdowns in the loss, while Caleb Williams threw for 280 yards and three scores. The teams combined for 31 points in a thrilling fourth quarter — including 28 in the final five minutes.
The chaos began with less than six minutes to go. The Bears were leading 34-27 when the Bengals lined up for a 54-yard field goal, only for Evan McPherson to miss the kick short.
Two plays later, Chicago wide receiver D.J. Moore was ruled out at the 1-yard line on a running play, but Cincinnati challenged to see if Moore fumbled out of the endzone for a touchback. The Bengals technically won the challenge, but it backfired: The play was overturned to a touchdown, giving the Bears a 41-27 lead.
On Cincinnati’s next drive, Flacco brought the offense all the way to the way to the 5-yard line before he was picked off by a diving Tremaine Edmunds, who ran the ball all the way back for a pick-six. Upon review however, Edmunds was ruled down by contact, taking the touchdown off the board.
Following the interception, the Bears had a two-score lead with two minutes and 42 seconds to go — a 99.6% win probability, per ESPN.
But Chicago went three-and-out in only 27 seconds, giving the Bengals the ball back quickly. Flacco needed only four plays to go 55 yards and find Noah Fant for a 23-yard touchdown. After the Fant score, Cincinnati also converted a two-point conversion to cut the lead to 41-35.
After the 2-pointer, the Bengals miraculously recovered an onside kick. The ball didn’t travel 10 yards, but it touched the foot of a Bears player, allowing Cincinnati to pounce on the kick.
This time, Flacco drove down the field in six plays, finding Andrei Iosavas for the go-ahead touchdown with only 54 seconds to go.
Chicago’s next drive started poorly. Williams threw back-to-back incompletions before finally scrambling for a first on 3rd-and-10, causing the Bears to use their final timeout.
That set up a 1st-and-10 for Chicago on its own 42 with 25 seconds to go. On that play, Williams fired a strike to tight end Colston Loveland over the middle of the field. Loveland somehow escaped the grasp of two Bengals, and then outran the rest of the defense for a 58-yard touchdown.
Cincinnati had one last possession, but its magic finally ran out when Flacco was intercepted on a Hail Mary attempt on the game’s final play.
It was a true up-and-down fourth quarter for the Bears. Their win probability peaked at 99.7% and valleyed at 14.1% — an 85.6% swing. Ultimately, Chicago hung on to improve to 5-3, while the Bengals fell to 3-6.
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