Getty Chicago Bears RB Tarik Cohen
Chicago Bears running back Tarik Cohen capped a wild finish to regulation against the New York Giants in Week 13. After the Bears made a field goal with 1:15 remaining, then recovered an onside kick while down by a touchdown, they drove all the way down to the end zone with seconds left. On the final play of regulation, Bears coach Matt Nagy pulled out his back of tricks to force overtime.
Instead of simply going for the touchdown by either a run or having Chase Daniel pass, Nagy called a running back pass. In turn, setting up Cohen to throw this strike to Anthony Miller as time expired, courtesy of The Checkdown.
BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY. 😱 @TarikCohen @AnthonyMiller_3 t.co/NqtUEQhIYY
It was a gutsy play call by the Bears coach which showed a lot of faith in his team, especially the young running back in Cohen. After making the extra point, the Bears and Giants went to overtime where New York received the first chance to drive down for a win. After they went down and made a field goal, the Bears were unable to match, as Daniel couldn’t complete a pass to Taylor Gabriel on 4th and 8.
Bears’ Outlook Moving Forward
With both the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions losing, and the Minnesota Vikings in a tough matchup with the New England Patriots, the loss wasn’t quite as bad as it could have been. The Vikings could still make up ground in the division if they knock off the Patriots, but as things stand, the Bears have a stronghold on the top spot.
The loss on Sunday moved Chicago to 8-4 and if the Vikings are unable to top the Patriots it would leave them at 6-5-1. The Packers and Lions are far behind at 4-7-1 and 4-8, respectively. It’s also worth noting that the Bears played the second straight game without starting quarterback Mitchell Trubisky, who’s expected back in the very near future.
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