An Ugly, But Winning Game of Vegas Hold 'Em

Josh Blackwell's Booming Blocked Field Goal Secures Bears' 800th Franchise Win

The Bears claimed a four-lead change roller coaster from the Raiders Sunday on Josh Blackwell's block of Daniel Carlson's game-winning 54-yard field goal attempt.

By Clete Campbell

Windy City End Zone

“Play long enough, you never change the stakes, the house takes you. Unless, when that perfect hand comes along, you bet big, and then you take the house.”

— Danny Ocean (“Ocean’s Eleven”)

The stakes of the Chicago Bears’ Week 4 showdown with the Las Vegas Raiders Sunday in Sin City weren’t as grand as a wild card gambler plotting to rob the Bellagio, the Mirage and the MGM Grand for $150 million on the same night.

But in real world stakes, they were much greater. Sunday’s game was another proof of concept test for Ben Johnson’s grandiose reinvention plan of a dormant NFL franchise that’s been in a five-year playoff and competitive coma.

This test was against the Super Bowl-winning, Hall of Fame-worthy offensive guru the Bears passed on in favor of Johnson back in January.

‘‘I did watch him a lot (in Detroit),” Raiders coach Pete Carroll said of Johnson. ‘‘And watched him a lot looking at that job, too.’

“Coach Ben has done a nice job teaching these guys what he believes is important on offense. You can see there’s a lot of changes from where they were last year.’’

And in front of a rabid, decidedly Chicago crowd including Windy City End Zone’s Shane Taube (“by my count, there are 3.4 Bears fans for every Raiders fan,” Chicago media personality Mark Carman reported), Chicago didn’t make a convincing Blackjack case it’s traveling a winning road but got out of Sin City with an all-out-about defense – victory at Allegiant Stadium. Josh Blackwell’s money block of Daniel Carlson’s game-winning 54-yard field goal attempt off the edge safeguarded a 25-24 Chicago thriller.

The 800th victory in Bears history was your typical heart-in-your-throat roller coaster with Chicago sticking the landing.

BYARD IS THE EARLY WORD

The Bears opened with a Jackpot defensive hit with safety Kevin Byard intercepting Geno Smith on Las Vegas’ opening drive and returning the pick 35 yards to set up Cairo Santo’s 46-yard field goal and a 3-0 Chicago lead.

Smith – who was more hot-and-cold than the water in an off-strip zero-star Vegas motel – found rookie tailback Ashton Jeanty on an 8-yard go-ahead score with eight seconds left in the opening quarter. The touchdown capped a seven-play, 66-yard Raiders drive covering 4:08.

Byard’s heroics helped thwart the chaos-causing brilliance of Las Vegas star linebacker Maxx Crosby, who delivered a tackle-for-loss, a pass defended and a loud hit of Bears quarterback Caleb Williams on Chicago’s first two lackluster drives.

And the Bears needed Byard and their duct-taped secondary to step up early, because the composed, big-playmaking Caleb Williams was nowhere to be seen early. Williams opened 6-for-13 and was intercepted by – who else – an all-out balling Crosby, killing a promising drive at the Vegas 15-yard line.

Thankfully, Byard was Crosby’s playmaking equal in this defense-dominated affair. He picked Smith again with 8:38 left in the second quarter.

Chicago’s first-gear offense (the running game ran backwards for minus-4 yards over the Bears’ first five drives) got Santos into his strike zone and the veteran hit a 43-yard field goal to cut the Vegas advantage to 7-6 with 4:22 left before half.

But Jeanty (who rumbled for 138 yards and scored three touchdowns) – showing again why he’s the league’s most exciting young tailback – busted loose off left guard and shook Byard’s best dive tackle stop attempt on a 64-yard end zone romp to make it 14-6 with 4:03 left before halftime.

“The touted rookie running back *was) looking for a breakout performance,” the Sun-Times’ Mark Potash wrote.

The Bears kept drawing 3s to stay within tailgate distance of the Raiders. Ever the indoor marksman, Santos rifled a 53-yard field goal true just before half to pull Chicago within 14-9 at intermission. Williams was a pedestrian 12-of-22 passing for 98 yards and Crosby’s pick in the opening half.

The telling stat of the opening 30 minutes: Vegas outrushed Chicago 138-2.

“This first half is a cold reminder of how far the Bears are from being the type of team they want to be in 2025,” Bleacher Nation’s Luis C. Medina notes.

BEARS SECONDARY STANDS & DELIVERS

The Bears’ secondary, more beat up than a 30-year-old tackling dummy, delivered again to open the second half as Tyrique Henderson skyjacked Smith’s errant opening throw of the frame intended for Jakobi Meyers.

Williams finally got on the correct big play frequency, finding his big play man, Rome Odunze, for a go-ahead 27-yard TD strike with 11:38 left in a third quarter that would only get wilder from there.

Say this for Smith, he doesn’t stop shooting. He marshaled Vegas 80 yards over 15 plays, locating Jeanty on a 9-yard TD and a 21-16 lead with 5:23 left in the third.

The Bears kept leaning on Santos, who punched home a 51-yard game-tightening FG that made it 21-19 with 11:38 left to play.

The Raiders kept pounding Jeanty (who averaged 7 yards per carry) at the winded Bears defense, which labored to tackle him on first contact. They limited Vegas to a 29-yard Carlson field goal with 6:45 left to stay within a touchdown at 24-19.

WIN-OR-LOSE

What fourth-quarter poker game would they choose to play? Vegas Hold ‘Em or Vegas Fold ‘Em? Williams and Co went for the house on an assured, steady 11-play push that culminated in Swift's two-yard race to the left pile-on. The game’s fourth lead change made it 25-24 Chicago with 1:34 seconds left.

Chin broke up Williams’ two-point conversion attempt for Odunze in the center back of the end zone, giving Vegas 94 seconds, two timeouts and eternity to get within Carlson’s field goal range.

Smith slanted and screened his way into Carlson’s target zone with 45 seconds as Vegas appeared on the verge of Harry Houdini escape before Blackwell – racing from the edge – swatted down Carlson’s game-winning attempt with 38 seconds left.

THE HARDEST WINS COME AFTER BIG WINS

‘‘Big wins are just as difficult to come back from as big losses,” said Carroll, who knows from decades of hard experience.

And on Sunday, the Bears came back from their big first win with another statement victory over the house.

Somewhere, Danny Ocean – with money on the game – was smiling.