Edmunds: “Never apologize for winning” but Bears must close better

Ariana Pensy · Correspondent · 3 hours ago

CHICAGO - Chicago’s thrilling win against the Cincinnati Bengals this past Sunday highlighted numerous things the Bears can build on going forward.

One of those things was that they needed to finish games better. Chicago’s defense had only allowed 27 points to the Cincinnati offense before the final two minutes of the game.

“Once we’re up, I think the key message is just making sure that we find ways to close the game out better. When we have a team where we want them at not to let our hand off the rope and just to pull tighter and just to figure out a way to close the game in the way that we want to close it,” linebacker Tremaine Edmunds said. “But, all that being said, I never apologize for winning (because) at the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about. It’s about winning. But, (there are) definitely learning points as far as as we continue to get later on in the season and we start playing these games and just in particular, in my experience, playoff games and stuff like that, you want to make sure that you don’t let games slip away from you as far as in the last couple minutes of the game. So, however that is, it’s about playing complementary ball.”

Edmunds is having himself quite the season. Through eight games, he has four interceptions, a sack, 73 total tackles and six passes defended. His four interceptions tie his career high and are also the most in the NFL. Edmunds only has one career pick-six, which was back in 2022.

He thought he had another one against Cincinnati which would have put the Bears up by 20 points with under three minutes left in the game.

“Obviously, I thought that it was definitely a touchdown. But, they made the call and we had to go out there. We had to finish the game. That’s what it is. Was I upset? Yeah. Anytime you have a play like that get called back, you (are) going to have some frustration. You (are) going to be upset a little bit,” Edmunds said. “But, at the end of the day, the call was made. The game wasn’t over, so we had to figure out a way to calm all our emotions down and get out there and finish the game. But, it’s football. As much as we want calls to go a certain way, some of that stuff is out of our control.”

Ultimately, the Bears had to punt on the ensuing drive and Cincinnati would make a furious comeback. But, rookie tight end Colston Loveland got the game back for Chicago with a 58-yard touchdown with only 17 seconds left in the game.

Loveland finished the game with six receptions for 118 yards and two touchdowns, becoming the first Chicago tight end to have over 100 yards in a game and multiple touchdowns since Hall of Famer Mike Ditka did so in 1961 against the Green Bay Packers.

“I’ve seen Colston. He’s been doing good things since he got here. Just his athletic ability, his frame, his strength. I’ve been seeing that stuff since he’s got here and I’m glad that he was able to do it for us in the big-time moment because we needed that to happen,” Edmunds said. “To be a rookie and step up in a moment like that. It gets the respect, even though we already have respect for him, it gets the respect more from the guys in the locker room just to kind of see the way he goes about his business … He’s young, but he’s wise. Just the way he (moves) and (goes) about his business. So, I’m not surprised at all.”

Loveland was not the only rookie to step up in a big way. Rookie running back Kyle Monangai had to step up with starting running back D’Andre Swift out with injury. Monangai put on a show with 176 rushing yards, becoming just the second player in Bears history with at least 26 rushes and 176 yards in a game.

“(Monangai) has good contact balance. He’s strong and not just that. He has good vision (and) pretty much a lot of good traits that you want in a running back. But, I was able to a lot of that stuff in camp. So, that’s another guy that I’m not surprised with and just seeing the way (he is) moving around the building and go about his business,” Edmunds said. “It’s good to see those type of guys get rewarded with games like this because the attention to detail and you can tell that they really want it and they (strive) to be the best and it’s really good just to see them have these type of games and all the hard work pay off for them.”