Three Takeaways from Bears' wild win over Bengals

Katie Stratman - USA Today Sports

Dustin Riese · Senior Writer · 4 hours ago

If Sunday taught us anything about this Bears team, it would be that, although stressful at times, they are an entertaining team to watch. After all, when was the last time a Bears team gave up 42 points and yet still found a way to win the game, as their offense was on point for a season-high 47 points in the 47-42 win over the Bengals?

That win alone erases any doubt about the Bears falling into a similar trap to last season, where they got off to a 4-2 start only to have a botched Hail Mary send them into a 10-game losing streak, ending any dreams of a great season. Had it not been for the Coleston Loveland heroics in the final minute, you could make the case that this loss would linger over this team, as that alone could have sent the Bears into another lengthy losing streak.

This was one of those games where you could talk about 10 things, as there were plenty of things to take away from this game. Most of those takeaways are going to be positive, but there are still some negatives that this team must address in the coming weeks if they want to become serious threats in the NFC. For now, Chicago is going to enjoy another win as they didn't get their fifth win until week 18 last season.

Here are three takeaways from the Bears' win:

It's time to fix special teams

For the most part, the Bears have had solid special teams during the Ryan Poles era, but this season is not one of those years. Tory Taylor is having a down season compared to his rookie campaign, while Cairo Santos has struggled to make kicks consistently all season, and you saw that again today as he missed another kick.

The miss wasn't on him as the Bengals found a way to block his would-be field goal, but what was an issue today was the Bears' return coverage in the kicking game as Chicago was gashed on several plays. Not only did Samaje Perine have several big returns in the game, but Charlie Jones took the opening kickoff of the game 98 yards to the house to open what was an exciting display of offensive firepower.

For a defense that has struggled to find consistency this season, failing to limit return yardage puts the defense in a tough spot, and the Bears' special teams didn't do the defense any favors today. This has been an ongoing issue for far too long this season, and unless the Bears address this issue, things are going to get worse before they improve.

The rookies stole the show

Of all the positive performances in this game, it's hard to ignore the job the rookies did as both Kyle Monangai and Coleston Loveland came up huge. This was the coming-out party for both players, and after this performance, it only seems logical that both will play important roles in the team's offense going forward.

Take Loveland, for example, who the Bears took with their first round selection in this year's draft. He was supposed to be paired up with Cole Kmet to form one of the better tight end rooms in the NFL. Instead, Kmet has underperformed this season while Loveland has only been used sparingly at best.

With Kmet injuring himself during Sunday's game, not only did Loveland take on a bigger role, but he proved what he can do for this offense, leading the Bears with 118 yards receiving. He also added a pair of second-half touchdowns for his first two scores of the season, including his big 58-yard game-winner in the closing seconds to lift the Bears to the victory.

The same can be said about Monangai, who was named the starter on Friday after D'Andre Swift was ruled out with an injury. Monangai has seen his workload start to increase over the past two weeks, but none of what he has done in those two weeks came close to what he did on Sunday, rushing for a career-high 176 yards and proving he can shoulder a bigger workload.

Bears should be buyers on Tuesday

With another win, the Bears have improved to 5-3 on the season, and are right in the thick of things in the NFC North. In fact, their win, combined with both the Lions' and Packers' losses, has them within 0.5 games of sole possession of first place in the NFC North race, which should be fun down the stretch.

The Bears have also put themselves in a position to add to their roster during the trade deadline on Tuesday; from all accounts, they should be buyers in some aspect. According to reports coming out of Halas Hall on Sunday, Chicago is not only expected to explore the trade market but is also expected to be an active buyer and could be one of the more aggressive teams come the deadline. It's a nice change in pace from what we have seen with this team, as Chicago has a bright future ahead of it.