Bears supporters were stunned by Roschon Johnson’s massive block, which eliminated two Vikings defenders.
During Monday Night Football, Roschon Johnson had a quiet night on the ground as the Bears defeated the Vikings 12–10. However, when Minnesota elected to blitz two defenders through Chicago’s interior offensive line, the rookie from Chicago had a huge impact on a single play. Johnson, who was in pass protection during the play, destroyed both Minnesota defenders, including Pro Bowl safety Harrison Smith, with a thunderous block.
Picking up a defender in pass protection is one thing, but taking out a team’s blitz package in one fell swoop is quite another. That is precisely what Johnson accomplished with a block that allowed Fields to look down the field on a night when downfield chances were scarce. Bears supporters adored it.
Like this one, a lot of Bears supporters probably want to see Johnson start at running back. With 15 touches and 75 scrimmage yards on Monday night, he definitely deserves more chances. However, it’s plays like this one that aren’t recorded on the stat sheet that will probably make the coaching staff even more fond of Johnson.
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The Atlanta Falcons’ victory over the New Orleans Saints has put them in the lead in the NFC South division. However, the Falcons still have objectives to meet with six games remaining.
Calais Campbell declared following the victory, “I think this game is always going to be a big game just because of the rivalry.” This was a crucial game, and we were aware of its potential for us given where we are in the season and how things have gone thus far. This team, in my opinion, has been underachieving for a while. We have the potential to play so much better than we have. However, none of that matters anymore. We must continue moving forward, constructing on it, and stacking victories.”
After their week off, the Falcons’ record was 4-6, good for second place in the division behind only the Saints. Atlanta faltered after starting the season 2-0 and dropped six of their next eight games, including a run of three straight losses. Despite this, they moved up to the top of the division with a victory on Sunday, partly because of their perfect record against NFC South opponents.
The quarterback position wasn’t changed until after halftime of the Falcons’ Week 8 loss to the Tennessee Titans, when Heinicke replaced Ridder on the bench. Nevertheless, the Falcons were unable to mount a successful comeback against the Titans despite having a new quarterback in place. They also lost to the Minnesota Vikings and Arizona Cardinals while letting leads slip away.
Heinicke was out due to a hamstring injury during the Cardinals game that preceded the bye week, so Ridder saw his first action since being benched. Even though the Falcons lost to the Cardinals in the end, Ridder’s performance in the off-season was strong enough to earn him a starting position again after the bye week.
While Ridder’s first start since being benched did see him throw two interceptions in the win over the Saints, he did show flashes of the Falcons’ hopes he could be their long-term starter, like his early 25-yard completion off play-action to Drake London, and his 26-yard touchdown pass to Bijan Robinson that extend Atlanta’s lead to 21-12.
