Locker room interviews with Odunze, Moore and Sweat |
CHICAGO - The shock and disappointment was palpable in the locker room after Chicago’s 20-19 loss to the Green Bay Packers following kicker Cairo Santos’ 46-yard field goal getting blocked.
Edge rusher Montez Sweat reflected on the Bears' crazy season, during which they have lost games on a hail mary and a blocked field goal. However, he also blamed the defensive line, as they allowed 106 total rushing yards and only recorded one sack throughout the game. “It’s been a crazy year. A couple of these things that’s just been happening this year has never happened to me in my career and it’s happening multiple times within the year. It’s just kind of crazy,” Sweat said. “We just got to be better up front. The rush lanes were breaking down a little bit. We got to have a better chip plan, just a lot of things that we could be more detailed on. Just didn’t get the job done today.” Offensively, things did take a step in the right direction despite the loss. Rookie quarterback Caleb Williams had 231 passing yards, his most since Sun. Oct. 6, when the Bears defeated the Carolina Panthers. Running back D’Andre Swift had over 70 rushing yards as did Williams. Two different wide receivers - rookie Rome Odunze and DJ Moore - recorded over 60 receiving yards. Tight end Cole Kmet and receiver Keenan Allen had over 40 receiving yards. In terms of ball distribution, this game was perhaps the best Chicago has had all season. “Energy was out there, moving the ball. Everybody was involved. So, that was the best thing … “We (were) winning versus man and when it was on, we (were) winning versus zone,” Moore said. “Just the way the flow of the game was going, (interim offensive coordinator Thomas Brown) did a good job just calling it … There’s a lot of positive out there. Just so happened that Cairo got his kick blocked today and we (are) going to back (kicker) Cairo (Santos), but we could have (done) more tonight.” Odunze has proven why Chicago selected him at No. 9 overall. He was the leading receiver in this game with 65 yards. Of those 65 yards, 37 of them came on the final drive of the game. On third and 19, Odunze had a 16-yard reception to make fourth down manageable. On that fourth down play, he picked up 21 yards to get Chicago instead of Green Bay territory. While the loss was surely frustrating for him, Odunze said he will use it as motivation for future games as Chicago looks to build on their improvements in this game. “It’s definitely frustrating. It takes a toll on you for sure, especially the way I feel like the attitude we had going into this game and the way that we played. I feel like we played a tough game and fought to the end. So, for that to be the outcome, it stings. It definitely stings. So, it’s one of those losses you carry with you and you use (as) motivation for the next week,” Odunze said. “We made improvements. We were able to move the ball a good bit down the field, score some touchdowns, make some plays. So, being able to do that is important going forward.” Chicago will look to end its four-game losing streak against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, Nov. 24 (Noon / FOX). The Bears, who are the only team in the NFC North with a losing record, need this win to try to stay competitive.
