Deonte Thompson’s 49-yard return of the opening kickoff set the offense up at midfield on the Bears’ first possession. After that non-drive resulted in a punt, Pat O’Donnell and the coverage unit combined to down the football at the Minnesota 7. O’Donnell and punt coverage was excellent, putting three of four punts down inside the Minnesota 20.
With the exception of an onside kick recovered by the Vikings late in the fourth quarter, Bears coverage units gave the Vikings an average starting point of the Minnesota 18 on six previous kicks.
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Robbie Gould got the first onside-kick recovery of his career when Sherrick McManis got to the recovery to set the offense up at the Chicago 47.
“It was something in our arsenal and we decided to execute that and get a big play for our offense. Robbie did a great job kicking it and I just had to make sure it went 10 yards,” McManis said.
After missing his last three field-goal attempts through the San Francisco and Washington games, Gould converted his only try Sunday, from 51 yards in the third quarter.
Moon's Grade: A