With the Chicago Bears on the verge of an epic collapse, their first-round rookie made the best play of his young career. Tight end Colston Loveland broke a tackle and raced for a 58-yard touchdown with 17 seconds to play to lift the Bears past the Cincinnati Bengals 47-42.
The play, that helped the Bears avoid an embarrassing loss, came after the Bears gave up 15 points in just over two minutes to blow a 14-point lead.
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The game looked to be well in hand with 5:03 left to play. Wideout DJ Moore scored on a 17-yard run to give Chicago a 14-point lead. Moore was initially ruled down at the 1-yard line, but a challenge by the Bengals resulted in Moore scoring the touchdown.
Bengals quarterback Joe Flacco managed to lead Cincinnati down the field on the next drive, but an interception near the goal line gave the Bears the ball back. Chicago wound up punting, and four plays later, Flacco found Noah Fant for a touchdown. The Bengals opted to go for 2 points and were successful, cutting the deficit to six.
With just 1:43 left to play and no timeouts left, the Bengals needed to recover an onside kick. Kicker Evan McPherson’s kick didn’t travel the necessary 10 yards, but it didn’t matter. The ball made contact with Bears linebacker Daniel Hardy’s foot. The Bengals grabbed the ball before Hardy could find it, giving Cincinnati a chance to win the game.
Cincinnati nearly pulled it off. Flacco led the team down the field, taking advantage of Bears penalties along the way. With 54 seconds left, Flacco found Andrei Iosivas in the end zone for the game-tying touchdown. McPherson hit the extra point to give the Bengals a one-point lead at 42-41 with under a minute to play. After leading by 14 points with two minutes to go, the Bears’ defense and special teams combined to blow the lead.
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But there was still some time left on the clock. Caleb Williams and the Bears took the field with 50 seconds to play hoping for a game-winning field goal. After two incomplete passes, Williams ran for a first down with a 14-yard pickup. The Bears reached their 42-yard line on the play, but needed to use their final timeout.
With the team still facing long odds, Williams found Loveland on a bullet pass to the middle of the field at the Bengals’ 36-yard line. The catch would have put the Bears in field-goal range, but Loveland didn’t let it come down to that. He shook off a tackle and rumbled all the way to the end zone, scoring with just 17 seconds left.
The Bengals had one more chance at a miracle comeback, but Flacco was intercepted by Nahshon Wright with four seconds left to clinch the Bears’ 47-42 win.
Loveland had plenty to celebrate even before his game-winning score. Earlier in the contest, the rookie scored his first career NFL touchdown.
That touchdown — a 5-yarder — came in the third quarter, and put the Bears ahead 24-20.
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Until Sunday, Loveland, the team’s first-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, had yet to deliver his breakout game in the NFL. The team was slowly working in the rookie, with veteran Cole Kmet getting the majority of the snaps at tight end early in the season.
That seemed to change in Week 8, as Loveland played more snaps than Kmet for the first time. It didn’t lead to a ton of production, as Loveland hauled in just three catches for 38 yards. Prior to Week 9, that was Loveland’s biggest yardage total in a game this season.
Kmet left Sunday’s game due to an injury, forcing the Bears to rely more on Loveland. He responded with the best game of his career, leading the team with six catches, 118 yards and two touchdowns — including the game-winner.
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Loveland was far from the only Bears rookie to turn in a tremendous performance in the win. Seventh-round running back Kyle Monangai ran for 176 yards in his first career start.
With the win, the Bears improved to 5-3 on the season. It hasn’t been the prettiest ride at times, with the Bears needing multiple last-minute comebacks to win games in 2025. Those were the types of games the team was famous for blowing under previous head coach Matt Eberflus, so it’s clear something has changed.
These Bears are far from perfect. But the team has shown growth under new head coach Ben Johnson, and Sunday’s game gave Bears fans a reason to believe in the future.
The circumstances that led to Loveland’s game-saving moment were less than optimal, but the rookie’s tackle-breaking score gave Bears fans something to dream on.