These 3 new Chicago Bears players came to play on SundayJosh De Lucaon September 12, 2022 at 11:00 am
The 2022 Chicago Bears kicked off the regular season on Sunday and it was exciting, to say the least. Before kickoff, everyone had a feeling that this was going to be a sloppy, low-scoring affair, due to the rough conditions.
Both teams had their fair share of the sloppy play but in the end, Matt Eberflus and the Chicago Bears walked off of Soldier Field undefeated.
Many different Bears stepped up on both sides of the ball but it was the newcomers who really secured this win for Chicago. It has only been one week but Ryan Poles seems to have signed and drafted a good group of players.
These are a few newcomers who didn’t back down and helped the Bears overcome a double-digit deficit and defeat the San Francisco 49ers.
Many Chicago Bears stepped up on Sunday but some newer faces came to play.
Dominique Robinson
Dominique Robinson is a 5th round rookie out of Miami (OH). As a day three draft pick out of a smaller division one program, Robinson was thought of as a “work in progress” who would need some time to develop before he would make an impact. This couldn’t have been further from the truth.
Robinson was all over the field on Sunday, racking up 7 total tackles (5 solos), and having a team-high 1.5 sacks. All things considered, Robinson might have been the most effective defensive lineman for the Bears all game.
Not many fans expected Robinson to make a big impact on Sunday but he showed out as a rotational pass rusher for the Bears.
Dante Pettis + Equanimeous St. Brown
I decided to combine both Dante Pettis and Equanimeous St. Brown into the same section because technically they only combined for 2 catches all game. However, those two catches were arguably two of the biggest plays in the game.
Let’s start with Dante Pettis. Like most of the other Bears’ pass catchers, he struggled early. Not too many pass catchers were able to make an impact because of the rainy conditions. Justin Fields only attempted 17 passes all game and only completed 8 of them.
Pettis broke the game open by making his lone grab in a scramble drill situation where Justin Fields found him wide open on the other side of the field. He made the most of this opportunity, making the catch and rumbling 51 yards into the endzone to get the Bears on the scoreboard.
Equanimeous St Brown also caught a touchdown on his only grab on a big 3rd down play early in the 4th quarter. This play was a huge momentum booster as it gave the Bears the lead with less than a quarter to play. St. Brown also made an impact in the blocking game, actually springing Pettis on his touchdown catch.
Jaquan Brisker
Jaquan Brisker also had an impactful game in the Bears’ secondary. Brisker recorded 4 tackles on Sunday with one of those being a big TFL. On top of that, he also recovered the first fumble of the 2022 season, stopping promising 49ers’ drive in its tracks.
Brisker also did his job in the passing game, as Trey Lance only had 164 yards passing and 0 touchdowns. Statistically, Brisker didn’t put the league on notice this week but he more than did his job and was a big leader of this stout Bears defense.