Blocked! Bears stun Raiders with last-second field goal block

Kiyoshi Mio - USA Today Sports

Dustin Riese · Senior Writer · 2 hours ago

LAS VEGAS - Perhaps all the years of bad luck are starting to change for the Chicago Bears (2-2) as they moved back to .500 with a huge road win. Facing off against an underrated Las Vegas Raiders (1-3) squad at Allegiant Stadium, the Bears had to come from behind late, as they trailed the Raiders 21-16 entering the fourth quarter.

After Caleb Williams and the offense did their part to take a 25-24 lead, it was up to the Bears' defense to hold tough as one more stop would give them the win. Instead, Geno Smith and the Raiders offense moved the ball into field goal range, setting up what would be a game-winning field goal from Daniel Carleson. Josh Blackwell had other ideas as the defensive back came through with a massive block to end the game, helping the Bears prevail 25-24.

When you look at how things started for both teams, this was about as sloppy as things could get, with three of the first four possessions resulting in turnovers. Two of those came from the Raiders as Kevin Byard picked off Smith on their first possession before Ashton Jeanty coughed up the ball on their second possession.

Unfortunately for the Bears, they were only able to capitalize on one of those two turnovers, with Cairo Santos opening the scoring with a 46-yard field goal. Meanwhile, Williams was intercepted by Maxx Crosby following the fumble, setting the Raiders offense up in a great spot.

That is when the running game got rolling for the Raiders, as Jeanty started to churn out yards that he had not in the first three weeks, while a massive 20-yard scamper by Smith moved the Ball inside the Bears' 10. That duo was only getting started as Smith found Jeanty for an eight-yard touchdown to give the Raiders a 7-3 lead. It was the first of three touchdowns for Jeanty on the day, marking his breakout game of 2025.

As bad as the Bears' offense looked in the early going, it was their defense that kept things close with Byard coming down with his second interception of the half, resulting in another Santos field goal. Leave it to the Bears' defense to make Jeanty look good, as the rookie had next to nothing in terms of success over the first three weeks.

Already with one touchdown under his belt, Jeanty broke through following the Bears' second field goal to rip off the longest run of his NFL career to go 64 yards to the house. Jeanty finished the day with 138 yards on 21 carries, as this was the game the Raiders had been waiting for. In desperate need of some late life, Williams took to the air late in the first half as he found Cole Kmet for a nice first-down catch.

Kmet finished with 46 yards on three receptions, which was good for the second-most yards on the team. Another first-down pass to Rome Odunze moved the ball into Raiders territory, where Santos knocked home a 52-yarder to make this a 14-9 game at the half. For Chicago to make the kind of run they expect to make, it is going to come down to the defense to get the job done, and with Tyrique Stevenson coming down with the Bears' third interception on the first play of the second half, Chicago was gifted with another short field as they looked to retake the lead.

Unlike the previous few times when Chicago could only manage a field goal, it was the offense that got the job done. Williams not only found DJ Moore for another big first down but also went to his go-to guy, Odunze, for the 27-yard strike to give Chicago a 16-14 lead. For Odunze, that marked his fourth touchdown in five games, leading the NFL, while he continues to be the top option for Williams with four catches for 69 yards.

Looking to respond after giving the ball away again, the Raiders offense put together by far their best drive of the game, going 80 yards on 10 plays. Jeanty continued to lead the way on offense, picking up 25 yards on three carries, which set things up for Smith to find Brock Bowers for the 19-yard pickup. Jeanty continued to do most of the heavy lifting for the remainder of that drive, including hauling in his second touchdown pass of the game to give Vegas the 21-16 advantage.

With both teams exchanging field goals early in the fourth to keep Vegas on top 24-19, the pressure was back on the Bears' offense as they had a chance to finish things off. At some point, their running game needs to get rolling, as D'Andre Swift led the Bears with 38 yards in what was a 69-yard performance on just 2.7 yards per carry. The lack of a rushing attack puts more pressure on Williams, who, despite having an overall strong game with 212 yards and a touchdown, doesn't want all the pressure on him.

To compensate for the poor rushing attack, Williams has opted for a short passing game, as it works just as well as runs. Eventually, that leads to things opening up with Moore coming away with a clutch 13-yard completion to keep the chains moving. That was only the start of what wound up being an 11-play drive as Williams and company moved the ball inside the five before Swift plowed in from two yards out to put the Bears on top 25-24 and just under two minutes to go.

Needing a field goal to win this game, the Raiders came out aggressively with Smith connecting on three straight passes for 19 yards as the Raiders were inching closer to field goal range. Following a pair of Jeanty runs, the time was now as Carleson trotted out to try a game-winning 54-yard attempt. Special teams has haunted this team for many years, but on this day, it was the special teams that saved them as Blackwell came through with one of the biggest plays of his career, blocking the would-be field goal to give the Bears a 25-24 road win.