The Bears' special teams were less than special against Bengals in Week 9

From a kicking perspective, the Bears also had a 47-yard field goal attempt get blocked just before halftime. They also missed another 47-yard kick before an offsides penalty allowed them to go for it on 4th and short. Cairo Santos might be the Bears all-time leader in career field goal percentage, but conversations will be had about the potential of moving forward with Jake Moody this week.

The Bengals' special teams play would've been heavily praised if they had found a way to steal the win at the end of the game. That's a clear demerit to the Bears unit, as they were playing extremely well at our expense.

While the special teams play was uncharacteristically bad yesterday, not all hope is lost. Their kick coverage team played much better in the second half, they had a big return that got called back due to a penalty, and Tory Taylor hit a booming 69-yard punt (which was the longest of his career).

More importantly, the Bears also have a lot of good special teams players. Amen Ogbongbemiga, who is one of their aces on the kickoff coverage team, should be back in the lineup next week. Josh Blackwell, Elijah Hicks, Jahdae Walker, and Travis Homer all round out a solid core of players known for their ability to make plays in the third phase.

They do need to get into the lab this week, though. Special teams coach Richard Hightower needs to find answers to the equations the Bengals showed them, and he needs to do it quickly. NFL teams don't win many games when their play in the third phase is as glaringly bad as it was for Chicago yesterday.

A wins a win, and wins are hard to come by. The special teams performance deserves absolutely no credit for it, though.