‘That’s a fun way to win a game’: Nick Foles’ familiar magic and 3 fourth-quarter TD passes spark the Chicago Bears’ comeback win

Sometimes it’s the little details, right?

Those quick conversations and last-second reminders.

A connection. A show of command. A brief but specific directive and the acknowledgment it was received.

It can make all the difference between exhilaration and anguish, between momentum and regression, between winning and losing.

Thus when the Chicago Bears broke the huddle with 2 minutes remaining Sunday in Atlanta and with another preposterous comeback victory suddenly within reach, quarterback Nick Foles made sure to grab receiver Anthony Miller’s attention.

The Bears had two plays called and were waiting to diagnose the Falcons defense. Foles knew if a blitz was coming and a deep shot to Miller was going to have any chance, they had to remain on the same page.

His directive was specific.

“Get to the ‘L,’ ” Foles ordered, “and it’ll be a pretty stiff ball.”

Miller headed to the slot on the left of the Bears formation, prepared to run a post route. Even before the snap, though, Foles had made the extra effort to make a play. He looked into the east end zone at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, at the bright red “ATL” painted into the turf behind the goal line, and gave Miller an exact destination to reach — in case of an emergency.

Just before the snap, with Foles knowing the Falcons were bringing the heat, he gave the “Kill!” command, transitioning the Bears to their alternate play. The Falcons indeed came with a zero blitz, six rushers coming at Foles like Black Friday shoppers storming the entrance to Target. Foles had 2.1 seconds after he took a shotgun snap before linebacker Mykal Walker blasted him on his right side.

A split-second earlier, with impressive alertness and poise, Foles launched a missile. Thirty-eight yards in the air, right toward his target.

Miller broke past cornerback Blidi Wreh-Wilson and ran under it, snaring it at the goal line and securing it as he slid — where else? — into that bright red “L.”

Touchdown.

That was the final scoring play in Sunday’s wild ride, the punctuation on a 30-26 Bears victory, the highlight that completed another fourth-quarter comeback from three scores down.

The imperfect Bears remain undefeated. And there’s a growing sense that, despite the many flaws in their first three performances, the team’s resolve and belief is propelling it.

“I don’t know what it is,” coach Matt Nagy said. “But there is something special about this team, and I love it. I’m proud of them.”

Foles was flat on his back when Miller made his catch.

“I knew, just in case I didn’t have time to get it off cleanly, he would be there,” Foles said. “That’s a fun way to win a game. When they bring one more than you can handle and we execute it.”

‘The right time’

When Sunday’s game began, Foles was in a ballcap with a clipboard, QB2 acting as a sideline support system for starter Mitch Trubisky. But early in the third quarter, with the Bears trailing an injury-ravaged Falcons squad 23-10, Foles received word from coach Matt Nagy that he was needed. Pronto.

That switch came immediately after a shaky Trubisky interception, a third-down shot over the middle to Jimmy Graham that was snatched by Wreh-Wilson, whom Trubisky never saw.

It was Trubisky’s fifth misfire on five third-down passes, and it led to a Falcons field goal.

Along with his own displeasure, Nagy sensed a lack of juice from the offense. His gut told him a change was imperative.

“That seemed like the right time,” Nagy said. “We were lacking a little bit of a rhythm. There wasn’t a lot of energy. There was just something missing.”

Coincidentally, at the end of the first half, Trubisky had his own deep shot to Miller, who was open for a possible 43-yard go-ahead touchdown. Miller ran almost the exact same route he executed for the winning score and got a step and a half of separation from cornerback Darqueze Dennard.

Trubisky, though, overshot the bomb by a yard.

Miller never got a finger on it.

A touchdown turned into a punt.

“Just missed it,” Trubisky said. “Those are the plays you’ve got to make, especially in a big situation right before the half.”

Sometimes it’s those little things, right?

One of those days

For Nagy, the flashbacks to 2019 had to be occurring, his starting quarterback failing to convert third downs, failing to push the offense into the end zone consistently, repeatedly failing to capitalize on game-changing opportunities.

Let’s face it. Sunday did not look like the Bears’ day — in so many ways.

The Bears had a second-quarter takeaway on a Khalil Mack strip-sack wiped away by a roughing-the-passer penalty against Mario Edwards Jr.

They committed 10 penalties in all, including another third-down roughing-the-passer foul on Akiem Hicks for, basically, landing on Matt Ryan too hard.

Kicker Cairo Santos yanked a 46-yard field-goal attempt to end the opening drive.

Pro Bowl punt returner Tarik Cohen blew out his ACL — on a fair catch.

They had two second-half touchdown passes overturned on replay review. One, to Allen Robinson, was instead ruled an interception. The other to Miller became an incompletion and a deflating turnover on downs.

It was the kind of afternoon when just about everything seemed to be going haywire, an off-kilter detour with the potential to trigger resignation for even the most resilient of teams.

Especially after the starting quarterback was benched in the third quarter of Week 3.

Yet somehow the Bears touched down at O’Hare International Airport on Sunday night with a 3-0 record because they found ways to make it their day.

“We’ve got a resilient group of guys whose faith never wavered,” said safety Tashaun Gipson, who sealed the win with an interception on the Falcons’ final drive. “When you sign up for this, you see the names on the paper and you see the accolades, but it’s the little things that make this group special.”

Faith

Foles is now part of that story, emerging off the bench Sunday to complete 16 of 29 passes for 188 yards with three touchdowns and an interception. With no signs of anxiety, he reminded the Bears to pick away at the Falcons’ lead little by little.

“It’s not really a pep talk,” he said. “It’s just keeping guys going, continuing to talk to them. I don’t really worry about the score because you can’t score 16 points with one throw. You can only score six. So I knew, hey, it’s one play at a time. This is what we’re seeing, this is what I’m thinking. Hey, be ready for this.”

Robinson and Miller made up for their overturned touchdown catches by scoring again during the comeback rally.

“It’s just about bouncing back and making the next play,” Robinson said.

The defense, even in a performance littered with uncharacteristic coverage lapses and tackling problems, held the Falcons scoreless on their final six possessions.

“We are not afraid to fight,” said Hicks, who had a sack and a half.

Yes, it’s important context that the winless Falcons started the day without four defensive starters and All-Pro receiver Julio Jones and lost standout defensive lineman Grady Jarrett to a hip injury. Furthermore, the Falcons’ late unraveling was both astounding and familiar after they blew a 19-point second-half lead in Week 2 against the Dallas Cowboys.

The coming days will feature another wave of reminders that the Bears still seem to be a middle-tier team that has benefited from a friendly September schedule. But the postgame vibes again pointed to a group that’s united and mentally tough and not fazed by much.

Said tight end Jimmy Graham: “It has truly taken everybody. It’s truly taken every player, every coach — offense, defense and special teams — to pull out these wins. And when you’re able to do things like this … that’s when you know you’re building something special.”