5 Chicago Bears who stepped up to beat Minnesota

2. Rashaad Coward

Talk about an unexpected player to step up when needed. Coming into the game, it had been known Kyle Long was struggling. An offseason scurry in camp had highlighted his slow start to the year. However, it was still a surprise to his name on the inactive list, as the team is hoping some rest can get him ready for a late-season run.

Still, even then Coward was an emergency player. The emergency came when Ted Larsen went out  with an injury. All of the sudden a player who was a former nose tackle, and only played right tackle in NFL action was sliding into right guard.

Larsen came back in for a little, but Coward played the majority of the offensive snaps, playing over 30 snaps total. Ok, the offense did not the set the world on fire. They struggled to run the ball. Still, this was a situation where disaster could have struck.

A backup quarterback with a legitimate third string guard who was learning on the fly against a talented defense could have had the Bears offense look like the Vikings did. Fortunately, Coward held up just enough that he was unnoticeable as a major issue. It was a commendable performance.