Defensive MVP: Roquan Smith
Roquan Smith wins yet another defensive MVP for the Bears defense, finishing with 12 tackles, two tackles for loss, and a sack. Smith continues to fill up the stat sheet, but his success has been nullified by the lack of success from the defense as a whole.
As mentioned earlier, the defense gave up a last-minute game-winning field goal after the Bears took a brief lead late in the fourth quarter. The unit is hurting, with the absences of both Mack and Jackson, but most of the Bears’ troubles defensively were self-inflicted. Several costly penalties ranging from offsides to pass interference and roughing the passer, the defense gave the Steelers a lot of help in scoring a season-high of 29 points.
Outside of Jaylon Johnson, the Bears’ secondary has been very underwhelming this season, and that trend continued this week. Most notably, Kindle Vildor was beaten on multiple critical plays. It feels like the tide is starting to turn in Chicago, and while the offense is getting better, the defense is regressing. Getting Jackson and Mack back will help, but it won’t compensate for all of the defense’s problems right now.
Special teams MVP: Deandre Houston-Carson
As much as I would love to give Carson a lot of credit for the scoop and score touchdown, he just picked up the ball and ran to the end zone untouched. It was a right play, right time moment, but it was still a big one and would have been a defining moment if the Bears won the game.