Bears fans pick BGO's Player of the Game after wild Week 9 victory over Bengals

Fans will not soon forget the Chicago Bears' thrilling 47-42 win over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday afternoon.

Too many times the team has thrown away seemingly sure wins, and it looked like their Week 9 tilt was going to be the latest entry in a long line of dumbfounding losses. But they overcame a fourth quarter meltdown to salvage their win and improve to 5-3.

Plenty of players played key roles in the game, but only one can be named Player Of The Game. Here are the nominees, and Bears fans' choice for the winner:

Colston Loveland, TE

When the Bears drafted Loveland with the No. 10 overall pick, fans envisioned an athletic receiver who could help Caleb Williams attack the middle of the field. When head coach Ben Johnson compared him to Lions tight end Sam LaPorta, expectations for the rookie jumped again. But Loveland didn't have many opportunities to show what he could do over the first half of the season.

That all changed in Week 9. Williams targeted Loveland seven times, and the two connected for six receptions. That resulted in 118 yards and two touchdowns. Every single one of those stats led the team.

Each touchdown was also critical in the Bears' win. The first came on a third-and-goal play from the six-yard line, moments after the Bears took a delay of game penalty to push them back from the doorstep of the end zone. Loveland got open with a great release, Williams found him, and the offense erased the bad penalty.

The second touchdown will be featured on Bears highlight reels for years to come. The Bears had just given up 15 points in 49 seconds to relinquish a seemingly safe lead, and they needed a last-ditch effort to salvage the win. The drive started out rocky, with two incompletions before Williams ran for 14 yards on a 3rd-and-10 play. Then, Williams and Loveland connected again in the middle of the field. Loveland bounced off a defender and outran everyone else for a 58-yard touchdown. It put the Bears back up five points with under 15 seconds to play.

The performance from Loveland couldn't have come at a better time, too. Second-year wideout Rome Odunze had been the focal point of the Bears' passing attack, but on Sunday, he simply didn't have it. Veteran tight end Cole Kmet left the game with an injury in the first half. Luther Burden was ruled out before the game with a concussion. The Bears needed someone to step up, and Loveland answered the call.

Kyle Monangai, RB

Like Loveland, Monangai impressed as a rookie over the summer, but didn't have many opportunities to show what he could do when the regular season started. Over the first seven games of the year, starting running back D'Andre Swift had taken advantage of the improved offensive line, showed off clear improvements he made in his own game, and had become the identity of the offense.

In fact, after missing the Bengals game, Swift's 656 yards from scrimmage still lead the entire team. But with Swift sidelined due to a groin injury, Monangai filled in as the starting back, and the offense didn't miss a beat.

Monangai carried the ball 26 times for 176 yards and caught three passes for another 22 yards. He not only started, he was the focal point of the offense-- just like Swift had been before him. It doesn't show up on the stat sheet, but the rookie fared well in pass protection when asked to pick up the blitz, too.

Johnson gave Monangai the full responsibility of replacing Swift and all that he brings to the team, and Monangai didn't let him down.

Caleb Williams, QB

Don't listen to the broadcast crew. Williams played well on Sunday and elevated his game in the most significant moments.

Williams was criticized for inaccurate throws and holding onto the ball on Sunday, and to a degree, that criticism was fair. Williams wasn't pixel-perfect with every one of his passes, and sometimes he tried to extend plays too long when he should've given up sooner. But Williams was incredible when the Bears needed him the most.

We already discussed the third-and-six play where Williams found Loveland for an important red zone touchdown. And the heroic play to win the game, where Williams threw an unbelievable pass, was executed while being layered between four defenders.

We have not yet discussed his work as a receiver, though. Williams caught **two** passes on Sunday: the first for a touchdown on fourth-and-one and the second on a razzle-dazzle screen throw from Tyson Bagent that went for 20 yards. The screen was more flashy and fun, but the touchdown was obviously far more critical as it helped the team keep pace with the Bengals in a shootout, with no room for error.

Williams hardly made any costly errors over the course of the game. He finished the day 20-34 for 280 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions. That was good for a 114.8 passer rating. And again, despite what you heard, he did a good job of scrambling when he needed to and picked up 53 more yards on the ground.

DJ Moore, WR

Moore is listed as a wide receiver, but that designation should probably be changed to "athlete" because he's doing everything for the Bears right now. Moore, of course, catches passes and had four receptions for 72 yards against the Bengals. Every single one of those receptions went for a first down.

This season, Moore has started to work more as a running back, and that continued on Sunday. Moore took one carry for 17 yards and a touchdown as he stretched the ball over the goal line just before going down.

The team added another task to his job description on Sunday: quarterback. On a critical fourth-and-one play, Moore and Odunze each ran end-around motions. Williams flipped the ball to Odunze, who flipped the ball to Moore. The do-it-all wide receiver nimbly avoided a defender, then threw the ball back to Williams-- who got wide open in the end zone with all the misdirection-- for a touchdown.

Read more: 4 Bears had career-defining games in insane 47-42 win vs. Bengals

That was Moore's third pass attempt of his career, and his first completion, and it was a big one.

YOUR WINNER: