It looked like the Chicago Bears were going to lose to the Las Vegas Raiders before Josh Blackwell got his hands on the potential Daniel Carlson game-winning kick. While the block was shocking to the Raiders, some Bears fans could have seen it coming.
Chicago Bears are getting a lot out of Josh Blackwell
This is not the first time that Blackwell has been a special teams star for the Bears, either. While it was a longer time in actual months, it was only five games ago when Blackwell returned a kick for the team against the Green Bay Packers to close out the 2024 season. With Blackwell blocking a kick and returning a kick, it shows that he has value in all areas of special teams.
Ryan Poles gets criticized by Bears fans a lot, but Blackwell is a great find. He is not just an undrafted free agent that Poles added; he was an undrafted free agent on the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles cut him after his first preseason, and Poles put a claim in for him.
It was the first year of the rebuild, so Poles had to be scouring other rosters to find the best talent for his team. Still, getting a hit like that when he had limited time on an NFL field is something.
Blackwell ended up playing a good bit in his first three seasons due to injuries to Kyler Gordon and others. However, this year it is notable that newcomer Nick McCloud is starting with Gordon banged up, and Blackwell has not been able to get on the field defensively for new coordinator Dennis Allen.
Considering Blackwell would have been a third-string slot cornerback, he only made the roster because they saw value in him on special teams. Either that, or they knew Gordon would miss this much time.
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Either way, it was very possible the team would have cut Blackwell this offseason. Losing Blackwell would have gone completely unnoticed on the day of roster cutdowns, but keeping him in the mix may have won them a game. Are they 1-3 if one small roster move happens?