Bears vs. Jets Week 4: Kyle Monangai Bulldozes New York as Chicago Runs 89 Plays and Never Punts

The New York Jets ran 32 offensive plays on Sunday. The Chicago Bears picked up 34 first downs. Sit with that for a second, because it is the whole game in one sentence.

Kyle Monangai carried the ball 30 times for 146 yards and two touchdowns, Tyson Bagent threw for a career-high 268 yards in his first start since 2023, and the Bears smothered the Jets 23-12 at Soldier Field. Chicago is 3-1. New York is 1-3 and has now lost three straight since its opening win at Tennessee.

A Groundhog Day Afternoon at Soldier Field

The weirdness started on the first snap. Case Keenum, who had started and won the previous Monday night, lined up under center while Bagent split out wide, pitched to D'Andre Swift for 2 yards, and then handed the offense to Bagent. Coach Ben Johnson explained the bit: "It was like a ceremonial first pitch out there, handing off the torch."

The opening drive previewed Chicago's one real flaw. The Bears went 93 yards in 14 plays, had two apparent Swift touchdown runs wiped away by replay review, and turned it over on downs at the New York 1. Their next trip ended with Monangai getting hit short of the goal line on fourth down, spinning off the tackle and backing into the end zone for a 7-0 lead with 23 seconds left in the first quarter.

New York's lone first-half highlight belonged to Minkah Fitzpatrick, who jumped in front of Colston Loveland and intercepted Bagent early in the second quarter. That set up Jason Sanders' 36-yard field goal, and it also ended what the AP called the Jets' NFL-record interception drought at 20 games.

Chicago answered with Cairo Santos field goals of 30 yards with 2:29 left and again as time expired, the second set up by Bagent's 37-yard strike to Rome Odunze on third-and-5. By halftime the Bears had outgained New York 274-34, according to the team, and led only 13-3.

A Swift fumble early in the third quarter gave the Jets life at the Chicago 28, but they settled for Sanders' 30-yarder. The Bears responded with a 72-yard march that ended in Monangai's 5-yard touchdown, and Santos added a 21-yarder for a 23-6 lead.

Geno Smith briefly made it interesting with a 58-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Williams, the first touchdown of Williams' career in his 27th game, per the AP. Sanders missed the extra point. Then Chicago took the ball with 9:16 left and never gave it back.

Monangai Ran Like He Was Being Paid by the Collision

Monangai's 30 carries were a career high, and it was the first two-touchdown game of his career, per the Bears. His fourth-down touchdown was pure stubbornness, and his fourth-quarter 26-yarder featured a stiff arm that should come with a warning label.

"Toward the end of the game, if they don't want to be out there anymore, you just keep running at them," Monangai said, "running at them, 4-yard gain, 4-yard gain, 20-yarder come out of nowhere, big play in the passing game, and then 4-yard gain, 4-yard gain, it gets tiring. So you definitely feel it."

His left tackle, Theo Benedet, put it in scouting-report terms: "He's just a low to the ground, ball of muscle that's just running people over every time."

Bagent went 25 of 34 with an interception and no touchdowns, but Odunze (six catches, 94 yards) and Luther Burden III (four for 63) kept the chains moving. "No flinch from him," Bagent said of Monangai. "He's been outstanding ever since he got here. Does the right thing."

The defense deserves its own paragraph. Devin Bush, Austin Booker and Dayo Odeyingbo each had a sack, and the Bears held New York to seven first downs and 157 total yards.

The 18-Play Eviction Notice

The defining moment came after Williams' touchdown. Chicago started at its own 9 with 9:16 to play and ran 18 plays for 76 yards, burning every remaining second. Monangai and Roschon Johnson pounded away, Bagent hit Loveland for 18 yards on third-and-5, and the Jets committed three defensive penalties on the drive that turned two third downs and a fourth down into fresh sets of downs, according to the team.

It was less a drive than a nine-minute victory lap, and New York's offense never saw the field again.

"When you see a guy running like that, as a play caller you just want to keep feeding him," Johnson said.

Numbers That Look Like Typos

• 34 vs. 32: Chicago's first downs against New York's total offensive plays. The AP said no team had more first downs than its opponent had plays since Pittsburgh's 43-0 win over Cleveland on Sept. 12, 1999.
• 0 punts: The Bears did not punt in a game for the first time since 2014, per the AP.
• 0 for 7: New York's third-down conversions, the first time since 1997 the Bears held an opponent without one, per the AP.
• 42:45: Chicago's time of possession.
• 2 of 7: Chicago's red zone touchdown rate, the lone smudge on an otherwise spotless shirt.

Three Quarterbacks, Three Wins, One Identity

Bagent became the third quarterback to win a game for Chicago in the first four weeks, following Caleb Williams in Week 1 and Keenum in Week 3, per the Bears. Caleb Williams missed his second straight game with a right hamstring injury. Whoever is under center, the formula has hardened: run it, keep running it, and let the defense, which has allowed 28 points in three games since the wild 59-37 opener at Carolina, clean up the rest.

The one worry is Monangai's thumb. He was dealing with an injury to it at the end of the game and said he would know more Monday. Chicago visits Green Bay next.

For the Jets, the problem is structural. Smith went 8 of 15 for 119 yards, was sacked three times, and spent most of the afternoon watching from the sideline. Fitzpatrick made 16 tackles, which tells you everything about where the ball was.

"When you have the discrepancy of 89 plays and 32 plays, it's something we have to look at and something we have to continue to work on," Jets coach Aaron Glenn said. New York also lost edge rusher Braiden McGregor to a chest injury and cornerback Jarvis Brownlee Jr. to a concussion before hosting Cleveland next Sunday.

Come and Stop Them

Monangai summed up Chicago's whole philosophy. "We all know that we're gonna run the football," he said. "We know it. The other team knows it." Then he delivered the kicker. "And we just say, 'you've gotta come stop us.'" On Sunday, the Jets could not, and they barely got the chance to try.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Postgame quotes as reported by the Associated Press and ChicagoBears.com.