MINNEAPOLIS — It could have been just idle words of encouragement that Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams offers to any random teammate he chats up before a game, but what he told kick returner Devin Duvernay turned out to be prescient.
“I told Duve, actually, right before the game, he was going to make a play for us this day. And he did just that.”
With the Bears down 17-16 with 50 seconds left in the game, Duvernay fielded Will Reichard’s 61-yard kickoff at his own 4-yard line, ran to the opposite side and up the right sideline for 56 yards to the Minnesota 40-yard line, where he was pushed out of bounds by linebacker Eric Wilson.
“Man, just a lot of green grass and (my) eyes lit up,” Duvernay said. “A moment to make a play.”
Four plays later, Cairo Santos booted a 48-yard field goal to seal the Bears’ 19-17 win, their fifth fourth-quarter comeback victory of the season.
“We absolutely needed that,” Bears coach Ben Johnson said about Duvernay’s kick return. “He had been waiting for one of those. He’s come really close a number of times and then he was able to capture it on the bounce there and got us right there on the cuff of field goal range.
“He got one of the game balls for that.”
Bears wide receiver Devin Duvernay returns a kickoff 56 yards to the Vikings 40-yard line late in the fourth quarter Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025, at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
It was the fifth time this season the Bears rallied in the fourth quarter to win. It was the second time this season that special teams came up with a special play to steal a victory.
In Week 4, Josh Blackwell blocked Las Vegas Raiders kicker Daniel Carlson’s 54-yard field goal try — about a minute after the Bears scored the go-ahead touchdown with 1:39 left — to preserve a 25-24 stunner at Allegiant Stadium.
Really, that’s where the “find a way” Bears began.
After blowing out the Dallas Cowboys 31-14, the Raiders game was the first in which the Bears offense, defense or special teams turned what looked like certain defeat into a surprise victory:
The defense’s late fumble recovery against the Washington Commanders.
Colston Loveland’s 58-yard touchdown catch to beat the Cincinnati Bengals.
Caleb Williams’ 17-yard scoring scramble to foil the New York Giants.
And on Sunday, it was Duvernay’s turn for theatrics.
“Honestly, I was just trying to get down the sideline, maximize the return, and just put ourselves in a great position to get some points to win the game,” he said. The return was Duvernay’s longest of the season and third-longest in his six-year career.
Fellow returner Blackwell made a key block on Tavierre Thomas to spring the return.
Blackwell said it was by design for Duvernay to run that way, and there was no way either was going to take a knee.
“I mean, there was nothing special to it, we’re going to run this play and this was going to happen,” Blackwell said. “We’re going to take it regardless.”
Duvernay said his eyes got wide when he saw Blackwell make his block: “It was drawn up perfect.”
Chicago Bears kicker Cairo Santos points to the sky after a third-quarter field goal during a game against the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium on Nov. 16, 2025, in Minneapolis. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)
Santos saw Duvernay’s return unfold, too, but he had a different thought running through his mind.
“Just prayers answered,” he said.
Earlier in the quarter, Santos missed a 45-yard attempt, wasting an eight-play, 38-yard drive and a chance to go up 19-10 with 8:13 left in the game.
The Vikings punted after taking over on their 35, but the Bears’ drive fizzled. On Minnesota’s next possession, J.J. McCarthy hit Jordan Addison in the end zone for the go-ahead score, 17-16.
“When they scored it’s kind of in my head, just talking to the Lord, just praying to get a chance to make the game-winning kick. So when I felt like Duvernay broke that (return), especially a game that we needed a big play on special teams, he came through.
“And those are answered prayers.”
It was almost special teams that cursed the Bears, and it would not have been the first time this season.
Flash back to the season opener, when Santos failed to send the kickoff out of the end zone to preserve clock, and the Vikings were able to return it, which helped them upset the Bears 27-24 at Soldier Field.
Santos’ miss wide left Sunday in Minneapolis was his fourth this season.
“I missed one after having been in a great rhythm all game, and just feel like it slipped from me there,” he said. On the final attempt, “I just had full confidence that I was going to put that ball through and find a way to bounce back from a previous miss.”
Santos added, “We just need to clean up a lot of special teams so we can help the team win in a bigger fashion.”
Later in the game, the punt coverage unit gave up Myles Price’s 43-yard return to the Bears 24-yard line.
Two plays later, Vikings running back Jordan Mason scooted in from 16 yards out to draw within 16-10.
Duvernay said the special teams group never lost heart.
“Game’s not over till it’s zero-zero-zero on the clock,” he said. “We’ve just got to keep playing the game … and we know our plays will come.”
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/16/chicago-bears-special-teams-devin-duvernay-cairo-santos/
