The Chicago Bears earned a huge win on Thursday Night Football last week, topping the mighty Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Much of that gets credited to the outstanding play of their defense. A unit that held Brady and Co. to just 19 points. This after scoring 31 and 38 the previous two weeks. At the heart of this effort was their star safety Eddie Jackson.
While he didn’t have any big stats, it was evident throughout the game that Tampa Bay was wary of Jackson. How much so? Brady didn’ throw a single pass in his direction the entire night. Zero. The Bears safety made sure everybody knew that on Twitter after the game. In fact, he even let the Bucs themselves know it too.
Jackson was the player chosen to be mic’d up by the team for this pivotal game. He didn’t disappoint and there was tons of entertaining stuff to come out of it. Perhaps none more so that his series of jabs at the officials.
Example #1 – Eddie Jackson pleads for a one-time break
Jackson had an appropriate reaction when Kyle Fuller laid out Buccaneers running back Ke’Shawn Vaughn in the 2nd quarter. He loved the hit, but quickly became livid with the refs when it wasn’t ruled a fumble. Considering the number of times the Bears have had a takeaway called back due to ref calls, he didn’t mind accusing them of conspiracy.
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Example #2 – The Brady effect
He wasn’t done though. Later in the game, Bucs tight end Cameron Brate caught a pass over the middle. After the play, linebacker Danny Trevathan turned to ask for an offensive pass interference call. He believed Brate pushed off to gain separation. Jackson backed his teammate up, suggesting the refs were being a little too generous to Tampa because of who their quarterback was.
In the end, he got the last laugh. A rare Brady mental mistake by forgetting it was 4th down led to the Bears walking out of Soldier Field with a big win. With that, they could get a much-needed 10-day rest before heading off to Carolina for a tough matchup against a sneaky good Carolina Panthers team.
One can imagine Eddie Jackson doesn’t figure to stay quiet down there either. He’ll be chirping at anybody and everybody for 60 minutes. Another reason why it’s so easy to love him. Teddy Bridgewater probably won’t be throwing his way either.
