The Bears had to win ugly Sunday and maybe needed some good luck in Las Vegas, but they got it done. They held off the Raiders 25-24 thanks to Josh Blackwell’s blocked field goal in the final minute for their second win in a row heading into their bye week.

Three moments that mattered

1. Well, well, Josh Blackwell!: It looked like the Raiders and two-time All-Pro kicker Daniel Carlson were going to break the hearts of the Bears and their fans. The Raiders lined up for a go-ahead, 54-yard field goal try with 38 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Special teams ace Josh Blackwell flew around the edge and made a leaping block of Carlson’s kick, preserving the Bears’ first road win of the season.

2. D’Andre Swift to the end zone: The Bears engineered a fourth-quarter comeback with running back D’Andre Swift capping an 11-play, 69-yard drive by winning a race to the left pylon from 2 yards out with 1:34 left in the game. It was Swift’s first TD of the season, and capped a Caleb Williams-engineered drive that took five minutes and 11 seconds off the clock.

3. Kmet, kerplunk: Trailing the Raiders 7-3 early in the second quarter, the Bears had their best drive of the game going. On first-and-10 from the Raiders 24, Williams threw a strike to tight end Cole Kmet around the 5. Kmet peeked at the end zone and dropped the ball. If he catches it, he may score. Instead, a botched handoff and a sack followed, and the Bears punted, leaving a minimum of three points on the field. The drop helped sum up the first half for the Bears’ offense.

Three things that worked

1. Inspired by Kevin Byard: Bears safety Kevin Byard III apparently has been sipping from the fountain of youth. His two first-half interceptions of Raiders QB Geno Smith gave the 32-year-old three in the Bears’ past three quarters. The 10-year pro had one interception in 17 games in his first season with the Bears last year. Byard missed an open-field tackle at the Bears 25 on Ashton Jeanty’s 64-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, but the Bears forced three turnovers in the half and four in the game. Byard also had a tackle for loss.

2. Cairo Santos redemption: The veteran kicker struggled enough in the Bears’ first two games that the team signed former 49ers kicker Jake Moody to the practice squad. Santos helped a discombobulated Bears offense produce points multiple times after it looked like the visitors would come away with zero points. Santos went 4 for 4 on field-goal tries – all from long range. He connected from 46, 43, 52 and 51 yards.

3. Caleb, clutch: Looking to build off his 298-yard, four-TD passing effort against Dallas, Williams, the reigning NFC Offensive Player of the Week, looked uncomfortable in the pocket most of the game, especially with Raiders pass-rush star Maxx Crosby breathing down his neck all day. But when it mattered late, the Bears QB delivered. He led the late-fourth-quarter drive that gave the Bears the lead. He completed 4 of 5 passes for 37 yards on the drive, and had 12- and 6-yard gains on scrambles.

Three things that didn’t

1. Maxx Crosby game plan: The Raiders’ four-time Pro Bowl defensive end wreaks havoc against everybody, but the guy who has “XX” in his first name played like a Super Bowl XX Bear in the first half alone. Crosby had three tackles for loss, his first career interception and a forced fumble against a Bears O-line missing right tackle Darnell Wright, who was inactive (elbow). The Bears had no answer for Crosby, whose dominance helped the Raiders limit the Bears to three field goals in the first half. He knocked down another pass early in the fourth quarter.

2. Run defense: Raiders rookie running back Jeanty, the No. 6 pick in the draft, had only 144 rushing yards in his first three games. Leave it to the Bears’ porous run defense to awaken him. Jeanty’s 64-yard TD run in the second quarter put the Raiders up 14-6. He finished with his first 100-yard game as a pro, rushing 21 times for 138 yards. He also caught TD passes of 8 and 9 yards.

3. Run game: The Bears and Williams won’t maximize their offensive potential until they get this figured out. For the fourth straight game, their inability to consistently run the football forced them to become one-dimensional, thus putting all the pressure on their young QB to move the team downfield. The Bears rushed for 69 yards (2.7 per carry). At one point early in the second quarter, they had six rushes for minus-seven yards.

What’s next?

The 2-2 Bears have a bye week before traveling to the nation’s capital the following weekend. They will play the Washington Commanders on Monday Night Football at 7:15 p.m. Oct. 13 at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland, the site of last year’s “Failed Mary” on the final play of the game that eventually helped lead to the in-season firing of head coach Matt Eberflus.