Kahlil Bell
First impression is the last impression as it happens to be the case with Kahlil Bell of Chicago Bears, a match between Philadelphia Eagles and Chicago Bears in NFL played last night at Soldier Field in which Eagles beat Bears (24-20). Bell failed to collect a flat pass from Jay Cutler in the first NFL snap of his career. On the contrary during his second snap the rookie running back from UCLA raced up the middle for 72 yards.
It was not a good night for his team but certainly he did something which he will remember for a long time. Bell’s run was the longest on a first carry for any NFL running back since Alan Ameche of the Baltimore Colts in 1955. In 20 years it was the longest run for a Bears running back. In four carries Bell finished with a team high 81 yards. He said,
“I felt a lot of times in college I was overlooked, in the NFL draft I was overlooked, Being a free agent, I kind of felt like I had to work my way from the bottom to the top. … Just been working hard and trying to do my job, and the coaches gave me an opportunity.Being a free agent, I kind of felt like I had to work my way from the bottom to the top. … Just been working hard and trying to do my job, and the coaches gave me an opportunity.”
When only 12 minutes, 2 seconds left in the second quarter he was sent to the field and for his misery he instantly dropped a pass from Jay Cutler. He said,
“I actually dropped that pass in practice (last) week. I told Jay I was sorry because you can’t be dropping passes when coaches give you the opportunity. But a lot of times when you play football, things don’t work out as you want to, but you can’t dwell on it.”
Well if Bears need to improve their ground attack average which is now ranked 30th in league at just 85.2 yard per game, they need to have fit and able running backs to their squad. Most amazingly Bell’s one run matched that average. Bell said,
“It’s just a blessing to be in this situation, but as much as it is a blessing, it’s also nice to win football games. We’re going to go back to the drawing board and see what we can do to win.”
