It's difficult to express how many different ways there are to win a football game in the NFL, but the Chicago Bears seem determined to discover every one of them. From Josh Blackwell's blocked field goal to Caleb Williams hitting Colston Loveland for a 58-yard touchdown, the Bears continue to keep their fans in suspense until the clock hits double-zeroes.
They did it again in Week 11 against their division rival, the Minnesota Vikings. Despite leading for most of the game, the Bears collapsed in a frighteningly similar manner as their Week 1 loss to the Vikings, allowing Minnesota to take a one-point lead with under a minute remaining. It looked like Bears fans would be treated to some more Caleb Williams heroics, but he ended up being almost unnecessary.
Return specialist Devin Duvernay took the ensuing kickoff 56 yards into the fringe of Cairo Santos' field goal range. A couple of run plays later, Santos booted an epic game-winning field goal.
Devin Duvernay with a big return for the Bears!
CHIvsMIN on FOX/FOX One+https://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/VnO79mQPYw
— NFL (@NFL) November 16, 2025
Fans and analysts around the league were impressed by the Bears' resiliency after this astonishing 19-17 win, but at least one man didn't think too much of what Chicago did to secure the victory. Vikings special team coordinator Matt Daniels spoke to the media on Tuesday, and Duvernay's fantastic kick return came up. Daniels did not hold back and dished out a shockingly disrespectful take on the play, saying, "It could have been anybody, if you got a son or anybody, all he did was just catch and run back to the field."
#Vikings special teams coordinator Matt Daniels says “anybody” could’ve done what Devin Duvernay did on the #Bears final kick return, and it was more so on Minnesota’s mistake than Chicago’s scheme:
“I've been in the league now eight years, played football a long time in this… pic.twitter.com/P6ME3SN6GJ
— VikingzFanPage (@vikingzfanpage) November 18, 2025
I get it. A loss like that had to sting, and Daniels probably caught a lot of flak on Monday and Tuesday for his unit allowing a big play like that. But this comment was unnecessary. For one thing, the Bears clearly had a plan for this return, made some excellent blocks, and Duvernay made the cuts he needed to. It wasn't like he strolled untouched into the endzone.
Second of all, is it really a better look for the special teams coordinator to say he and his unit utterly failed at their one job than to give Duvernay and the Bears some credit? If he wants to go this route, the Bears could just as easily say that anybody, anyone's son who is a quarterback in high school, could have made the go-ahead touchdown pass that J.J. McCarthy tossed to a wide (wide!) open Jordan Addison.
Plenty of NFL games come down to the wire, and it wasn't too long ago when the Vikings themselves were winning most of their games in dramatic, last-second fashion. So maybe Daniels should worry more about how his unit is going to prepare for the Green Bay Packers, who are coming off an ugly win against the 2-8 New York Giants, and less about how badly Duvernay smoked his kickoff unit.
Cairo Santo
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