Breaking down one of the greatest plays in Chicago Bears History: "The First Down"

In the long and storied history of sport, there are certain simple yet iconic words that can convey an image and take us to a particular time and place.

"The Catch"; Montana to Clark and San Fran for the win!

"The Catch"; Old schoolers like myself may remember the baseball catch from Willie Mays robbing the Cleveland Indians.

"The Drive"; Elway takes his team 98 yards to tie the AFC Championship game against the Brown.

"The Shot"; MJ breaking Cleveland's hearts...

"The Fumble"; Cleveland's Earnest Byner is about to score the tying TD when he fumbles on the goal line!

"The Decision"; LeBron spurns his hometown Cavs for South Beach.

Wow, Cleveland sure has had some crappy moments in sports!

"The Fridge"; Only the greatest defensive tackle/running back in the history of the NFL.

All of those fantastic words bring up so many fantastic memories, but we'd argue that another cataclysmically important moment in sport belongs right up there with those. We present to you;

"The First Down"

Allow us to paint the picture for you. Our beloved Monsters of the Midway were clinging to a slim three point lead late in the 4th quarter in the all important preseason opener against the Philadelphia Eagles. If you remember correctly it was a mere 8 months ago when the Eagles whipped up on our Beloved in a game many of us have tried to forget.

The Chicago Bears had revenge on their minds last Friday night and it was up to Jordan Lynch to ensure a victory for the Navy and Orange.

He did just that.

With determination in his heart, Lynch picked up that 3rd and 5 like an All Pro. He displayed the grit of a Chicago guy, the speed of a tailback, the power of a fullback and most importantly, he displayed The Will To Win. I don't know about you, but after talking it over with the other Superfans, we've decided that a team full of Jordan Lynch's could become Super Bowl champs.

Lynch's 12 yard scamper may be the greatest 12 yard run in the history of the franchise. His move the chains 3rd down run not only kept the offense on the field, but it gave Robbie Gould the necessary yards for a chip shot field goal.

We asked long time WCG guy Lester A. Wiltfong Jr. to break down the play above.

The Bears came out in 11 personnel (1 running back, 1 tight end) with two wide outs to the left and one wide out just outside the tight end to the right. The play called is a crack toss left to Lynch. It looks like #13 Dale Moss is split wide left for the Bears and it's his job to crack-back on the first second level Eagle defender he sees. Since Philly brought the safety up as an 8th in the box and moved the linebacker into the gap, he correctly hit the safety.

The inside left wide receiver -- it looks like it's #18 Michael Spurlock -- is supposed to block down on the outside linebacker (#57), while the Bears left tackle (#78 James Brown) pulls to the left. Spurlock completely whiffs on his man, granted he's outweighed by 45 pounds, but he just plays patty-cake on his way by.

Brown is nearly tripped up by the safety, but he manages to get to the edge and seal off the Philly corner, giving Lynch a lane to run through. Lynch does a good job staying patient before cutting up off Brown's butt.

Veteran center Dylan Gandy (#71) was blown back five yards. Left guard Joe Long (#79) gave up too much ground. Rookie right guard Ryan Groy (#53) nearly held on the play while trying to pick up the backside linebacker. And I was a little surprised that rookie right tackle Charles Leno Jr. didn't cut his man as the zone blocking scheme is often known for the backside linemen cutting down defenders.

As you can tell from Wiltfong's analysis, Lynch damn near picked up the 12 yards all by himself.

We're just really excited to see the kid move up the depth chart and eventually replace Matt Forte as the #1 halfback. We're realistic however. We realize the kid will have to work his way into the featured role. We figure Lynch starts off as Forte's back up this year, then when Forte's contract runs out after the 2015 season, Lynch will be ready to take over.

The only thing stopping us from ordering a slew of Jordan Lynch #36 jerseys is we're worried he'll change his number once he makes the final 53 man roster.