The Bears ‘slip-and-slide’ celebration of a win

CHICAGO – First there is the victory formation and then there is the victory celebration.

The Bears’ offense had both on their mind when they lined up for one last soggy snap on Sunday at Soldier Field.

“I think it was one of the O-line men. I heard it and I was, like, oh, yeah, everybody’s got to do it,” said quarterback Justin Fields of what was being discussed in the huddle ahead of the final play of the Bears’ 19-10 win over the 49ers. “So took the last snap and then we all just ran into the end zone and did that.

“So that was cool.”

What they did help to provide some of the lasting images of Week 1 in the NFL as the Bears conquered not only the Super Bowl contenders but also the conditions.

After the final kneel down, the offense sprinted to the endzone and in unison slid on the soaked grass in celebration of the victory. With a hefty amount of rain on the field, the players easily hydroplaned across the brand new Bermuda surface that was just installed at the venue.

Naturally, Fields was front and center for a lot of the photos as he was one of the first to get to the endzone and slid as far as anyone else.

After he was done, he posed for the fans in celebration of his first Week 1 victory of his career and one of the bigger surprises of the NFL’s opening weekend.

“That was awesome,” said Fields of the celebration with teammates. “That was a snapshot moment, for sure.”

Eventually, other members of the team joined in the fun as they celebrated just the second Week 1 win for the team in the past nine seasons. It was also their first opening week win at home since the 2013 season.

So a little “slip-and-slide” celebration was certainly in order.