Bears game vs. Colts moves to 3:25 p.m.

Kickoff for the Bears-Colts game Sunday at Soldier Field was moved to 3:25 p.m. after a number of COVID-19 cases popped up around the NFL on Saturday.

The league announced the Bears game, which was originally scheduled for noon on CBS-Ch. 2, was moved to a later time slot because the Patriots-Chiefs game was going to be played on either Monday or Tuesday, depending how results panned out with further testing.

The NFL postponed the ChiefsPatriots game after “positive COVID-19 tests on both teams.” Patriots starting quarterback Cam Newton and Chiefs practice squad quarterback Jordan Ta’amu were both added to the NFL’s COVID-19 reserve list released Saturday afternoon.

The postponement is the second Week 4 game to be moved because of the coronavirus. The Titans’ outbreak — currently at 18 players and staff — pushed their game against the Steelers to a later date.

league’s nastiest defense in a raucous environment on a game-winning touchdown drive in the final minutes of an NFC playoff game.

Foles’ equanimity is natural and almost always noticeable. It was radiating again Sunday in Atlanta.

“Any calming presence that any player has in those moments definitely helps you out as a coach,” Nagy said this week. “I’ve always known that Nick has had that. … A lot of that is DNA. But he has also learned how to go about his own way of making it work.”

Thus, after Foles led his first two fourth-quarter touchdown drives and took over in position to lead the game-winning march, Nagy resisted his instinct to become more vocal and instructive during the decisive drive.

“He was just in his own zone,” Nagy said. “And I could tell not to mess with him. Just let him go. He’s in a good place right now.”

So much has been shared about Foles’ subsequent game-winning touchdown pass, the 28-yard deep shot to Anthony Miller, about how Foles anticipated a potential zero blitz and instructed Miller to steer his post route to the giant red “L” in the end zone.

That highlight has played on a loop in the Chicago area since Sunday with Foles diagnosing that blitz, calling an audible just before the snap and launching a strike to Miller while getting blasted by linebacker Mykal Walker. Miller snared the ball while sliding right into the very “L” to which Foles directed him.

But there’s also this additional overlooked detail. After the previous play — a quick 2-yard completion to tight end Demetrius Harris — Falcons cornerback Darqueze Dennard strained his hamstring and needed to be tended to in front of the Atlanta bench. That gave Foles an extra two minutes to reset his teammates in a huddle. Then, when the clock began rolling again with 2 minutes, 12 seconds remaining, Foles marched the offense to the line of scrimmage with no intent of running a play.

Instead, the quarterback stood in the shotgun behind center Cody Whitehair and scanned all 11 defenders. He noticed Walker and fellow linebacker Deion Jones stalking into the “A” gaps.

Foles let the clock tick down to the 2-minute warning. The Fox broadcast went to commercial for another two-minute break in action with at-home ads for Ford, Apple TV and Lowe’s.

Foles, though, used that extra time to share what he saw and instructed Miller where to go.

The unforgettable touchdown pass followed.

“In the big moments,” Nagy said, “that calmness of being cool and collected is a strength of Nick’s.”

A new challenge

As Foles’ tenure as the starter begins Sunday at Soldier Field, there’s belief within the coaching staff that his football IQ, understanding of defenses and pre-snap vision at the line of scrimmage will allow the offense to play faster. Nagy has a hunch the Bears will be able to utilize more concepts and unlock more big-play opportunities with Foles able to find solutions to the looks defenses show.

Don’t be surprised if, at some point this month, the Bears break their extraordinary drought of not having scored an offensive touchdown from beyond the 50-yard line. Including the playoffs, the Bears have played 29 games, had 319 possessions and run 1,833 plays since the last time they scored from inside their territory. Foles, perhaps, can change that. Offensive coordinator Bill Lazor, who worked with Foles during his second season in 2013, has been impressed with the volume of information the quarterback is able not only to absorb but utilize.

“He has some special qualities in that way,” Lazor said. “(As an NFL quarterback), you’re hit with meetings and film study, playbooks and all this other information. There are conversations with other players. Conversations with coaches. All this other stuff is going on all the time. The great ones have to take that and file it in an organized way inside their brain. Then all of a sudden, boom, a defense pops up with a play and you’re using that information to physically execute.

“It’s a lot. There’s a lot stored in there. Nick does a great job handling a whole bunch of information and applying it.”

It bears mentioning that Foles’ career arc has been anything but linear. This is his ninth NFL season, and he has changed teams five times. His career high for starts in a season is 11. And that came five years ago during the Rams’ final season in St. Louis, during which he was benched for Case Keenum and almost quit the game entirely when the year ended.

Foles’ career 6.8 yards-per-attempt average is modest, just an eyelash ahead of Trubisky’s 6.7.

So skepticism regarding whether Foles truly can be a successful answer for the Bears this season remains justifiable.

But the time has come for the Bears to at least roll those dice. Foles said this week that he feels comfortable with the direction things are heading, more at ease than he was when training camp began in August.

He knows his teammates better and generallyis more settled.

Foles also reemphasized that all his career highs and lows have shaped him and led him to this new challenge.

“It’s just understanding who I am as a person and not letting my identity be framed by how many yards I throw for, how many touchdowns I throw for or even winning the Super Bowl,” he said. “A huge part of my life and career is not holding tight to those things. I don’t hold tight to the Lombardi Trophy. I want the success to be a byproduct of the little things each and every day that I’m instilling into people’s lives and using this as a platform to help different people. Then the byproduct of that is I can step on the field and be a lot more free.”

Fearless too. It counts for something.