The New York Jets face their third NFC North opponent in a row on Sunday, as they are in the Windy City to face the 2-1 Chicago Bears.
New York beat Chicago 31-10 in the last meeting between these teams back in 2022. Prior to that the Jets had last beaten the Bears all the way back in 2000.
Let’s break down the Bears’ roster going position by position:
Quarterbacks
The situation at quarterback is cloudy for the Bears, who may be about to start their third different quarterback in three weeks.
After an
inconsistent rookie year, Caleb Williams led the Bears to an 11-6 record last season, and was showing signs of this being his breakout into superstardom when the Bears racked up 59 points in their opener. However, he got injured in week two and the Bears were without him last Sunday, and will be this Sunday as well.
Tyson Bagent had been considered the number two, but he missed practice during the week leading up to last weekend’s game, so the Bears prepared for Case Keenum to lead them against Philadelphia on Monday Night Football. Surprisingly, he put together a terrific performance to lead them to an easy win with 247 yards and two touchdowns.
Ordinarily, you’d expect them to stick with Keenum after a performance like that. However, head coach Ben Johnson has kept his plans under wraps and Chicago beat writers have suggested it may be Bagent who gets the nod this week.
Keenum is obviously more experienced than Bagent, who went 2-2 as a rookie starter in 2023 but has only thrown 15 passes since. Neither offers the same run threat as Williams.
Offensive Line
The Bears had a solid offensive line last season, with no offensive lineman giving up more than three sacks. Three of the five starters are returning, too, as right guard Jonah Jackson, pro bowl left guard Joe Thuney and right tackle Darnell Wright are back after each starting every game last year. They’ve kept the unit strong, as no offensive lineman was credited with giving up any of the six sacks that have been surrendered so far this season.
The center position underwent a change due to Drew Dalman’s sudden retirement but veteran Garrett Bradbury has taken over that role, although he has four penalties in three games.
At left tackle, Braxton Jones remains the number one choice, but he continues to be injury prone after missing considerable time in 2023 and 2025. He’s been ruled out again on Sunday but both Theo Benedet and Ozzy Trapilo started several games in his place last season and they remain on the roster. Benedet filled in for Jones for part of each of the first three games so he figures to start.
The rest of the bench is low on experience as Logan Jones is a rookie second rounder and Luke Newman and Jordan McFadden have started two NFL games between them.
Wright led the Bears with 12 offensive penalties last season.
Running Backs
The Bears currently have the number one running game in the NFL, although Williams being out affects that. D’Andre Swift is seventh in the NFL in rushing yards while Kyle Monangai is averaging 5.9 yards per carry.
They each rushed for 100 yards in the first game, with Monangai doing that in just 10 carries as most of his yardage came on a 61-yard touchdown scamper.
Roschon Johnson remains with the team as a backup although his workload has been reducing over the past few years.
Pass catchers
At wide receiver, the Bears were banking on recent draft picks Rome Odunze and Luther Burden to step up with DJ Moore having been traded after the pair had combined to catch 91 passes last year.
However, early on, it’s been ex-Jets receiver Kalif Raymond who has elevated his game. Johnson was familiar with Raymond from his time in Detroit and brought him over this offseason. So far, Raymond’s role has been bigger than expected as he’s caught 19 passes on 21 targets for a team-high 214 receiving yards.
Burden is also off to a good start as he has 15 receptions already this year. Odunze, on the other hand, only has eight catches, although he is averaging 17.4 yards per catch.
In terms of backups, third round rookie Zavion Thomas and Jahdae Walker each have just one catch for one yard, although Walker’s was for a touchdown.
The Bears have also had good production from their tight ends in recent years with Colston Loveland leading the team with over 700 receiving yards last season and Cole Kmet having posted similar numbers in the past. Both are off to a slow start this year, though.
The third tight end is rookie Sam Roush, who played for Jets offensive coordinator Frank Reich at Stanford.
Defensive Line
The Bears have more or less returned most of the edge rotation from last year, but their interior line rotation is completely different other than the returning former pro bowler Grady Jarrett.
The starter alongside Jarrett is Kentavius Street with Neville Gallimore and third round rookie Jordan van den Berg also getting playing time.
The main playmaker on the edge is Montez Sweat, who had 10 sacks last year. The other starter across from him is Dayo Odeyingbo, who already has two sacks after having had just one all year in 2025.
The main reserve on the edge is Austin Booker, who had 4.5 sacks last year, with James Lynch also in the rotation.
Edge Jamree Kromah and defensive tackle Jayden Loving are also on the roster for depth.
Linebackers
2025’s leading tacker Tremaine Edmunds is now with the Giants, so the Bears brought in Devin Bush Jr. to start along with TJ Edwards, who had 67 tackles and five passes defensed in just 10 games last season.
D’Marco Jackson also sees playing time when three linebackers are on the field, but Noah Sewell, who was in the rotation last year, is on the PUP list.
Fifth round rookie Keyshaun Elliott and special teamer Jack Sanborn round out this unit.
Defensive Backs
The Bears’ secondary was the key to their winning record last year as they racked up an incredible 23 interceptions. Even more incredible, though, was their decision to get rid of literally everyone who had more than one.
Pro bowlers Nahshon Wright and Kevin Byard are gone, along with C.J. Gardner-Johnson. To make matters worse, Kyler Gordon is still on the PUP list and safety Coby Bryant is on injured reserve.
It’s perhaps not surprising that they gave up 37 points in their first game of the season with all these changes, but they’ve regrouped well to allow just 16 points in the last two games.
At the safety position, they addressed the need by drafting the athletic Dillon Thieneman in the first round and he’s responded by leading them in tackles through three games.
According to Chicago’s unofficial depth chart, Xavier Woods is listed as the other starting safety. However, Cam Lewis – listed as the starting nickel – has been playing safety instead of him so far this year.
Lewis is listed as doubtful for Sunday, so Woods is likely to make his first start of the year with Elijah Hicks as the third safety and Skyler Thomas available as cover.
At cornerback, Jaylon Johnson is hoping to get back to the level that saw him voted to the pro bowl in 2023 and 2024 before he missed half of last year due to injury. The other starter is Tyrique Stevenson, who broke up 10 passes last year.
Fourth round rookie Malik Muhammad has been the primary slot cornerback so far.
Josh Blackwell and Clark Phillips III are each available for depth.
Special Teams
Literally a quarter of the NFL has a former Jet as their placekicker right now, and the Bears are one of those teams as Cairo Santos has made his home there. Santos’ only miss of the year so far was a blocked chip shot field goal in the Vikings game where there was an issue with the snap count.
Punter Tory Taylor is off to a good start, posting career-best numbers so far with a gross average of over 50 yards per punt.
Raymond was brought in to galvanize the return game and is listed as the number one punt and kickoff returner but, perhaps due to his bigger than expected role on offense, Thomas and Blackwell have been sharing the kickoff return duties.
Walker and Blackwell are the primary punt gunners and Hicks is their most productive tackler so far in kick coverage.
