For the second time this season, our Minnesota Vikings are set to face off with the Chicago Bears. That means that we are getting another opportunity to gather some intel from the folks at Windy City Gridiron, SB Nation’s home for everything relating to the Bears football.
Like we did before the season opener, I got an opportunity to exchange some questions with Bill Zimmerman from WCG. If you want to see my answers to his questions, you can check those out right here. Here are the answers that I sent
Bill’s way, along with his replies.
1) After a rough rookie season, it seems like Caleb Williams is really starting to find his stride under Ben Johnson. What is the impression of the Bears’ fan base as to how he’s progressed so far this season?
There certainly has been significant growth this year. It’s not where it needs to be yet, and I think Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams would be the first people to tell you that as well. Here are some of the things we’ve seen this year.
His sack rate has dropped dramatically. He has been playing a lot more on time and in structure, and it’s paying dividends. Now, if you look at some of the statistics and say, well, he’s still last in the league in time to throw, how can you say that? Easily. Because when Caleb does break from structure and rolls out, he holds onto the ball for a tremendously long amount of time as he’s looking to make a play. Just making a hypothetical, it’s like if Caleb drops back 10 times. 8 times he gets the ball out in 2.5 seconds, 1 time it’s 4 seconds, and 1 time it’s 9 seconds. Caleb’s time to throw becomes 3.3 seconds, but any coach would happily take that type of consistent rhythm.
We’ve seen him see the field a lot better, and he’s making the right read most of the time. He’s also finding more opportune times to run and pick up yardage with his legs, and he still does an excellent job protecting the football and not fumbling or throwing interceptions.
The most fun thing for Bears fans to watch is how well he plays in the fourth quarter when it matters. He’s tied for the league lead in game-winning drives and fourth-quarter comebacks. We saw his magic against the Bengals, Giants, Raiders, and Commanders; he continues to prove that he has the “it” factor, which is exciting.
2) The Bears are putting up some points this season, but they’ve had their struggles on defense, coming into this one 28th in the league in points allowed. What has been the biggest issue with the Chicago defense, in your opinion?
Pass rush. They’ve had some injuries in the secondary that have left them a little more exposed back there, but if they had a legitimate pass rush, they could cover those warts.
The Bears have been doing a solid job of stopping the run, but the pass rush continues to be an issue. They cannot get a pass rush with four guys. Montez Sweat was brought in to be a multiplier, and while he’s a very good player, he’s not that kind of player. Second round Edge Austin Booker came back two weeks ago and does have a sack and has made some impact, but he is not a game-changer. Grady Jarrett hasn’t had an impact on the field this year, and their other pass-rushing tackle, Gervon Dexter, provides inconsistent results.
Dennis Allen has started relying on creative blitzes to generate pressure. Yes, he’s blitzing linebackers occasionally like you’d expect, but we’ve also seen effective blitzing from the secondary utilizing players like CJ Gardner-Johnson and Jaquan Brisker. Don’t be surprised if one of those two makes a big play in the backfield on Sunday.
3) These two teams met in Week 1 in Chicago. Are there any players who didn’t play a meaningful role in that one for the Bears who have seen their roles increase since then that Vikings fans should be aware of?
I am going to give you five names, actually. I think three skill position players on offense have really started to see their roles grow in the offense. Rookies Kyle Monangai, Luther Burden, and Colston Loveland combined for 20 total yards against Minnesota in week one. Monangai has started getting a significant share of the work in the backfield, Loveland is pretty clearly the team’s TE1 over Cole Kmet at this point, and Luther Burden saw his first snap count over 50% last week. Loveland and Burden have steadily seen their roles increase, and it shouldn’t be a shock if one of them makes a big play against Minnesota.
On the offensive line, 2nd year UDFA Theo Benedet is now the team’s Left Tackle. Veteran Braxton Jones really struggled the first few weeks of the season and has found his way to the bench, and Benedet has emerged as the team’s starting left tackle. He can struggle in pass protection, but he’s an aggressive run blocker who has helped get the run game on track.
Finally, on defense, it’s CJ Gardner-Johnson. He wasn’t on the roster in week one, but was signed when Kyler Gordon found his way to the IR and was going to miss several weeks. He’s only been on the team a few weeks, but he already has three sacks and a forced fumble. He has been a playmaker for the defense that’s desperate for playmakers.
4) As far as things that might not be directly related to this week’s game, the Bears appear to be in a bit of a stadium battle, similar to the one we saw with the Vikings a decade ago or so. What does the future hold as far as the home of the Bears is concerned?
The stadium battle is a bit of a mess, and nobody really knows what exactly is going on with it. The previous President, Ted Phillips, had the McCaskeys buy land in suburban Chicago in Arlington Heights. When your guy Kevin Warren arrived, he immediately pivoted to trying to build a new stadium within the Chicago city limits, but the Bears struggled to find a legitimate site they could build on, as well as the fact that having the city build them a stadium was not going to give the team the additional revenue streams they were looking for. They need to own the stadium for that to happen.
The Bears have pivoted back to Arlington Heights as their location, and they’ve even had some artist renderings of what the stadium would look like (pretty much exactly like the Raiders’ stadium), but they still have a funding problem. See, the McCaskeys aren’t independently wealthy. Their wealth is the Chicago Bears franchise. So they don’t have the $2 billion or so in cash they would need to just fund the stadium. They’ve appealed to the state to try and get public funds, but the governor, JB Pritzker, has zero interest in approving funds for the Bears’ new stadium when there is still a bill on the Soldier Field renovations from 20+ years ago. It feels like Pritzker is positioning himself to run for President in 2028, and I don’t think a democratic candidate is going to do well in the primaries if he just approved a massive amount of public money to a billionaire family.
How does this play out? I would assume they will eventually build on the Arlington Heights site, but there is still a giant question as to how the Bears are going to get this funded. Warren originally said he wanted shovels in the ground in the spring of 2025, and then he changed that to some time in 2025, and well, it’s November, and they are nowhere near starting to build. Will they get shovels in the ground in 2026? That doesn’t seem certain at this point either.
5) Despite the Bears having the better record heading into this game, the Vikings are a slight favorite on their home field. How do you see this one going on Sunday?
I don’t feel like the Vikings are playing their best ball right now, and I do feel like the Bears are playing better than Minnesota right now, but I feel like the bubble may burst. The Bears’ 6 wins have come against teams that are 18-38-1. Their 3 losses have come against teams that are 14-14. Am I saying that I don’t think the Bears can beat decent teams? No, I think they can absolutely beat this Vikings team, but they make every game interesting.
I think this game comes down to the 4th quarter, where it’s going to be anyone’s game. And while I certainly trust Caleb Williams more than JJ McCarthy in that situation, I also think with the game on the road and the Bears’ inconsistent play, that it won’t be easy. I don’t see the Bears blowing out Minnesota. I think this is a 50-50 game, and while I really want to pick Chicago, maybe I’m being too pessimistic, but I think they lose a close one here, let’s call it 23-20.
Thanks again to Bill for taking the time to answer our questions for this week. We’ve both picked the Vikings to win this one. . .here’s hoping we’re both right!
