The Chicago Bears have had a rough history with the Green Bay Packers throughout the last decade or so, and that bad luck continued on Sunday. Their 31-7 loss to Green Bay dropped them to a 3-2 record for the 2026 season, and it saw them dominated on both sides of the ball.
Though the absence of Caleb Williams at quarterback significantly impacted the Bears’ ability to generate explosive plays on offense, the defense gave up plenty of those through the air at Lambeau Field. Green Bay’s dynamic passing
attack helped its offense get out to an insurmountable lead in the second half, and bad play from both Tyson Bagent and Case Keenum made it impossible for the Bears to catch up.
If you watched the game, you know it wasn’t pretty, and you likely don’t want to think too much about it. For those of you who do, however, and for the ones who didn’t get to watch the game, here are some of my key takeaways from the Bears’ loss so you don’t have to.
It’s time to be realistic about Tyson Bagent
There’s no other way around it; Bagent was bad on Sunday. He finished the game 12-for-21 (57.1%) with just 87 passing yards, no touchdowns, and two interceptions. He made several throws into tight coverage or outright double-team situations, making baffling decisions that one wouldn’t expect from a quarterback who has been touted for his intelligence. Eventually, the Bears chose to put Keenum into the game, though his results weren’t much better.
Let’s be realistic about Bagent. He’s not one of the best 32 quarterbacks in the NFL. He is not a starting-caliber player. In four years in the NFL, he has three passing touchdowns and nine interceptions. The Bears would not be better off with him than they are with Caleb Williams. The hyperbole around Bagent, a tremendous success story from the Division II level as an undrafted free agent, has built his hype into something much greater than he actually is. He’s not a terrible football player, and even after this performance, I’d argue he’s still a solid backup quarterback (there are a lot of really bad NFL quarterbacks out there), but Sunday showed what he really is.
Deep coverage struggles vs. Packers
Christian Watson and Matthew Golden each surpassed 120 receiving yards on Sunday against the Bears. Tucker Kraft had a 48-yard gain in the game. Jordan Love finished the matchup with 367 passing yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions, a 137.5 passer rating, and an initial PFN QB Impact grade of 84.6, which ranks second in the NFL in Week 5, as of this writing.
Simply put, Chicago struggled to stop the Packers’ vertical passing game this week. Xavier Woods had some instances where he looked out of position as the deep safety help. Dillon Thieneman appeared to have a play or two of poor processing and positioning, as well. Tyrique Stevenson, Malik Muhammad, and Jaylon Johnson all seemed to have lapses in coverage over the course of the afternoon, pending further All-22 review.
The Bears’ secondary simply isn’t fast enough right now. They don’t have the raw speed at cornerback to make up for the lapses in judgment along the perimeter that Stevenson and Johnson make, and Coby Bryant’s presence at safety is sorely missed.
It’s not the end of the world
The Bears went 2-1 in the three games that Caleb Williams missed due to injury. In the grand scheme of things, it could’ve been a lot worse.
Sure, they were utterly outclassed on both sides of the ball against the Packers. Their lapses in coverage will need to be addressed in the remaining 12 games of the season. But a calling card of this Bears team has been their offense, which has looked dynamic when Williams is throwing the ball more often than not. In most cases, having a backup in at quarterback significantly limits how much an NFL offense can operate to its full potential, both from an execution and a play-calling perspective.
There’s a chance that Williams returns for the Bears’ game against the Falcons next week. With how Atlanta has looked in recent weeks, the Bears will need all the help they can get. But they’re still 3-2, and there’s plenty of football left to be played. Sunday’s result is nothing to panic over.
