Didn’t think things could get worse from Week 1? Well, think again! Just six days after blowing an 11-point fourth-quarter lead at home, the Chicago Bears took their show on the road for an early-season Ben Johnson reunion in Detroit. Despite a fun start to the game, the Bears found themselves on the wrong end of a second-half blowout. The defensive line couldn’t generate pressure, and the offense continued to make far too many mistakes.
If there’s one thing that’s clear through two weeks, it’s that this
is a team very far away from digging itself out of a brutal hole that it’s been plagued with since 2019. Let’s dive into our Five Bears Takes before we permanently erase this game from our memories.
1. If you hadn’t adjusted your expectations after Week 1, this might be a good time to.
I’m not sure you could have scripted a more disastrous start for a Bears season. After blowing an 11-point fourth-quarter lead at home in Week 1, they were embarrassed on the road against a divisional opponent in Johnson’s Detroit homecoming. We’ll get to it more later, but starting (0-2) is tough, but it’s an even bigger deal when both of those losses come within the division.
To put it bluntly, the Bears have looked absolutely awful over the last five quarters. Before that, they had one good drive and three dominant defensive quarters to show for their young season. Heading into Week 2, Chicago is one of nine (0-2) teams. More concerning, their -34 point differential is the worst in the league. They’ve given up 19 more points than the second-worst defense and have averaged just 19 offensive points per game. If you were taking the eye test of rosters and depth charts out of the equation, it would be easy to argue that the Bears have been the worst team in the league over the first two weeks of the season. Even for the most skeptical of fans, it’s hard to imagine anyone had them starting this poorly.
Now, here’s the good news. They have some winnable games coming up. Regardless of what the Las Vegas Raiders do on Monday Night Football, that’s a winnable game. Same with their Week 3 matchup against the Cowboys. They’ve also got the New Orleans Saints, New York Giants, and Cleveland Browns on the schedule following their early bye week.
There are two ways this situation is likely to go.
- They’re experiencing a slow start. The defense is struggling, the offense isn’t much better, and the entire team is learning how to win. As the team continues to get its footing under them and the coaching staff figures out how to tailor their scheme(s) around their personnel, things will get better.
- This team is an actual disaster, and this is just how things are going to be.
Frankly, I’d be surprised if the Bears are *this* bad. As I’ve admitted before, I didn’t expect this slow a start, but I refuse to believe that wholesale changes weren’t enough to force a better product on the field eventually. Outside of their veteran additions, this is a roster that knows nothing but losing. Last year did plenty of damage, and sometimes it takes time to reverse that. I’ll continue to believe that at some point, the vision will start to come into focus. Until then, we just have to weather the storm and hope it changes sooner rather than later.
2. An (0-2) start with both losses coming inside the division is about as deep a hole as a team can dig through two weeks. While it doesn’t mean the season is over, the odds of making the playoffs are stacked against them.
According to Fox’s broadcast on Sunday afternoon, teams that start (0-2) have a 12% chance of making the playoffs. Only four teams in the modern era have won a Super Bowl after that type of start. Unfortunately for the Bears, both of their losses came from within the division. Why is that so important? Simple. The chances of Chicago winning the division were never great, which means that tie-breakers would come into effect for any Wild Card scenario. Starting (0-2) in the conference puts them behind the eight ball in a big way.
Now, some might not even want to think about the playoffs after these first two games, and that’s entirely fair. The chances of the Bears being “in contention” come December took a massive hit with this slow start. Even so, we’ve seen teams have bad starts and still figure out a way to make the playoffs. The Baltimore Ravens and Los Angeles Rams come to mind as recent as last season.
More importantly, the Bears just need to get this thing figured out. Even if it ends in a (7-10) or (8-9) season, the arrow needs to be pointing up in a clear way when this team enters next offseason, especially with their future cap situation not in a great place without some maneuvering. Priorities might be changing for the team and their fans, but the end goal remains the same. Figure this out… Preferably sooner rather than later.
3. Quarterback Caleb Williams was better today, which is a plus. Even so, the negative plays continue to crush any momentum they build.
Through two weeks, the offense has averaged just 19 points. No matter how you cut it, that’s not going to get it done. For reference, the Lions offense (under Johnson) averaged over 30 points per game in 2024. No one should have been expecting that in Year 1, but it’s fair to expect tangible improvement. In the end, I believe that we’ll be able to look back on this season and see that progress, but through two games, things have not gone well. Against a vaunted Minnesota Vikings defense, it made sense. Against a Lions defense that has plenty of holes, it was a little harder to swallow.
Through my evaluation, Williams had a bad Week 1 performance. Outside of his first and last drives, there was much more bad than good. I know that there have been plenty of former quarterbacks who have said different, but that was my assessment of Williams’ season opener. Week 2 was better in almost every facet, though. He didn’t start a perfect 10-for-10, but he was in complete command on the first drive, and overall, looked much more comfortable in the pocket. Considering the quality of defenses he has faced, it’s fair to expect a jump in the coming weeks. Combining the defensive talent he’ll face with more time on task on a complex offense, things should continue to get better for last year’s No. 1 overall pick.
Right now, the offense’s most significant issue is its consistent ability to shoot itself in the foot: penalties, penalties, and more penalties. In Week 1, they had three drives completely derailed by them. A similar could be said in Week 2. Whether it’s false starts, holdings, or chop blocks, their inability to stay out of situations where they are goal-to-go with 20-plus yards needed is a big issue and something we did not see Johnson have an issue with in Detroit.
While we are at it, it’s fair to be disappointed in how the offensive line has performed thus far. Williams has been sacked six times in two games, which is on pace for 51 through 17 games. Sure, the quarterback isn’t always getting the ball out on time, but the urgency has been much better through two games than it was last year in that department. After a quality Week 1 outing, right Tackle Darnell Wright took a step back on Sunday. Drew Dalman has not lived up to expectations so far, and Jonah Jackson has been flat-out bad. All things considered, left tackle Braxton Jones has looked pretty good, and of course, Joe Thuney is a professional dude.
Their lack of run game hasn’t helped either, but at some point, you’d have to expect that Johnson and his offensive coaching staff will figure that out. Pass protection was a big focus during the offseason, and so far, it hasn’t been up to par. With three new starters suiting up together, it’s fair to expect the operation and overall play to get better. Much like the theme for most of these thoughts, it needs to get better in a hurry if we expect to see the progress most were expecting when Johnson was hired back in January.
4. Through two weeks, the returns on a “loaded” rookie class have not been promising, especially from their top four picks.
Let me be clear- Draft classes should never be entirely judged this early. That said, it’s hard to ignore the lack of impact this group has had through two games, isn’t it?
10th overall pick Colston Loveland has two catches for 12 yards, including zero targets with the starting offense in Week 2. Luther Burden III, their surprising pick at 39, has two catches for two yards on four total targets. Ozzy Trapilo was a healthy scratch in Week 2, sitting behind 2024 undrafted free agent Theo Benedet on the depth chart. Defensive tackle Shemar Stewart, the final of three second-round picks, has been a healthy scratch for both games to open the season.
Linebacker Rubern Hyppolite (Round 4) and running back Kyle Monangai (Round 7) have seen the field sparingly, but at least have a role. Luke Newman was a surprise during training camp, but might be the third option off the bench on the interior.
Simply put, there has been a concerning trend of early-round picks for general manager Ryan Poles during his four offseasons as the head man in charge. Since taking over, the Bears have had four first-round picks in the Top 10, and seven in the second round. Of those selections, they haven’t produced a single Pro Bowler.
Not many general managers have the resources that Poles has had through both the draft and free agency, and I’d argue that no NFL decision maker has done less with more than the head man in Chicago.
If anything, there needs to be an emphasis on the remaining 15 games to develop the young talent they have, and hoping that they evolve into difference-making players heading into 2026 and beyond. Right now, there’s a long way to go, and it’s not being helped by having players like Stewart as a healthy scratch or having your No. 10 overall pick as an afterthought in this offense.
5. Week 3 Look Ahead: Back to Soldier Field to host the (1-1) Dallas Cowboys.
Although the Bears game was dull due to being a blowout, the Cowboys hosted the New York Giants, which turned into a shootout that wasn’t decided until the final seconds of a 10-minute overtime period. In the end, the Cowboys came out on top, in large part due to kicker Brandon Aubrey being able to make any field goal on a football field.
There’s no denying that Dallas has an explosive offense. CeeDee Lamb is one of the best receivers in the league, and when George Pickens isn’t being reckless, he’s a great No. 2 weapon in any offense. Quarterback Dak Prescott is consistently overlooked, but he’s had a strong start to the season, especially behind a quality offensive line. The bigger concern for the Cowboys is their defense. Led by former Bears head coach Matt Eberflus, they have struggled to keep teams out of the end zone through their first two games. For reference, Giants quarterback Russell Wilson had 450 passing yards and three touchdowns on the day.
For the Bears, it’ll be yet another high-level challenge for a defense that looked great for the first three quarters, yet has given up 73 points since that point. Dallas’s offensive line is one of the league’s best, which could once again be problematic for a defense that cannot get after the quarterback consistently. On the plus side, the Cowboys’ defense should be a good “get right” candidate for the Bears’ offense. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? Through two games, Dallas has given up 61 points and a boatload of yards through the air.
Starting (0-2) isn’t a complete death sentence for a team’s season (12% go on to make the playoffs), but an (0-3) start with all of those losses coming to conference opponents? The Bears might as well pack it in and start planning for 2026. A big game is ahead in Chicago, and one could argue that it’s about as “must-win” as you can get in September.
