It feels like at the end of each game, Chicago Bears fans collectively say, “It wasn’t pretty, but they got the win.”, and it’s hard to feel differently after Sunday’s fourth consecutive win at Soldier
Field. At this point, a win is a win, but at some point soon, you’d like to see the Bears be able to string together a quality performance from all three phases. No matter how they get there, in the end, this is a 4-2 team that is no longer in last place. With a pair of challenging road games upcoming, the need for good football is paramount. For now, we’ll enjoy their fourth straight win and look ahead to what’s next in Week 7’s installment of 10 Bears Takes.
1. Similar To Week 6, There Were Plenty Of Storylines Surrounding This Game. The One I Was Most Interested In: The Battle Of Two Former Oklahoma Teammates.
Week 7’s matchup at Soldier Field wasn’t short on storylines. Whether it was the battle of two first-year head coaches, Dennis Allen’s first “return” against the Saints, the Bears’ house of horrors against New Orleans, or Caleb Williams versus Spencer Rattler, there was much more than met the eye on the surface.
In the end, the Bears got the win, and that had to feel suitable for a variety of reasons, but neither former Oklahoma signal caller played well. We’ll dive into Williams’ performance more in a bit, but for now, let’s focus more on Rattler. Despite his two touchdown passes to Chris Olave, his day was overshadowed by a three-interception performance, in which he took four sacks. Some of those sacks happened to be in big spots.
Without stating the obvious, the expectations for the two quarterbacks are going to be inherently different purely based on draft position. Even so, it’s hard to imagine either quarterback felt great about their performance in Chicago. Rattler’s future in New Orleans is still debatable, with much of that depending on where they finish the season and how it relates to their draft positioning. For Williams, he is the future, and simply put, he needs to play a lot better than he did on Sunday.
Moving on to other storylines, this one had to feel good for the former Saints head coach, Dennis Allen. Outside of a few lapses on two drives, his unit dominated, and frankly, embarrassed his former team most of the day. Before New Orleans’ final offensive drive of the first half, their offense had fewer total yards (four) than the Bears’ defense did tackles for loss (five). As impressive as this unit’s ability to force takeaways every week is, they still aren’t getting after the quarterback as much as they need to, but they now lead the league with 16 through six games. It was good to see four sacks, but only one of those came from a defensive lineman (Montez Sweat).
Assuming the defense can continue to play at this level, it feels like a matter of time before the Bears’ performance starts rounding out into more complete team wins. For now, they’ll bank the wins in hopes that it’ll result in a competitive December for the first time since 2020.
2. Like Most Weeks, I Found Myself Saying, “If The Bears Could Just Get Out Of Their Own Way…” Early In The Game. A 20-0 Lead Later, It’s Clear There’s Still A Lot Of Meat On The Bone With This Offense.
A team that was clicking on all cylinders would have had a 27-0 lead heading into halftime. Frankly, the Bears should have, regardless. Outside of the final drive of the first half, they thoroughly dominated the first 30 minutes of the game, and it wasn’t really that close. In the end, their inability to find the end zone more regularly, coupled with two drops on their drive around the two-minute warning, was the precursor to a game that felt way closer than it needed to after the opening drive of the second half.
On the plus side, this is a team that has won four in a row without playing close to their best football, outside of the Dallas game. The last-second victory against the Raiders has aged poorly, but who cares, right? They are (4-2) without playing what I would classify as “good” football. Even so, it’s worth wondering when a more complete performance is going to come.
Simply put, they aren’t going to beat the Baltimore Ravens playing like they did on Sunday. I don’t care if the Ravens are (1-5) or (5-1). With Lamar Jackson and the experience with success that roster has, this was always going to be a challenging game, especially on the road. Expecting the Bears to win their final 11 games is unrealistic, as would be expecting a perfect performance each week. That said, to beat “good” teams, they need to play a more complete game, and lately, that starts with the offense.
The presnap penalties are still a big issue, as is their inconsistent quarterback play. It’s easy to trust Ben Johnson’s offense, and it’s fair to expect things to click at a higher level eventually. Even so, at some point, they are going to have to stop leaving things to the imagination and take advantage of a defense that continues to take the ball away at an unsustainable rate.
3. Whatever Ben Johnson And His Coaching Staff Did To Fix Their Issues In The Run Game (On Both Sides Of The Ball) Has Been Pretty Impressive.
Heading into their Week 5 bye, their issues in the run game on both sides of the ball were concerning, to say the least. They were giving up a historic amount of rushing yards on the ground, while also finding themselves near the bottom of the league on the offensive side of the ball. In their two games since that point, they’ve looked like a completely different team in that regard.
Running back D’Andre Swift has eclipsed the 100-yard mark in consecutive games, while also shutting down opposing offenses’ running backs in the process. Although Swift’s emergence has been encouraging, seventh-round rookie Kyle Monangai’s performances since the bye have also been encouraging. On Sunday, the rookie averaged 6.2 yards per carry, while also notching his first NFL touchdown. As a team, the Bears rushed for 222 yards against the Saints’ defense.
Johnson’s ability to form a two-headed monster with the equivalent of bubble gum and duct tape has been impressive. We’ll see how that translates against better defenses, but averaging 183.5 yards per game at any clip is encouraging progress for an offensive play caller who has a track record of maximizing his rushing attack.
Defensively, the transformation has been almost as impressive. Being able to go from a historically alarming trend to giving up an average of 84 yards per game is quite the turnaround. Especially when combined with their insane takeaway trend. Although there are still some factors that give me pause on the defensive side of the ball, a better pass rush could help even out those trends. For now, we can just marvel at the coaching staff’s ability to completely reinvent the wheel and turn a sizable weakness into a notable strength.
4. Dennis Allen’s Defense Is Finally Playing Like A Unit With His Identity On It.
Speaking of the defense, can we take a minute and appreciate Allen? When Johnson was hired in late January, it immediately came out that Allen was his primary target for defensive coordinator. As a head coach, he was a disaster. As a defensive mind that a first-time head coach can lean on from past head coaching experience, he’s been a godsend.
Judging by most metrics heading into Week 7, the Bears were a below-average defense. A lot of that has to do with their nightmare performance against the Detroit Lions when they gave up 52 points. Since that point, they’ve been much better. Another differentiator that has helped this unit is their ability to force takeaways. They lead the league with 16 in six games, including 15 over their last four contests. Although it’s doubtful that they will continue at their current output, it goes a long way in making up for their lack of pressure on the quarterback.
More than anything, we are starting to see one of the best defensive minds in the game adjust to his personnel. Right now, he’s short on pass rushers. It’s likely that he’s going to be short on cornerbacks, too. We’ve seen more blitzes and simulated pressure, along with a mixture of different coverages in both man and zone. We’ll see what the prognosis on Tyrique Stevenson is, but both spots are areas where it shouldn’t be a surprise if they target upgrades at the trade deadline.
For now, we’ll just have to see how Allen adjusts his game plan from team to team. Lamar Jackson and the Ravens will provide a new challenge, even if the MVP quarterback isn’t anywhere near 100%. The defense’s continued success is paramount for this team winning games until the offense can start fully clicking, which hopefully happens sooner rather than later.
5. Four Game Winning Streak Or Not, Caleb Williams Has To Play Better Moving Forward.
Winning ugly is still winning, so let’s not get anything twisted. With that being said, Williams has to take bigger steps in the coming weeks, especially in the accuracy department. I would argue that Week 7 was No. 18’s worst overall game of the season. The interception was a product of him staring down his receiver, but as a whole, he wasn’t accurate and seemed to be overwhelmed by Brandon Staley’s defense.
There are a few different ways of looking at this, and none of them should include panic. On the one hand, this team has won four in a row, with Williams at his best in only one of those performances. The other direction is comparing his production and growth to the rest of this class. For my money, Drake Maye has been far and away the best first-round quarterback from the 2024 class so far in 2025. Not only are the Patriots (5-2), but Maye’s completion percentage and explosive play percentage continue to grow. Jayden Daniels’ durability questions are rearing their ugly head so far this year. When he’s been on the field, he’s been solid, but nowhere near the player we saw in his rookie year. Michael Penix has performed above-average, but he hasn’t been without the peaks and valleys in his first full season as a starter. J.J. McCarthy continues to “heal” as he comes back from a high-ankle sprain, although I would argue that everything coming out of Minnesota leads to a belief that the injury was a convenient excuse to bench him. Finally, Bo Nix has been… Well, Bo Nix. There have been flashes of brilliance (primarily late in games), but far too often he’s starting slow and putting his team in a position to play close late in games.
It’s easy to argue that most of these six names are closely grouped outside of Maye. Some might view that as a negative, especially with Williams being the first overall pick, and that would be fair. Ultimately, he still looks the part at times, and it continues to feel like things are going to click for this offense soon. For now, all we can hope for is more improvement, and them continuing to win games.
6. It’s Clear That Rome Odunze Is The Designated WR1 In This Offense, But At Some Point, He Needs To Start Consistently Playing Like One.
There’s no question that the Bears have plenty of talent on the offensive side of the ball. Following a hot start, Odunze’s involvement in the offense has not faded, but his impact sure has. Over his last two games, he has just four receptions on 63 yards with no touchdowns on 11 targets, and a handful of plays he simply needed to come down with. It’s clear at this point that he’s the featured receiver in this offense, and frankly, he should be. The issue is, he’s not holding up his end of the bargain. He’s making the wide-open catches with little issue, but anything remotely contested, he’s failing.
Some of that could be a lack of timing with Williams. That’ll happen over a 17-game season, so if that’s the case, there’s little reason to worry. The bigger issue I’ve seen is that Odunze is not playing up to his size. At 6’3, 214, and with his athletic profile, he should be willing to win the majority of contested catch situations. Instead, he’s losing almost all of them. The plays where Williams breaks the pocket and looks down the field with a fastball? He’s primarily targeted last year’s No. 9 overall pick, and Odunze isn’t coming down with them.
Some might view this as unrealistic expectations, but if one of the best offensive minds in football is treating him as the top option in a talented offense, what should that tell you? It’s not like Odunze struggled with these situations in college; in fact, he excelled. No matter the reasons behind the two-game struggle, it’s time for the former Top 10 pick to figure things out.
7. Last Week, I Noted That This Five-Game Strech Coming Out Of The Bye Could Define Their Season. So Far, They Are (2-0) With Two Big Road Games Upcoming.
When the schedule was released in May, this stretch looked like one of their toughest of the year. As the season has played out, the Bears have received some breaks along the way. Washington was always a toss-up, yet they got the win. The Saints always felt like a “got to have it” game, and they did indeed get it. Now, they head back out on the road to face a pair of struggling AFC North teams. In theory, if the Bears are going to lose games, those non-conference opponents hurt less in tie-breaking scenarios.
Because of their (0-2) start and some breaks along the way, finding a way to finish this stretch at (4-1) is almost paramount. The Ravens have been one of the more injured teams in the league, and weren’t playing great football when they had everyone healthy. That said, Baltimore will be coming fresh off a bye week and should have some key players back, including Jackson and All-Pro linebacker Roquan Smith. Their defense is likely to be an issue through the rest of the year, but an offense that can casually hang 35-plus points per game is something that most teams can find a way to win with. Once they leave Baltimore, they turn their focus to the Cincinnati Bengals. In May, that felt like a challenging game with Joe Burrow under center. With Joe Flacco, it feels like a game they need to win. Now, I know that everyone has declared the Bengals “back” after an impressive 33-31 win at Pittsburgh on Thursday Night Football. Still, for anyone who has watched Flacco play quarterback since leaving his first stint in Cleveland, it’s been a lot of bad, with the occasional big game. Similar to the Ravens defense, the Bengals leave a lot to be desired, which could lead to good things for Williams and the Bears’ offense.
Their final opponent during this stretch is the New York Giants. Although they are playing better, they are still a young team with plenty of holes, learning how to win games. That was extremely evident when they blew a 19-0 fourth-quarter lead in Denver to the Broncos. Rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart has shown plenty of flashes. However, he’s still a rookie with plenty of warts, which is something that Allen’s defenses have historically had plenty of success against.
Coming out of this stretch at a minimum of (6-3) feels like a must in a highly tight NFC North, or if you’re looking more toward the Wild Card, the NFC as a whole. There are 10-plus teams that could challenge for seven playoff spots. Giving yourself the margin for error with a (4-4) finish to get to 10 wins is probably a bare minimum requirement, actually, to get into the playoffs in 2025. So far, so good, but there are still three crucial games left to go.
8. With The Trade Deadline Just Two Weeks Away, Is It Time To Talk About A Potential Addition Or Two?
For the longest time, the NFL trade deadline featured a few smaller moves. Then, over the last three to five years, the activity has picked up as teams have adopted similar strategies to what we see in the other major sports. The biggest differentiator between the MLB and NFL is the farm systems. Baseball teams can trade from a bigger pool of options. In football, it’s basically picks and the occasional player. We’ve seen general manager Ryan Poles be aggressive at the deadline, so there’s reason to believe that a move or two could be made in the coming two weeks.
Although running back is the deepest group of potential trade candidates, that position feels like the least of their needs heading into the final 11 games of the season. Swift has been considerably better since the bye week, and Johnson is starting to mix in both Monangai and Johnson to spell him.
If the Bears want to conserve resources while still making their team better, the two positions that make the most sense (to me) are cornerback and defensive line. Jaylon Johnson’s injury hurts the most, but with Tyrique Stevenson’s status up in the air after leaving with a shoulder injury, the depth at the position is dire, to say the least. At this point, the Bears don’t need any long-term solutions in the trade market, so maybe someone like Cam Taylor-Britt, Tariq Woolen, or perhaps even Alontae Taylor could make sense at the right price. All three players are heading into free agent years.
At defensive end, looking at struggling teams is a good starting point. Cam Jordan would make plenty of sense, especially as a short-term option. Carl Granderson is another name from New Orleans, but he would be more of a long-term acquisition, which could cause a price rise. Bradley Chubb, Jaelan Phillips, Will McDonald IV, Arden Key, Tyree Wilson, Malcolm Koonce, and Alex Wright are other names that make sense considering where their teams are at heading into Week 8.
If I were a betting man (and I’m not), I would still lean toward them not making any moves, but if they do, both cornerback and defensive end make plenty of sense, even if they are short-term, low-cost moves. A lot of that will depend on where the front office and coaching staff see this team in 2025.
9. NFC North Lookaround: Don’t Look Now, But The Bears Are Out Of The Cellar.
Sunday was a good day for the Bears in more ways than one, yet most can’t help but feel like it could have been even better with an Arizona Cardinals upset win. At (4-2), the Bears are finally out of last place, thanks to a 28-22 Minnesota Vikings loss in Philadelphia.
On the day, three of the four teams within the division played, and two of them won. The Vikings continue to get inconsistent quarterback play, and against a good team like the Eagles, it finally did them in. Carson Wentz is putting up plenty of yards, but his continued issue of throwing interceptions was an issue on the road.
The Packers, despite trailing for most of the game, pulled out a last-minute win against the reeling Cardinals, who now find themselves at (2-5) after winning their first two. It seems clear that Green Bay isn’t as dominant as they looked earlier in the year, but it’s also clear that they are a team that knows how to win and is built to be a tough out for any team they play.
Finally, the Detroit Lions will play in the opening of yet another Monday Night Football doubleheader. On paper, they are the healthier team and should win, but as we’ve seen with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, no lead is safe, regardless of who is out there playing receiver. Expect a shootout on Monday night, and with any luck, the Bears will find themselves in second place heading into Week 8.
10. Week 8 Look Ahead: Back On The Road To Face A Healthier Baltimore Ravens Team Desperate For A Win.
Due to the team’s misfortune with the powers that be making the schedule, the Bears will embark on another two-game road trip, even though they have played at home just once over the last month or so. After a win against the Saints, they’ll head out on yet another two-game road trip, which will start in Baltimore with the (1-5) Ravens.
On paper, the Bears should win the game. Yet, that would be completely ignoring Baltimore getting their MVP-level quarterback back into the fold, and what should be a healthier team coming off a Week 7 bye. Baltimore is a tough place to play, and might be even tougher against a team with their back against the wall. With a loss, the Ravens are effectively out of the playoff race and might turn into sellers. With a win, there is bound to be a renewed sense of optimism that they can make a run with one of the best offenses in the league.
Like I’ve said over the last few weeks, finding a way to go into Minnesota at (6-3) is vastly vital to any potential playoff hopes they have. Their two most challenging games (for my money) are their next two against the Ravens and Bengals. Getting a win on Sunday takes care of some of that anxiety, but make no mistake, it’s not going to be an easy game. More than anything, the defense will be tested in a variety of different ways.
Buckle up, Bears fans. These next two games will tell us a lot about what we can expect in November and December.
