The 2025 NFL regular season is off and running after an exciting Week 1 is in the books. There were plenty of nail-biters in the early window of Sunday, and as a whole, it was a very entertaining opening week of football. Sunday night’s barnburner was a perfect end to an action-packed Sunday slate, and Monday night’s final quarter provided plenty of drama as well. In the end, the Bears came out of Week 1 at (0-1) after blowing an 11-point fourth-quarter lead, despite having multiple opportunities
to put the game on ice throughout the second half. Although there are plenty of lessons to be learned from Monday night, it’s hard for fans not to feel that this will be the same story with different faces. That said, let’s dive into our first in-season 10 Bears Takes of the year.
1. The Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams marriage got off to a roaring start on the opening drive, then it all fell apart.
Heading into the season, there were plenty of high hopes for the Bears’ new head coach-quarterback pairing. The duo delivered out of the gate with an impressive 10-play, 61-yard drive where Williams accounted for all but four yards on the touchdown scoring drive. Williams was a perfect six-for-six passing and capped it off with an exciting nine-yard run into the end zone.
The Bears’ second-year quarterback started 10-for-10, with primarily checkdowns, but he was decisive and had the offense moving. Then they hit a wall. Williams finished the game 21-of-35 for 211 yards (6.0 average), one throwing touchdown, no interceptions, 58 rushing yards, and a rushing touchdown. On the surface, the numbers don’t look terrible, but once he disappeared after that second series, he didn’t return until his team was down 10 points, and that’s an issue no matter how you cut it.
Johnson was never going to be a miracle worker in Game 1 of a 17-game season, but the offense looked eerily similar to everything we’ve seen in recent memory. The offensive line started strong, but faded as the game progressed. The run game never truly got going. Their young quarterback, who should be primed for a big Year 2 jump, was passed up by someone taken nine picks after him (while making his first NFL start).
This is by no means a finished story for Williams in just his 18th NFL start, but it’s not a performance that any Bears fan would have hoped for. Minnesota’s defense is one of the best in the league, and that needs to be taken into account. Even so, it’s easy to feel concern about an offense that struggled in training camp and the final preseason game. There’s plenty to clean up, and this will be a long process, but in many ways, this felt like the same old Bears with different faces on the field.
2. Dennis Allen’s defense looked unstoppable over the first three quarters of the game. What happened in the fourth quarter?
Heading into Monday night’s game, the defense was down three starters between cornerbacks Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon, plus linebacker T.J. Edwards. Pre-game, it was fair to wonder whether or not the Bears would have enough of their starting defense to make an impact, but for 45 minutes of game time, they looked the part.
Then came the fourth quarter, where they gave up 21 unanswered points, before a last-minute touchdown to salvage the scoreboard.
So, what happened? For starters, the defensive line stopped getting pressure on McCarthy. They were consistently pressuring the second-year quarterback in the first half and were dominating the line of scrimmage in the run game. Kevin O’Connell is a great head coach who deserves a ton of credit for his work with quarterbacks and his ability to adjust on the fly, but the Bears’ defense looked like they gave up.
In the end, they couldn’t stop the run, they weren’t getting after the quarterback, and the tackling wasn’t up to par. Part of that was injuries, and the other area was fatigue. Either way, the implosion was unacceptable and needs to be cleaned up. Hopefully, for the Bears’ sake, they can start getting some of their key pieces back healthy. Despite a strong first half up front, it’s hard to feel great about their edge rushing depth until Austin Booker returns from Injured Reserve, which will be after their Week 5 bye.
We’ll see if they can turn things around against a Lions offense that struggled mightily to move the ball (or score points) against Green Bay on Sunday.
3. Special teams was a big issue on Monday night, and it’s fair to wonder if they pushed Cairo Santos hard enough during the offseason with reliable competition.
There’s little margin for error in the NFL, and as Bears fans have learned in recent years, that margin is even thinner for teams like Chicago. That’s why special teams failures can become a determining factor in winning or losing. It would be impossible to blame the special teams for the loss on Monday solely, but they sure didn’t help.
Minnesota averaged 17 yards per punt return against former fourth-round pick Tory Taylor, who averaged just 44.3 yards per punt, with his net being much lower. On the flip side, the Bears’ return attack wasn’t nearly as effective, with one significant punt return from Devin Duvernay and an end-of-half kick return from Luther Burden.
The biggest issue for the team’s third phase came in the kicking game, though. I won’t blame Johnson for going for it on fourth and three earlier in the game, even though they failed. The throw was there, and simply put, Williams missed it. Santos barely hit his first field goal at the close of the first half. His missed fourth-quarter field goal felt like the turning point in the game. While a 50-yard attempt is never “easy”, it’s become a kick that more and more teams are making look routine. Santos had the distance, but similar to his first attempt, the ball was all over the place.
To add insult to injury, the Bears needed Santos to put his final kickoff through the back of the end zone with just 2:03 remaining in the game. Chicago had one time out and the two-minute warning remaining. If Santos had stopped a return, the Bears could have received the ball back with around 56 seconds left on the clock, according to Johnson. It’s easy to wonder if the team challenged Santos enough during camp. Sure, he’s been ever-reliable inside of 40 yards, but the game has drastically changed in that department over the last five years, and length strength to routinely make kicks beyond 50 yards is a given. We saw the effects of not having someone with a big leg multiple times on Monday night, and it’s fair to wonder if the Bears made a mistake by not taking the competition at kicker more seriously. It’s not something that will factor in each week, but when a team with as small a margin for victory as the Bears have, every advantage (or disadvantage) matters.
4. The presnap penalties that plagued the Bears all of training camp reared their ugly head on Monday night.
For those who weren’t at camp, the reliance on practice reports was a must. As expected for any team with a new coaching staff, there were plenty of ups and downs for the offense. In the early going, it was the defense that had the upper hand. As camp progressed, the offense found its footing. Despite that, there was one constant coming out of these practices, and it was the presnap penalties. Johnson spoke in-depth (multiple times) about perfecting the cadence and cleaning up the pre-snap issues. In their first preseason action, things looked smooth. Williams was in rhythm, and the offense marched down the field for a long scoring drive. The following week against the Chiefs, the operation didn’t look as smooth. It was easy to write those issues off as being on the road in a loud environment, especially when they found their footing on the final two drives of the preseason finale.
In some ways, it was easy to forget about the issues that had plagued them for well over a month. Then came Monday night. In the first half alone, the Bears’ offense had four false starts, including two from correct tackle Jonah Jackson. Three of the four came on a hard count. For an offense that was struggling to find its footing, these penalties turned into drive killers. Now, there was never a reasonable expectation for the presnap operation to be perfect in game one. After all, this was the first time the coaching staff and offense had real skin in the game. Even so, a lot of the presnap issues seen in the game were preventable, and more importantly, in a controlled setting in front of a home crowd. They’ll need to clean things up quickly in a short week before they head to Detroit, where the atmosphere is guaranteed to be hostile.
5. Optimism is always easy to fall for during the offseason, but it’s clear that patience is going to be needed with this team, probably for longer than most had hoped for.
In some ways, Monday night’s season opener felt very similar to the Bears’ 2018 opener on Sunday night against the Green Bay Packers. They jumped out to an early lead, dominated the majority of the game, but when it mattered the most, they crumbled and ultimately lost the game. The deeper you dive into the details, the fewer similarities there are. Yet, on the surface, the feeling was similar. Six years ago, quarterback Mitchell Trubisky looked outstanding on the first few drives, before tailing off and not being able to find “it” again. A similar could be said for Williams, who scored on the opening drive of the game and started a perfect 10-for-10 in the passing department.
Where the differences lie are the star power on the Bears’ roster and the fact that they were facing Aaron Rodgers in a comeback bid, rather than a quarterback making their first NFL start. We know how the 2018 season played out, and if this version of the Chicago Bears finishes with a similar record, there won’t be many fans disappointed. That said, it feels like this team is much further away from achieving a 12-win season. Maybe that’s easier to say with the benefit of hindsight of 2018, while living in the moment of another one-score loss to a divisional opponent.
In 2018, it took Trubisky until Week 4 for his big breakout game under former head coach Matt Nagy. Weeks two and three were a struggle. Could Williams follow a similar path? It’s possible, but the quality of defenses he’ll see over the next two weeks should be much easier to scheme against. Detroit has the talent, but it looked overmatched in Week 1. The Cowboys are an average offense away from losing 12 or more games. There will be opportunities to figure things out soon, but it almost feels like we’ve seen this movie before.
We keep being told that things will be different this time, whether it’s the drafting of another first-round quarterback or the hiring of another new head coach. Good things don’t last, and the organization continually makes the same mistakes over and over. Could it really be different this time? Riding the emotions of Monday night’s loss says no. A more level-headed approach with some patience says, “let’s wait and see”. After all, Johnson warned us that this wouldn’t look like the Lions’ offense out of the gate. He highlighted the Week 5 bye as a reset and evaluation point. Could simply getting to (2-2) and coming out of the bye healthier be the goal? Maybe so. Could the Bears win their next three games and enter their bye on a high, just as they did in 2024? Unlikely, but yeah, they could.
One thing seems inevitable after a mixed bag during training camp, the preseason, and the season opener: Patience is needed, even if the faith isn’t there. Now we wait to see if the Bears can finally figure out how to be a modern-day offense with a franchise quarterback. Until then, we are stuck with our thoughts and a five-day waiting period before their next game.
6. Winners and Losers
Let’s keep this short and sweet.
Winners:
- DE Dayo Odeyingbo
- DT Gervon Dexter Sr.
- WR DJ Moore
- LG Joe Thuney
- LB Noah Sewell
For the better part of the night, Odeyingbo was the best defender on the field for the Bears. He was consistently in the backfield and was generating a good first-half pass rush. Dexter also played a role in the early success of the pass rush. Overall, he performed well against both the run and the pass. Moore was the team’s best pass catcher on the night, and most importantly, it was good to see him be OK after taking a brutal hit late in the fourth quarter. Thuney was the team’s best offensive lineman, and I don’t think it was even close. It wasn’t a perfect night by any means, but you can see why he’s regarded as one of the best around. Finally, Sewell had a nice game. His ability in pass coverage is still an issue, and he needs to clean up some of his tackling problems. However, he was going sideline to sideline all night and making plays. Very good to see from the former fifth-round pick.
Losers:
- QB Caleb Williams
- HC Ben Johnson
- 4th quarter defense
- RG Jonah Jackson
- Pre-snap penalties
Despite a good start for the offense on the opening drive, neither Williams nor Johnson delivered for the majority of the game. The same troubling signs that have been evident in Williams’ play since his rookie year reared their ugly head for most of the game after the hot start. Johnson’s inability to get the running game going and show the creativity that made him such an in-demand offensive mind was disappointing to see. More importantly, it’s clear that it’s going to take some time for this offense to get going. Speaking of Johnson, his hand-picked right guard was the worst offensive lineman on the field tonight. He accounted for two penalties and plenty of blown blocks. He’s going to need to improve significantly soon. The defense played lights out for three quarters, but crumbled when it mattered the most. Injuries were a factor, but there’s little excuse for looking like the entire unit gave up in the fourth quarter.
7. How Each 2024 First-Round Quarterback Looked In The Opener.
Last April, a total of six quarterbacks were taken in the first 12 selections. When the games started, five of the six had some bright moments. Jayden Daniels won Rookie of the Year and had a real argument as an MVP candidate. As Bears fans know, Williams’s rookie year was a rollercoaster, filled with plenty of highs and lows. Drake Maye was also uneven, but showed plenty of promise, and Bo Nix started slow but impressed down the stretch en route to a playoff appearance. Michael Penix played sparingly, and J.J. McCarthy missed his entire rookie year due to a knee injury suffered in his first preseason action.
For those who follow young quarterbacks’ trajectories, you’ll know that it can take two to three years to get the whole picture. Sometimes, it can take even longer (see: Baker Mayfield, Geno Smith, and Sam Darnold). Although we won’t do a weekly check-in with the six second-year quarterbacks, it was worth monitoring in the opening game of their sophomore seasons. Here’s how they performed.
Caleb Williams: 21-of-35 (60%) for 211 yards (6-yard average) with one passing touchdown, one rushing touchdown, and 58 rushing yards.
The former No. 1 overall pick started hot in the season opener, completing his first 10 passes. Then things went downhill from there. Sound familiar? It should because it happened plenty last year. Although he only took two sacks, he reverted to many old habits, including horrible accuracy down the stretch. This was never going to be a one-game fix for head coach Ben Johnson, but Week 1 showed that Williams has a long road ahead of him if he wishes to live up to the expectations of his draft spot.
Jayden Daniels: 19-of-30 (63.3%) for 233 yards (7.8 average) with one passing touchdown, and 68 rushing yards.
Simply put, the Washington Commanders dominated the New York Giants from start to finish on Sunday afternoon. Daniels was asked to do too much, but he delivered when called upon and looked a lot like he did during his rookie year. Even if the performance weren’t spectacular, I’d label it as a “good” game with plenty of reason to believe he’ll pick up exactly where he left off in 2024. He did take three sacks, but against that defensive front, I wouldn’t consider that a concern.
Drake Maye: 30-of-46 (65.2%) for 287 yards (6.2 average) with one touchdown, one interception, and four sacks.
It was an uneven day for the former No. 3 overall pick. Maye’s final numbers look pretty good, but his overall performance wasn’t nearly as impressive. His flashes of inaccuracy continued in Week 1, and it’s clear that this offensive line is going to be a work in progress (which shouldn’t shock anyone). We’ll see how things look as the season progresses, but I wouldn’t label his Week 1 performance as anything outside of average (with both some notable highs and lows).
Michael Penix: 27-of-42 (64.3%) for 298 yards (7.1 average), with two touchdowns (one passing and one rushing).
For my money, Penix was the most impressive second-year quarterback on the field in Week 1, and that reflected with an impressive 83.8 QBR. His accuracy was on display in the first half, and his poise was terrific during the second half. Not only did he lead the Falcons down the field to take the lead with less than three minutes to go in the game, but he also had two perfect throws on the final drive that should have led to a game-winning touchdown. Unfortunately, Younghoe Koo’s 44-yard miss tarnishes an impressive 2025 debut for the former No. 8 overall pick.
J.J. McCarthy: 13-of-20 (65%) for 143 yards (7.2 average), two touchdowns, and one interception.
Outside of his final throw of the first half, there wasn’t a whole lot to love about the first three quarters of the McCarthy era. Yet, as he did at Michigan, he made some big throws and led the Vikings on a 21-point run that ultimately won them the game. Obviously, the former Michigan product benefited from having one of the best offensive minds in the league to guide him. Still, it’s hard to take much away from him, especially with how much resiliency he showed in the fourth quarter to overcome a disastrous start.
Bo Nix: 25-of-40 (62.5%) for 176 yards (4.4 average), with one touchdown, and two interceptions.
It was a bad day at the office for the former No. 12 overall pick. His 4.4 yards-per-attempt was tied for the second-lowest in Week 1, and his air yards weren’t much better. Simply put, the Broncos rode their dominant defense, terrorizing a rookie quarterback to a win. Many expect Denver to take a big step forward, but for that to happen, they’ll need much more from their quarterback, even with Sean Payton calling the plays to help things along. For reference, Nix’s QBR on Sunday was the third lowest of his career over the span of 19 games.
8. My Week 1 Overreactions
The opening week can bring many mirages that might feel real in the moment, but age like milk by Week 18. At this point, it has become a running joke, so why not contribute to the madness? Although I don’t believe most of these, let’s pretend I do.
- Bryce Young is not fixed, and the Carolina Panthers’ quarterback nightmare isn’t close to being over.
As I noted at the top, I don’t believe many of these, but this one might age well. Simply put, Young looked lost. He finished the game 18-of-35 for 154 passing yards, a touchdown, and two interceptions. It should be noted that his lone touchdown came in garbage time, down 20 points late in the fourth quarter. What’s even worse- It wasn’t like Jacksonville looked great.
- Mike McDaniel might not make it to Week 8.
Yet another one that I genuinely believe and did well before Sunday’s ugly 33-8 blowout loss against Daniel Jones and the Indianapolis Colts. In my 25 bold predictions earlier last week, I predicted that McDaniel would be the first head coach to be fired this season. A lot of that goes back to recent history, and how this team just seems to lack any sort of “bite.” Sunday was further proof that there’s high disaster potential in Miami for 2025.
- Aaron Rodgers is back like he never left.
The soon-to-be 42-year-old quarterback is back and primed for another Super Bowl run! Well… Maybe. Although I’m still not convinced this will work in Pittsburgh for one last ride, he finished his Steelers debut going 22-of-30 (73.3%) for 244 passing yards and a whopping four touchdowns. Helluva debut from the veteran quarterback, even if their defense gave up 32 points and 182 yards on the ground.
- Bo Nix equals Mac Jones 2.0.
In all seriousness, I remain highly skeptical of Nix and will stay that way until he can show me he can perform beyond a great offensive system. Even so, his Week 1 performance against the Titans was one to forget. There was a lot of smoke and mirrors last year with Denver’s offense. With a year’s worth of tape on Nix and his five years of college experience no longer a factor, we’ll see what his ceiling really is in 2025.
- Pete Carroll will turn the Las Vegas Raiders into a playoff team this season.
Raiders fans have experienced their fair share of coaching hire blunders in recent history, so it’s easy to get a little excited at what they saw on Sunday. Even if it was against the New England Patriots. Quarterback Geno Smith went for 362 passing yards, but rookie running back Ashton Jeanty averaged just two yards per carry, despite his first NFL touchdown. One thing is for sure: Carroll is going to have his team ready to play, and they’ll be much more competitive than they have been.
- C.J. Stroud’s rookie year will be the best of his NFL career.
I’m not ready to write off Stroud this way just yet, but his concerning trend of bad starts continued in Week 1 against the Los Angeles Rams. The former No. 2 overall pick went 19-of-27 for 188 passing yards, no touchdowns, and an interception. Even more concerning, he was sacked three times for a loss of 37 yards. I’ll be the first to admit that I questioned the Texans’ offensive line plan from the start. Even so, blaming Bobby Slowick for last year only goes so far if these performances continue.
9. NFC North Week 1 Recap: Are the Green Bay Packers the best team ever? My Column:
It’s been a helluva 10 days for the Packers, hasn’t it? It started with the surprise acquisition of superstar pass rusher Micah Parsons and was capped off with a dominating 27-13 victory at home against the two-time NFC North champion Detroit Lions. Simply put, it was all Green Bay from the opening snap. If not for a garbage-time touchdown (albeit an impressive first catch for rookie Isaac TeSlaa), the score would have looked even worse.
For full disclosure, I had initially projected the Lions to win the division at (10-7), but following Green Bay’s blockbuster trade for Parsons, I landed on the Packers to win the division at (11-6), and the Lions to grab the lone Wild Card spot in the NFC North at (10-7). So far, I feel good about my decision, but there are 16 more games to go. The Packers will head to Washington on a short week to face the (1-0) Commanders, while the Lions will head back to Detroit for their home opener against the Bears.
The Bears looked like the far superior team for the first three quarters on Monday night, but in the end, it was McCarthy and the Vikings who had the last laugh en route to a 21-point fourth quarter performance. For Minnesota, their Week 1 win was proof that they can win with an inexperienced quarterback; for the Bears, they’ll head out on the road to face an (0-1) Lions team that will be looking to bounce back after a bad loss in Green Bay. One thing is for sure– One team will exit Week 2 at (0-2) with two divisional losses, which is about as big a hole as one team can dig themselves early in the season.
10. Week 2 Look Ahead: A Ben Johnson homecoming in Detroit versus the (0-1) Lions.
The new era of Lions football with Johnson and Aaron Glenn as their star coordinators got off to a rough start on Sunday afternoon. That statement isn’t to take away from anything that Green Bay did, but the Lions looked like a fish out of water. Could it have just been a bad game? Sure. Growing pains? I’m willing to buy that. Either way, both the Bears and Lions will be facing a crucial Week 2 divisional game in Detroit.
Starting (0-2) in general is usually a bad sign of things to come in a season, but it’s not always a death sentence. Starting (0-2) within the division (and conference) is about as deep a hole as a team can dig themselves.
For the Bears, there will be plenty of familiarity with Johnson calling the shots in Chicago. Detroit’s offensive line struggled with pressure in the passing game and wasn’t overly effective on inside zone runs. A big reason for that was their re-tooled interior offensive line that featured Graham Glasnow (playing a new position), Tate Ratledge (playing in his first NFL game), and Christian Mahogany (who started just one game during his rookie season). The defense also lacked juice, especially up front. Detroit is a team with plenty of talent, but it’s worth wondering how much of an impact losing two coordinators and even more assistants in one offseason can have.
Both teams will be looking to avoid disastrous starts, but this feels like a much bigger game for the Bears, who will be looking to build some sort of goodwill after blowing a very winnable game on Monday night.
