Week 5 was Packers week, and despite being favored for the first time in two decades heading into Lambeau Field, the wheels came off the backup quarterback experience in the form of a 31-7 beatdown on Sunday afternoon. In a game that the Bears never led, and frankly, never felt like they were in, it was a stark reminder that although they’ve had their fair share of impressive performances, this team is far from a finished product. More on Sunday’s blowout loss, and where they go from here in Week 5’s
installment of 10 Bears Takes.
1. On Friday, news broke that former Super Bowl-winning head coach Mike Ditka died at age 86—more on how his football legacy will live on in Chicago for eternity.
In many ways, Mike Ditka was larger than life, especially in the city of Chicago. Because of the Bears’ lack of success over the last three decades, the ‘85 Bears have remained the pride of Chicago sports, no matter the sport. Not only did that team have plenty of likable players, but they were also dominant on the field for a good stretch. Their head coach, though, always caught headlines for his unique, hard-nosed personality.
For those around to watch Ditka’s 12-year playing career, they’d all agree that his personality and coaching style were reflective of how he played the game. He’s one of three tight ends taken in the first round in franchise history, and as Greg Olson pointed out on the broadcast, he was always a presence around the franchise once his coaching career ended. His immediate success at the position as a rookie was almost unheard of, and even after he left the Bears organization, he remained a legendary figure in Chicago sports.
Many will remember him as a gruff personality not afraid of conflict, while others will remember him for his years on different NFL-related shows. He was always one to stick up for the Bears, and there wasn’t a time that I can remember when he didn’t pick them to win a game. In many ways, Ditka’s persona was larger than life, and you don’t think of the Chicago Bears without thinking of the coach himself. As Ben Johnson said, he is the gold standard around Halas Hall, and even in death, that will never change. While 86 years on this earth is a long time to live, life is never long enough, and it’s a great reminder to love those in your life and not take a day for granted.
2. Packers week couldn’t have gone much worse, and now Ben Johnson and company must swallow their pride, get back to the drawing board, and find a way to get back in the win column next weekend in Atlanta.
There’s little better in the sports world than your favorite team getting the “last word” in a rivalry game like the Bears did in the Wild Card Round in January. In Johnson’s first season as the team’s head coach, he didn’t shy away from the rivalry, and dare I say, he fueled the fire in ways that not many head coaches have done in franchise history.
Coming into Week 5, it felt like the two organizations were headed in separate directions. Despite being separated by just one game in the standings, the Packers struggled to win, while the Bears had multiple convincing wins over their first four weeks. As usual, none of that mattered, especially with the game being played at Lambeau Field.
Justifiably so, the Bears were loud all offseason about their ability to get the better of the Packers in two of the three games from last season. There was confidence from both the organization and the fans that their fortunes had finally turned, and this was about to be as lopsided in the Bears’ favor as it had been for Green Bay over the last three decades. While that might still be the case as the years go on, Sunday served as a sobering reminder that the Packers still have Chicago’s number, at least to a certain extent.
The 31-7 final score at Lambeau was a good snapshot into just how lopsided the majority of Sunday’s contest truly was. Frankly, the game started on the wrong foot with the opening offensive drive and never really equaled out. Not only did the Bears never lead, but for the most part, it never felt like they were fully “in” the game. The offense sputtered, and the defense only gained their footing for a quarter or so.
Simply put, if you were judging both teams based on that one game, it would feel like the clock had been turned back a few years and Bears fans were back living in the nightmare that quarterback Aaron Rodgers had them in. The good news is that, for the majority of the season, the Bears have looked like the much better team. Maybe Sunday’s game will serve as an indicator of future success for both teams, but as we’ve learned so far this season, the NFL is very much a week-to-week league at this juncture in the calendar.
That said, Johnson, his staff, and this team must reassess their approach moving forward. With any luck, they won’t start a backup quarterback in Week 6, but even if Caleb Williams comes back against Atlanta, plenty went wrong on Sunday and needs to be corrected. It’s time for this team to address the issues, get their starting quarterback back under center, and get back into the win column next Sunday. After all, the last thing this team can afford to do is throw away a 3-1 start, especially considering half of those games were played with backup quarterbacks.
3. Going 2-1 with a pair of backup quarterbacks is no easy feat. That said, things went up in flames at Lambeau Field with Bagent leading the charge in a disastrous second start.
First, we’ll start with the good. When Williams originally went down with his hamstring injury, everyone’s mind immediately went to a season-ending injury. Once it was confirmed as a hamstring injury, the initial prognosis was much better than expected. Honestly, if they can get Williams back in Week 6, missing three games over a 17-game season is about as “best-case scenario” as you could hope for when the season happened.
When most teams lose their starting quarterback, no matter how long, the immediate concern is staying afloat. I believe that I was far from alone in that mindset, even with Williams’ injury. Case Keenum had an impressive showing on Monday Night Football, and some wondered why they would “go back” to Bagent after that type of performance. In the moment, I understood both arguments. On one hand, yeah, it’s hard to bench a player who had a storybook-like performance against a good Eagles defense. On the other hand, matching that outing was going to be next to an impossible feat. Trusting that Johnson had his roster evaluated correctly and leaning on the depth chart (with Bagent being the primary backup) made plenty of sense.
In Bagent’s first start, there was some good, even if there were some concerning signs. In the end, they left some points on the board, but a few of his “should have been” interceptions were wiped away by penalties. As I wrote last week, there should have at least been a conversation about who was starting this weekend. Even if they believed that Keenum’s Monday night performance wasn’t repeatable, Bagent’s body of work against the Jets was less than stellar.
Simply put, going 2-1 with two different backup quarterbacks is an impressive feat that should not be overlooked. If that number is flipped or if they go winless, there’s a good chance that Williams is rushed back before he was ready. A winning record without Williams was not only unexpected, but it has also allowed them to stay true to Williams’ recovery timeline.
That said, a conversation needs to be had when it comes to Bagent’s standing on the depth chart. If Week 4 was a questionable performance, Week 5 was a flat-out disaster. Not only did he throw two interceptions, but he also missed wide-open receivers and didn’t see the field well from the opening snap. In many ways, his play reminded me a lot of the issues we saw with both Mitchell Trubisky and Justin Fields under center. Watching the broadcast, it felt like receivers weren’t getting open. Taking a look at the All-22, it was clear that Bagent’s brain was not trusting what his eyes were seeing.
Coming into this stretch, Bagent was widely unproven, even as a backup. Even if the front office and coaching staff told us he was a Top 32 quarterback in the league, his six games started have told a much different story. Maybe in time Bagent can develop into that type of player, but in the present, Keenum, even if based purely on experience, gives this team a better chance to win in relief or in a spot-start.
Again, the bigger-picture outlook is that the team went 2-1 with backup quarterbacks forced to start. That, of course, assumes Williams is ready to go for Atlanta. With those three-plus games worth of “proof” now on tape, it’s time for Johnson and his offensive staff to reassess how they stack the depth chart behind their starter.
4. Caleb Williams’ work has noticeably ramped up this week. Regardless of Sunday’s result, his return in Atlanta has felt like a good bet. Will it happen?
Last Friday’s practice was the first time that Williams had participated in team activities since sustaining his hamstring injury at the end of Week 2. Although I had originally circled Green Bay as his comeback game, their success with Keenum and Bagent under center let them take their time with their starting quarterback’s recovery. Friday must have gone well, because early Sunday morning, Williams was seen doing more extensive work, both throwing the ball and getting out of the pocket on the move.
If you ask the coaching staff if their win-loss record over these last three games would impact Williams’ overall recovery timeline, they’d likely tell you nothing would have changed. Maybe that’s true, but I’d be willing to bet that had they gone 0-2 heading into Packers week, Williams’ timeline would have been pushed up. The good news is my theory wasn’t forced into action, and because of that, their starting quarterback should come back relatively healthy and “safe” from reinjuring that same hamstring.
Obviously, we’ll need to see how Williams’ hamstring responds to a growing workload over the last handful of days, but assuming there are no setbacks, his return in Week 6 against the Falcons feels like a good bet. When asked about it postgame, Johnson said, “Yeah, he’s on track. We’ll see where, we’ll see if it’s Atlanta or after. I think it’s going to be close.” That all but sets up an expectation that, barring a setback, Williams should be ready to roll for Atlanta, even if we don’t get word until closer to Sunday.
5. Injuries are piling up. On the flip side, the Bears should be getting a few key players back as early as next Sunday—more on the injuries and expected returns.
We’ll start with the injuries sustained on Sunday. It started with T.J. Edwards, who left early with a hamstring injury and didn’t return. Then Dayo Odeyingbo left with a quad injury and did not return. Later in the game, Tyrique Stevenson came up gimpy after defending a touchdown pass and was later ruled out with a hamstring injury. Then Cam Lewis left late in the game with an undisclosed injury and did not return. In total, the team lost three starters, including Lewis, who had played substantial snaps almost every week. While none of this is ideal, the good news is that the team has depth at almost every spot affected.
On Saturday, the team activated Noah Sewell off PUP. Assuming that Keyshaun Elliott’s injury isn’t too serious, they are built to sustain an injury to Edwards. Both Shemar Turner and Kyler Gordon are set to come off PUP soon, and with the injuries sustained on Sunday, that could be as early as this weekend. Turner’s 21-day window is closing, while Gordon still has another week before needing to be activated or being lost for the year.
My hunch is both players will be activated before next Sunday’s game. While I’m sure the coaching staff would like to make Gordon “earn” his spot back, Stevenson has been dinged up for the majority of the season. If Lewis remains out for Week 6, it might make the most sense to have Gordon play nickel and slide Malik Muhammad back outside. Week 5’s outing notwithstanding, Muhammad has played well both inside and outside. Turner will be more of a depth piece regardless of when he’s activated, but if Odeyingbo misses time, it could be an opportunity to get Turner more involved before the trade deadline.
As we saw on Sunday, there are still plenty of holes on this defense, but with any luck, the added depth will help round this unit out a little more than it is right now. Either way, help is on the way, regardless of each player’s long-term status, but the timing could work out well if any of those sustained on Sunday are serious.
6. Following three straight outstanding defensive performances, concerns about this group’s overall makeup have resurfaced.
Any objective observer who has watched the Bears this season probably knew that a step back on the defensive side of the ball was coming. Our own Jonathan Wood detailed the defense’s struggles on the road, in a stark contrast in numbers between home and away. After three straight impressive performances (all at home), regression hit like a brick wall against the Packers.
One of the more surprising aspects was their inability to stop the run consistently. Even though they totaled 10 tackles for loss on Sunday, there were a few chunk plays given up on the ground to a team that came in as the worst rushing offense through the first four weeks. The end-of-game numbers look fine, but they ripped off big chunks at key times, which remains an issue for this group.
More concerning after shutting down the Eagles’ and Jets’ passing attacks was their inability to defend the deep ball. Quarterback Jordan Love was able to drop bombs on this secondary at will. On the day, Love was 6-of-8 for 258 yards and two touchdowns on throws over 20 yards. In total, the defense gave up 358 passing yards and 428 yards overall. That simply cannot happen, regardless of who they are facing.
The lack of pass rush was evident, despite an offensive line that has struggled mightily all season. Austin Booker’s two sacks heading into the half were the only two times they got to the quarterback all day, and in total, they had just five quarterback hits.
So far this season, the defense has had two awful outings and three impressive ones. Both of the bad performances came on the road, and that won’t get any easier with the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday. Defensive coordinator Dennis Allen has done a great job of adjusting from week to week. Still, without the turnover output that they had last year, it’s hard to imagine them improving enough against top-flight offenses without their takeaway output drastically improving and, of course, much more real pressure on the quarterback.
7. Even with the struggles at quarterback, the Bears sorely missed Kyle Monangai on Sunday afternoon.
Originally, Monangai missed the first two days of practice with what was thought to be extra rest after carrying the ball as many times as he did against the Jets. Then the news broke that the second-year running back was dealing with a minor thumb injury and turf toe. Immediately, most fans realized that he was likely to miss Sunday’s game. Now the bigger question is how long he misses. Considering the team didn’t put him on Injured Reserve, it’s a good bet that he’ll miss less than four games. In his place, Roschon Johnson saw an uptick in snaps at the RB2.
There’s really no other way to say this, but Johnson isn’t a proper replacement for anyone taking 40-50% of the snaps. While he might have some value on special teams, his lack of vision and middling athleticism just won’t be a good fit in almost any rushing offense. D’Andre Swift had his moments on Sunday, but when they needed to establish a run game, especially in the red zone, Johnson was a non-factor.
That’s where Monangai comes in. Not only is he the more physical change-of-pace piece of this two-headed monster, but he’s the offense’s best option down in the red zone. Johnson runs too upright, and while Swift has moments of physicality, that’s not really a part of his game. Ben Johnson’s offense is at its best when the running game is working, and without Monangai, it’s hard to envision anything going to be smooth sailing.
We’ll see what Monangai’s status is against Atlanta. Still, if he remains out for another week, it might be time to look into giving Xavier Scott an extended look to see if he can fulfill the role that Monangai has been so effective at doing.
8. Think you’ve got the league figured out? I present you with the results of Week 5. Good luck!
2026 has been yet another year of unpredictability. After all, the NFL is fueled by parity, and so far this season, nothing has changed.
Did anyone have the Chargers at 0-5? How about the Houston Texans at 1-4? On the flip side, who had the 49ers, Vikings, and Chiefs as the lone undefeated teams heading into Week 6? Anybody? I didn’t think so.
The week-to-week unpredictability of this league is one of the things that makes the NFL so great. Even if you look at the Bears vs. Packers game, Chicago were the favorites going in and got blown out by 24 points. The Texans and Titans came into the day winless, but only one team looked like they should be winless.
The season is far from over, but if the playoffs started next week, five new teams would enter the tournament. Again, parity reigns supreme.
Divisions and playoff spots are rarely decided in September and October, but teams that have started undefeated and winless to this point have all but sealed their fate. That still leaves plenty of other playoff spots up for grabs, including the NFC North where their combined 14 wins are tied for the 2nd most for any division through five weeks since the 2002 realignment, according to Josh Dubow of the AP.
Only time will tell how the rest of the season plays out, but as we continue to see “surprise teams” emerge, others like the Raiders have come back down to earth. Buckle in, football fans: the season is still young, and for most teams in the league, everything is still in front of them.
9. NFC North Lookaround: Vikings stay perfect, are the Packers back, and the Lions get back in the win column on a rather disastrous weekend for the Bears
Sunday was a banner day for everyone in the NFC North except the Bears.
The Vikings handled business in the early window against the struggling New Orleans Saints. Quarterback Kyler Murray had the best game of his short tenure in Minnesota, throwing for 24-of-30 for 229 yards and a touchdown. Although his numbers weren’t overly impressive, he was efficient and kept the offense ahead of the chains. To nobody’s surprise, defensive coordinator Brian Flores has second-year quarterback Tyler Shough in hell for most of the day. Shough didn’t crack 100 yards passing and threw two interceptions on the day. The Vikings head into their bye week at a perfect 5-0 and are poised to return to the playoffs following a year-long absence last season.
The Lions fell behind early to the Cardinals, and their offense struggled to move the ball. Then, after a fourth-down conversion and a 15-yard personal foul, their offense woke up and hung 45 points in a dominant effort. The defense played much better, keeping the Cardinals offense under wraps until garbage time became a factor. The Lions have been a week-to-week team, and with an early bye in Week 6, they’ll have an extra week to prepare for the Packers.
We all know what the Packers did to the Bears on Sunday, and despite a disastrous 1-2 start where Love was running for his life, Green Bay seems to have figured things out after two consecutive wins. They’ll face a tough task with an up-and-down Cowboys at Lambeau Field in Week 6. This feels like a big one before a road showing against the Lions in Week 7.
Here are the standings after Week 5:
(5-0) Minnesota Vikings
(3-2) Green Bay Packers
(3-2) Chicago Bears
(3-2) Detroit Lions
10. Week 6 Look Ahead: A trip to Atlanta to face a red-hot Falcons offense that looks like a real contender in the NFC South as long as Michael Penix is healthy.
Following a 0-2 start where the offense didn’t reach the red zone, the return of quarterback Michael Penix has completely transformed this entire Falcons team. At 2-3, Atlanta was a Penix injury away from being on a three-game winning streak and has looked dangerous in the process. Running back Bijan Robinson is playing out of his mind, and Penix has looked like a completely different quarterback coming off his third ACL tear.
Drake London has been otherworldly, and the combination of London and Robinson has been near-impossible for opposing defenses to stop. Even more impressive, Atlanta has been playing well on defense. They are getting after the quarterback, and for the most part, not giving up the big play. The key factor is the health of Atlanta’s starting quarterback, who suffered a rib injury late in the fourth quarter and did not return for overtime.
If Penix plays, this game will be a toss-up, assuming Caleb Williams returns. I expect the defense to struggle to keep the Falcons off the scoreboard, which means the offense will have to move the ball and convert in the red zone against an upstart defense. It’s a winnable game for both teams. Still, for the Bears, a win is borderline needed with a short-week Thursday night showdown against the red-hot Patriots, followed by a Monday night matchup against the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks in Week 8.
This is a big stretch upcoming for the Bears, and as long as they have Williams under center, fans should feel good about their chances in all three games. Monitoring Penix’s health throughout the week is warranted, as the next man up is Tua Tagovailoa, who happened to throw the game-ending interception on Sunday night.
