However, Bears’ D also leads the NFL in TOs! Apparently the last D to allow the most yards per play AND lead in TOs was the 1995 Cardinals [4-12]. It’s unsustainable to say the least.
Bears Dline lacks a pass rush, and can get gashed on the ground albeit Sweat is starting to heat up, and maybe Austin Booker lives up to the hype. Add in INJs and allowing 28.4 PPG [25th]…
Defense: C
As for specials, it’s been up and down year for FGs, and Bears actually haven’t punted much. Regardless, Tori does look better.
Ben Johnson’s Chicago Bears have punted only 26 times through 8 games this season, the lowest amount by a Bears team in the Super Bowl era. 😳
That being said, the KO coverage is straight azz and has allowed teams to keep hanging around; it’s nearly impossible to mess up an onside kick, yet the Bears managed it. Hightower should be fired, and Moody maybe needs to replace Santos.
Bears Specials: D
#Bears rank 29th in NFL on Kickoff Coverage. Their average opponent start position on kickoffs is the 31.25 yard line.
Coverage has been bad all year & no improvement since W1. Ben said on ESPN1000 he’s making Special Teams a top priority of his this week.
HUGE game Sunday for the Bears playoff hopes. Giants have lost their last 10 road football games. Bears gotta handle business. #DaBears#Bearspic.twitter.com/m3NXh534P7
Rushing: 5 rushes, 48 yards, 2 touchdowns, 21-yard long run
Fourth Quarter Performance: In the final quarter, Nix recorded two passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns, becoming the first player in NFL history to do so in a single quarter
Bears SHOULD win the game, esp in “Bear weather” which means they’ll make it much closer than it should be.
The Defense came out on fire [most of] that first half. That was a championship D akin to the famous ’18 and ’06 predecessors.
We heard about ‘bend don’t break’, but the Allen D was more like ‘break but force a turnover’. In that first half, they were not even bending; in fact, fuck you, we’re stuffing the run, sacking your QB, then taking that ball. Absolute dominance.
— Just Another Year Chicago: Bears (@JAYChi_Bears) October 19, 2025
Talked about it last week, but TJ Edwards back seems to line up everyone properly, thusly making them play faster and more downhill. Minimized are the wide open lanes, bad angles, missed tackles and total blown coverages.
Tremaine Edmunds [3 INTs] is now free to use his speed; Brisker and Gordon sniffing the LOS is making QBs shit-bricks while Kevin Byard suddenly patrols the back end like Ed Reed.
I also wonder how much Shemar Turner at DE has helped stabilize that line, especially vs run. If Austin Booker returns full-force, watch out.
With 23 points so far today, the Bears are the only team to score 21+ points in every game this season. pic.twitter.com/vkEzuMJJXR
NGL, this offense, specifically Caleb Williams, sputtered for much of the game. It was just funky from the start, from taking the snap, penalties, dropped passes, scramble drills that had little chance to questionable play-calling [like those WR screens]. Did Caleb even complete 5 passes from inside the pocket?
Caleb Williams completed 15-of-26 passes for 172 yards and an interception.
It wasn’t pretty, and Caleb admitted as much. TBH, it’s a bit concerning particularly when one sees what Drake Maye is cooking in NE.
For a franchise that once had Tom Brady, #Patriots QB Drake Maye set a new franchise record today for the highest single-game completion percentage (min. 20 pass attempts) — 91.3%.
Luckily for the Bears’ O, their run game continued to steamroll.
Trivia Time:
D’Andre Swift had 124 rushing yards and Kyle Monangai had 81, marking the first time the Bears had two running backs rush for more than 80 yards since??? ANSWER
I loved Ben Johnson’s attacks. Yes, it was meat-n-potatoes traps, stretches, and combo blocks; however, he also mixed in some misdirection that perhaps didn’t pop, but at least helped to keep the Saints’ D honest and somewhat freeze them from just busting in.
More importantly, BJ made great halftime tweaks. He finally began using more playaction [boot] to get easy passes for a struggling O. This was enough to milk the clock, scratch some points together, and close it out; other wise, it could’ve been a one score game had the refs not bailed out BJ on that 4rth and goal disaster.
The specials didn’t shit the bed, and the rest was sorta just Judo – letting a bad team defeat itself, and here we are with the Bears at 4-2 riding momentum.
Chicago relying on turnovers and a strong run game?
I’ve caught some Saints this season. Numbers say their pass D suck, but outside the Bills and Seahawks beating them handily, and stomping the GMEN 26-14, they’ve been in one score games including the last one against a tough Pats’ team.
Bears have racked up 11 TOs on their win streak, and one must imagine that streak will end sooner or later. I mean, if they go +3 TOs the rest of the way, they can damn near beat anyone.
The real test will come when they don’t create those TOs.
How will they respond then? Will their D give up a bunch of TDs, or will they force FGs? God forbid make 3rd down stops…
Will the O take it up a notch to make up for essentially 3 extra drives?
One of my biggest question is if D’Andre Swift can continue stacking big runs off his 7.7 YPC performance?
Ben Johnson went with the K.I.S.S. philo for the run, and it worked; however, NFL watches tape too.
Why can we expect a different result than the last “short” week?
T.J. Edwards, Kyler Gordon, are back and Tyrique Stevenson is playing at a MUCH higher level.
We all know the narrative. Bears blow a victory vs WASH last year in catastrophic fashion thxs to Matt Eberflus dumbfuckery and Tyrique Stevenson yapping with the crowd.
Bears enter death spiral that results in the first Bears’ HC to ever be fired midseason making Caleb Williams shuffle through 3 OCs in his rookie season.
Meanwhile Jayden Daniels catapults to OROY, carrying his team to the playoffs amid media hype.
Many pundits preseason were predicting the Bears to be a ‘surprise playoff team’, but Washington stole their Cinderella slippers that day.
On the bright side, it was such a colossal disaster that it was enough for even the milk toast McCaskeys to show some balls and fire Eberflus.
Although in typical timid Halas fashion, it still somehow wasn’t enough to terminate the GM who hired that HC [and vouched for him]because…Bears.
So we know what’s at stake. This isn’t just another game. It’s nearly symbolic and a true measure of how far the Bears have really progressed since that fateful Hail Mary.
What needs to happen:
Well, once more, this isn’t rocket, or even rock ’em-sock’ em robot science.
The Commies are the best running team.
As I wrote on Tues.
Bears’ avg 102.3 YPG [24rth]; however, when one slices out the Caleb scrambles it leaves RBs: 3.4 YPC, 2 TDs.
Ben Johnson on the Bears' run game:
"Our guys are going to be fine. It's not always the runners — it's everybody. It's the quarterback carrying out his fake, it's the receivers blocking down the field, the tight ends doing their job and same thing with the offensive line."
On D, the Bears are giving up a whopping 164.5 YPG [31st].
Ergo. STOP THE RUN.
The Commanders have the No. 1 rushing offense in the NFL averaging 156.4 yards per game 😳@clayharbs82 breaks down why the Bears' defense vs. Washington's rush attack is the second-most important matchup of Week 6 pic.twitter.com/vhxGmysyXr
Or at the very least slow it down! This won’t be easy. Jayden Daniels can freeze the LBs opening up lanes for Bill Croskey-Merritt who is having a heck of a rookie campaign. I caught some of him, and he resembles Ashton Jeanty in that he’s shifty with zip.
Friendly reminder, Poles drafted Kyle Monangai [233rd] while Croskey-Merritt was selected 12 spots after. Fans dreaming about trading for Breece Hall or De’Von Achane when Poles could’ve just drafted Merritt straight up. Thanks, Poles.
Luckily for the Bears, T.J. Edwards and Kyler “Spider-Man” Gordon are projected back. Maybe they help. It’s important to remember that nickel in today’s NFL is basically the new SAM, as such, expected to make tough tackles in space. For the Bears’ sake, Gordon [and Austin Booker] return hungry.
According to PFF the Bears Defensive line ranks 30th in the NFL.
They are 29th in sacks per game 31st in rushing yards per game and dead last in the NFL in rushing YPC.
As a Bears’ fan, my first instinct is to establish the run and keep ramming it down their throats. That simply isn’t feasible with this Poles’ roster. More realistically, Ben Johnson will have to pass to open up some lanes for the run as WASH struggles to defend the pass and employs a ton of zone.
Caleb Williams seems to excel vs zone, so chunk plays must be made. First downs can’t be missed; they will act as the defacto run game to keep WASH off the field and hopefully playing from behind. It’s not ideal. Much more can go wrong, from pre-snap penalties, drop passes, wrong routes, to sailing balls, blown up screens, jumped passes and strip sacks, but that’s what happens when a team can’t run.
Outside a slew of Bear-forced TOs, Commanders self-sabotaging, or crazy plays like blocked FGs, muffed returns, etc… this is likely the best path for the Bears to serve the chilly dish of revenge and finally bury that infamous debacle.
King Benny didn’t take it lying down and neither should the BJ Bears. Bang! Bang!
None of the early games are interesting. NFL assumed Rams-v-Ravens would be good, but didn’t plan on Lamar going down. Maybe they calculated Chargers-v-Fins would be watchable, but both teams are disappointing.
The later slate is not much better. No doubt the schedule makers were proud about Bengals-v-Puke, but with Burrow out the result is all but certain.
Only real interesting matchup is Lions-v-Chiefs. This could very well be a SB preview, but here’s the difference.
Lions usually steamroll through the regular season then sputter in the playoffs.
Chiefs stagger through the regular season like a drunken sailor, then when the playoffs arrive, they sober up, and blast their [AFC] foes with anti-aircraft cannons.
They’re the reason neither Lamar nor Josh Allen own SB rings.
So despite me hoping the Lions will lose, I think they’ll eke out a victory at KC although part of me still expects Goff to wilt in prime-time.
Not using the Cowgirls for this week. Reserving their big hair, big boots, big…pom-poms for when Bears play!
Teams on bye: Bears, Falcons, Packers, Steelers.
Normally, I’d argue a WK5 bye is way too early, but this year it feels right. Some players badly need it to heal up. Bears go into it after a 2-win streak, including an incredibly dramatic Raider finale. Plus, Ben Johnson is still a rookie HC, so a brief intermission to ‘re-center’ and do some meta to steer the car in the right direction before going off a ditch – not the worst possibility.
The next 5 games aren’t exactly daunting. @Wash, v-NO, @Balt, @Cincy, v-NYG
I’m superstitious! Even Freud, an ardent materialist and atheist, admitted it was hard for him to shake off some superstitions, whether they be throwing salt over shoulder or knocking on wood…as such, these ladies were part of the victory equation last Sunday, so here they cheer again until the next loss.
That being said, this is a pretty cool image via GP:
2-2 is within reach .500 going into bye is not ideal, but it’s a hell of a lot better than 1-3. 2-2 players still believe, buy-in, and try harder with playoff dreams beckoning. 1-3…would be a miserable bye for all Bear fans.
I’m not going to write some elaborate breakdown about what needs to be done. Think we all know.
1. Stop Ashton Jeanty who despite a 3.1 avg remains dangerous in the open field. I think he’s been hit the most behind the LOS of all starting HBs [or close to it]. Jeanty still has great contact balance, vision and acceleration which would be lethal in open lanes. Bears’ D needs to attack and wrap.
2. On the flip side, our Oline has opened up lanes for D’Andre Swift, but he has yet to take advantage and break out. If ever a ‘get right game’ presented itself to Swift, this is it.
3. I’m not expecting much from our run game TBH. Seems to be all smoke and mirrors; however, Ben Johnson and Caleb have been efficient in the redzone. If that continues, and if Caleb produces a complete game, then that will stress the lowly Raiders.
The Bears’ D simply can’t be Trestmanesque. Contain Jeanty. Get a few key sacks and stuffs. Maybe a turnover or two. Then let BJ/Caleb cook hopefully dominating TOP. TOP is the Bears’ best defense.
Despite this being an away game, I suspect a decent showing of Bear fans in Vegas.
What an ass-whooping! For some reason, Bears always lay points on Cowboys since 2010:
2010. Bears W. 27 points 2012. Bears W. 34 points 2013. Bears W. 45 points 2014. Bears L. 28 points 2016. Bears L. 17 points 2019. Bears W. 31 points 2022. Bears L. 29 points 2025. Bears W. 31 points
That means Bears avg 30 points/g vs Cowboys in last 8 clashes; wish Bears could play them whenever they need to kick-start sputtering offense.
Few quick observations.
1. The oline held up vs rush. This is the first game Caleb hasn’t been sacked. That’s both a testament to this oline’s strength as well as Caleb’s mobility, pocket awareness, and frankly, piss poor Dallas pass rush.
On the flip side, the pure run game struggled once more. It wasn’t really ’til late that it began gaining traction.
But to quote the Wolf from Pulp Fiction, ‘Let’s not start sucking each other’s d*cks quite yet.’ Two things I noticed.
1. It seems Caleb sails when his release point looks premature and high. Is this related to height? He does it even when he has a clean pocket, so it’s a matter of consistency. Dunks are great, but gotta make the free-throws as well.
2. Maybe because of #1, Caleb continues missing. In this game, Caleb did hit most of the wide open receivers, yet struggled more with the contested throws. I would love to see his comp% with contested plays vs when the receivers are 2YDs open. At one point the broadcast counted 4 ‘off’ throws. Granted, this happens to all QBs. I watched Mahomes miss Kelce badly vs Gmen, and that’s about as solid a duo as you’re going to find; nevertheless, an issue to track going forward because Ben Johnson specifically addressed improving Caleb’s accuracy during preseason.
Speaking of Ben Johnson, his O has scored 30+ points on Eberflus 5 out of last 7 games.
Reality check:
This is the #Bears' best offensive performance against a bad defense since 2024, when they scored 36 vs. the Panthers and 35 vs. the Jaguars in back-to-back games under Shane Waldron. https://t.co/j81J8M8eWy
Friendly reminder. And let's not forget that Trubisky actually got pulled OUT of this game or else he may be the current QB with the record for most TDs. Let that sink in… https://t.co/OPQcn3noUk
We’ve been through “turning the corner”, “finally arrived” “at last we got a franchise QB!” with Cutler, Trubisky and Fields: all turned out to be fugazi.
This could be Caleb’s “Tampa Bay Christening.” Dallas’ D could simply be that dreadful.
That being said, if you’re given a gift, you take it. Caleb is trending in the right direction, and that’s priority numero uno.
#Cowboys vs #Bears has us puzzled all year long! We need something to help on defense—whether it’s scheme, personnel, or coaching. Is it too soon to tell? We were ranked 29th on defense before this game… where do you all think we’ll be ranked after? pic.twitter.com/DSd7RekdGR
On D, well, raise your hand if you predicted the Bears’ D to hold Dallas to 14 points!
The start of the game continued to look like a horror show. Cowboys were just shredding the D, then, the unthinkable occurred.
Arguably the worst starting CB in the league, Tyrique Stevenson, made a play that completely reversed momentum.
FINALLY, somebody on the Bears’ D made a play like a blue-chipper. Apparently, a player’s only meeting was called that I missed.
Disgusted by the ugly start to the season, Bears safety Jaquan Brisker said he and defensive tackle Grady Jarrett called a players-only meeting for the defense Wednesday. It helped rally them to a 31-14 win over the Cowboys on Sunday.https://t.co/ibKbk4FWe7
Whatever was said WORKED. I frankly wasn’t expecting a win. I only wanted Bears to play with some pride. They did, and then some. Defensive game-ball went to Tremaine Edmunds who made not one but TWO plays when badly needed. Don’t think we’ve seen that from a MLB since Lach.
Bears defense making Dak look like a backup. Pickens' debut going exactly how the Steelers hoped – another Cowboys disaster unfolding. Total meltdown in Chicago.pic.twitter.com/oyqXqmUO0E
Also, tip-o-the-hat to Dennis Allen who called a great game. Look at that 2nd pick. Allen had Sweat peel off into flats to essentially bracket TE Ferguson [who I think was 10/10 at that point] PLUS prevent Dak from booting.
Dak was trying to look-off coverage by feigning the middle, turned right to his true target in Ferguson, spotted a 6’7 monster staring right at him with secondary over the top, quickly shifted left with Dexter right in his face, finally chucking an INT in desperation.
Truly a team effort. Scheme, execution, and playmaking.
HOWEVER, this D still concerns me bigly. Those DTs were on skates; defenders taking bad angles, and seemingly confused [look at how late they were lining-up on several snaps]. CB Nathon Wright specifically played nightmarishly. I feel like a major part of their opportunism was pure Dallas incompetence. No doubt CeeDee Lamb getting INJed helped Bears’ D, but how the heck do you lose a game when you’re basically getting first downs at will and AVGing like 6-7 per rush while the D was ailing giving up 52 previously, with a 2nd string LB, 4rth string CB, and little to no pressure/sacks ’til late?
But hey, that’s a COWGIRL problem. For once it feels fantastic playing a team that chokes more than…[fill in the blank].
A wins a win.
Let’s celebrate Ben Johnson’s first victory. May it be the first of countless. Every journey starts with a step. Let’s go!
Victoire Bears 31-14. Match propre des 2 côtés du terrain. Aucune perte de balle côté chicago vs 4 pour les @DallasCowboysFr 4TDs pour Caleb et 298yds. Pas de sack encaissés. La défense a sorti les Big Plays au bon moment, 2 Int dans la endzone. On peut gagner alors… pic.twitter.com/KN5NaJFt56
![Another Bearless Sunday Unless You’re in Weho [NTTAWWT]](https://dabearsblogdos.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/1DBBmiaHoney32.jpg)
