LONDON — The long flight home will be a smooth one after the Chicago Bears put together a complete effort, dismantling the Jacksonville Jaguars 35-16 on Sunday to win their third consecutive game for the first time since the end of the 2020 season.
Here are 10 thoughts on the Week 6 victory at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
1. This is what Marcedes Lewis signed up for.
Sure, the veteran probably had an eye on the NFL’s record for games played by a tight end, something he achieved last month. But Lewis wasn’t in for a 19th NFL season if he didn’t like the direction of the team and, boy, are the Bears on a different trajectory.
Rookie quarterback Caleb Williams completed 23 of 29 passes for 226 yards and four touchdowns and he ran for another 56 yards as the Bears (4-2) shrugged off a slow start and pounded the Jaguars (1-5), scoring on five of six possessions and opening up a 25-point lead early in the fourth quarter.
Williams was in total control and the Bears head into their bye week in a better spot offensively than perhaps even some folks inside Halas Hall could have expected so quickly. He’s registered a passer rating over 100 in the last three games as he continues to grow in offensive coordinator Shane Waldron’s system and take positive steps from one game to the next.
“It’s more surprising to everybody else,” Lewis said. “I have seen it in practice every day. He’s a guy that wants to be great, asks all the right questions and is constructive about his business and comes with a growth mindset. That’s what you’re going to get. You already know he has the talent.”
Lewis has a small role in the offense. He’s on the field when Waldron wants to use two- and three-tight-end sets. But he was a rookie when the Bears went to Super Bowl XLI after the 2006 season. He’s been around forever and he knows what it’s supposed to look like. He played in Green Bay when Aaron Rodgers was winning MVP awards. From that perspective, Lewis is a terrific source.
“The learning curve is tough, especially for a rookie quarterback,” Lewis said. “And he is doing an amazing job of it. I couldn’t be more proud of him. He’s a part of the leadership group. I think he’s growing every day in our little leadership group, the captains. He’s just gaining that experience not just on the field but off the field. He’s maturing at a fast rate. That’s what you saw today.
“People become prisoners of the moment when a guy gets drafted (first) overall and so much is expected right away. (Freaking) relax. This is the NFL. He has a lot on his (freaking) plate and the offense is not easy to learn. The guy can (freaking) do it and he went out there today and did it.”
A week after the Bears got the deep ball going, Sunday was a lot of intermediate throws and Williams was quick to see it and decisive with good location. He didn’t have wandering eyes. He understood where to go based on the looks — Jacksonville’s tendencies have been to use a lot of two-high coverages — and the Bears answered.
The relationship Williams has started with Keenan Allen was on full display as the veteran caught five passes (on five targets) for 41 yards and his first two touchdowns of the season. There was a perfect back-shoulder throw when he was matched up on a linebacker and a gently placed fade route for the scores.
The special plays are materializing too. Williams was forced to roll out of the pocket on a play snapped on the left hash mark. He got all the way out to the numbers on the opposite side before dumping a pass off to tight end Cole Kmet for a 27-yard gain.
It looked simple but most quarterbacks, especially rookies, have their heads down and don’t see Kmet come off his block and spring wide open with no one around him. Most are looking to run and get out of bounds, maybe pick up a small profit. Williams is almost always looking to throw when he’s creating more time and eluding defenders.
“People can be as excited as they want to be,” said Kmet, who because he was raised locally has a pretty good understanding of the franchise’s history at the quarterback position. “I think what I can say about Caleb, he’s taken steps every game.
“Besides that, I thought he did some really amazing stuff. I thought the scramble he had to me was just an unbelievable play and just how he can create and do those types of things. If they are going to play man on us like they did a few times and things might be covered or muddy downfield, he’s able to escape the pocket and get 20 or 30 yards on some of those runs. He’s just super dynamic.”
The Bears have played some bad opposing defenses and the Jaguars were another one. Their three previous victories came against the Tennessee Titans, Los Angeles Rams and Carolina Panthers. Those four teams, counting the Jaguars, have a combined record of 4-18.
It’s hard not to say that the offense and Williams are doing everything you wanted to see. Both can be true. The opponents they’ve beaten can be from the bottom tier of the NFL and the Bears can be displaying tangible improvement. Williams is getting better. The Bears are gaining confidence and the hope has to be that by the time they face NFC North opponents starting in mid-November, they will be even better.
Williams would love the second-quarter interception back. The Bears brought in their heavy personnel on third-and-1 and dialed up a play fake for DJ Moore. He was wide open and it should have been a touchdown or, at worst, a huge chunk play. Williams waited too long and made a second mistake by leaving the ball inside on the corner route, leaving an easy interception for safety Andre Cisco.
“I was a bit pissed off at myself because that’s a pass that I don’t miss, that you don’t want to miss, and do something like that,” he said.
Williams rallied to lead an 85-yard touchdown drive just before halftime that put the Bears ahead 14-3 and then led touchdown drives on the first three possessions of the second half. The rout was on.
It’s just the tenth time since 2000 that the Bears have had a quarterback throw four or more touchdowns in a game. By comparison, the Green Bay Packers have had 42 games, including four by Jordan Love in their win over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. An organization blessed with long careers by Brett Favre and Rodgers skews the numbers. In the same span, the Minnesota Vikings have had 20 and the Detroit Lions 17.
The Bears head into the bye week feeling good. Maybe it comes at an opportune time with three starters in the secondary hampered by injuries. They travel to face the Washington Commanders on Oct. 27, another team off to a 4-2 start with an exciting rookie quarterback in Jayden Daniels.
Both organizations have reasons to feel good about the direction they’re headed. The Bears believe they’ve found their man and, to this point, he’s reinforced that notion every time out.
“Throughout this whole process of these past couple games we’ve had, I think I’ve been seeing it well,” Williams said. “That starts throughout the whole week watching film, getting there in practice, talking to the coaches, players and things like that.
“The comfort level of, just like I’ve talked about before, getting back to playing football and where I need to be, eyes need to be, if I need to hold a safety, if I need to just hang on a route. Just having that feel for the game. Obviously, you study, you watch, and do all these other things. But, you know, once the ball snaps, you have to have that post-snap read and know what you have to do and be confident about it.”
Lewis has that confidence in Williams. That’s based on what he’s witnessed behind closed doors and on the practice field. He’s not surprised.
2. It was easy to predict a breakout game was coming for Keenan Allen.
The wide receiver has been healthy for two weeks now after resting to get plantar fasciitis under control and Caleb Williams definitely developed an early connection with the veteran, targeting him 11 times in the season opener.
So, a two-touchdown game for Allen came when it felt like it was due. The five receptions he had for 41 yards were to be expected and, more importantly, when you should have expected them.
That is because the one point Bears general manager Ryan Poles made when explaining the March trade to acquire the 12th-year veteran for a fourth-round pick and pay him $23 million for one season was the value Allen would provide on third down.
Allen has made a career — one that might eventually land him in the Pro Football Hall of Fame — getting open in the middle of the field and doing it consistently on third down. Three of his receptions came on third down to move the sticks. One came on fourth down. The fifth was a touchdown reception on second down.
Even when Allen is covered, he has a way of using his frame to shield off the defender, create a window for the quarterback and do that in the middle of the field. It happened Sunday against cornerbacks Ronald Darby, Montaric Brown and safety Darnell Savage.
“Third down, you know, a lot of opportunities out there just because they are going to be playing man coverage,” Allen said. “You just got to find a way to get open. That’s what I do.”
Matt Eberflus had seen it before and been on the other side. He knows what it is like.
“He’s always open, that guy,” Eberflus said. “I’ve tried to double cover him in front, behind, sideways, doesn’t work. He’s always open. He’s an exciting player.”
Tight end Gerald Everett doesn’t marvel at what Allen does any longer. They played together with the Los Angeles Chargers.
“This is a small glimpse,” Everett said. “The game was kind of a blowout in the second half. He’s shown what he’s been showing forever. I used to check out Keenan’s college highlights when I was a teenager. Watching him now, it’s no secret and it’s no surprise when you watch his preparation, how he comes to work every day. When you develop repetition it just becomes habit.”
Allen, who lives in Southern California, showed up at USC in March when Williams had his pro day. He knew the Bears would be there in force, knew there was a good chance the Bears would be drafting Williams and wanted to show support.
“He’s been like a big brother to me,” Williams said of their bond. “He’s been special from our relationship and then obviously he’s been special for many years (in the league). And so, to have him on the team, his wisdom, his knowledge, things like that, is it stuff that he’s taught me, it’s great. So, being able to get him two touchdowns today, I know we’ve been just super close, first game of the year, we threw a ball and we didn’t connect.
“The Rams game, threw a ball to the seam. It wasn’t a seam route but threw a ball to the seam and (he) got held. So, we’ve been super close. To be able to get two touchdowns for him today, you know, it’s pretty sweet.”
It’s hard to say who will have a big game on a week-to-week basis. The Bears have options with DJ Moore and rookie Rome Odunze. Williams is not going to have to force the ball in one direction. But the timing just made it feel like Allen was due here and the matchups — linebacker Devin Lloyd in the middle of the field — and the fade that Williams saw to check out of a called run were easy looks.
“As a quarterback, I don’t think you need to look at one person versus if you have like a Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison (In Minnesota) and the rest are guys — no disrespect to those guys,” Williams said. “But you’ve got Justin Jefferson, you’ve got to get him the ball every damn play. We got guys you can get the ball to. So it is what it is.”
3. The Bears will likely be in the market for a long snapper during the bye week.
Scott Daly left the stadium wearing a brace after suffering an injury to his left knee, the same knee that required surgery when he was playing for the Lions last October.
Jake McQuaide, a two-time Pro Bowl selection, and Matt Overton, who the Bears signed but didn’t need to use late last season, are two experienced options on the street. Patrick Scales remains on injured reserve following back surgery and is at least a few weeks away from being cleared to return to the practice field.
But first, how about the job tight end Cole Kmet did filling in as the emergency long snapper?
“Cole did a heck of a job,” kicker Cairo Santos said. “Special teams player of the week.”
Daly was injured in the first quarter on the second punt of the game. Fortunately, the Bears did not need to punt again. Kmet snapped for all five extra points and on the 43-yard field goal attempt that was blocked in the fourth quarter.
At first, Kmet didn’t know Daly was injured on punt coverage.
“(Special teams coordinator Richard Hightower) came up to me and said, ‘Hey, Scott’s hurt,’” Kmet said. “I’m like, ‘Tyler Scott’s hurt? What?’ And I’m like, ‘OK, why does that affect me?’ He’s like, ‘You need to get snaps in.’ And I’m like, ‘Oh, s−−−, I’ve got to go snap right now.’”
Most of the snaps were a little high but holder Tory Taylor did a nice job of handling them and the Bears were not forced into a situation where they had to go for two-point conversions, because they knew the snaps would be a mess.
“Just the operation is different when it’s between a professional long snapper and a backup, but Cole did a great job,” Santos said. “That’s what we told him. Snap a comfortable ball and Tory and I will make it right. The time is usually off, how much slower it was. But Jacksonville rushed really hard. They knew blood was in the water when you’ve got a different operation. They were coming. It’s unfortunate they got (the block).
“To get thrown in a game situation like that, for what he did, was impressive.”
The Bears practice for these situations. On Thursdays, Kmet will try to stay sharp snapping and backup quarterback Tyson Bagent will take some turns holding in the event Taylor is not available.
“Someone found out that I did it in high school (at St. Viator),” Kmet said. “These guys know everything about you. They found out I did it in high school. My uncle (longtime defensive tackle Jeff Zgonina) did it. I remember my dad, just me and my brother would be messing around doing it in the backyard all the time and it was kind of like the more-you-can-do thing.
“Thinking, like, if you ever needed to make a team, if you’re a guy that’s the 54th or 55th guy, and they are deciding between two guys, that you know, having that ability, they are going to keep you on the roster for those types of things. Obviously, I’m not really in that position right now, but that was kind of the mindset of learning how to do it, I wanted to play in the NFL one day, and that was kind of the thinking behind it and paid off today, I guess. So, was glad that I could just help out where I could.”
That put Kmet in the wild position of catching two touchdown passes and then staying on the field to snap for the extra points. His first touchdown, a 31-yard shot down the seam, came after he ran over safety Andre Cisco and then shook the tackle effort by cornerback Montaric Brown at the goal line to stretch across and into the end zone.
It was a crafty fake where the Bears had Caleb Williams fake a swing pass left to Keenan Allen and then a screen to D’Andre Swift to the right side and then Kmet released late down the seam. The play has been around for a while and it came back last season when Kyle Shanahan used it in San Francisco. It forces the defense to put eyes on both sides of the field and there are a lot of moving parts, so many it can leave Kmet uncovered as it did here.
“Great play concept,” Kmet said. “(Shane Waldron) had run it in Seattle before. They presented a good defense for us to run that. We had run a bunch of screens where we’re flying the guy behind and pulling those backers out. So, just kind of blocked my guy on the line (defensive end Travon Walker) for a second there and Caleb gave a good fake and then just right up the chute and was able to break a tackle and get into the end zone.”
Then, he got to stay on the field to snap.
4. The Bears don’t just have a talented group of starters in the secondary. They’ve got some pretty competitive young backups as well.
Jaylon Jones started in place of Tyrique Stevenson, who was in a walking boot to protect the right calf muscle injury he suffered in practice this week. Elijah Hicks filled in for strong safety Jaquan Brisker, who didn’t travel with the team as he is in concussion protocol, and Josh Blackwell came on to replace Kyler Gordon when the nickel cornerback left the game in the third quarter with a hamstring injury.
Jones finished with a team-high 10 tackles — nine solos. Hicks made five tackles and had a pass breakup in the end zone and a fumble recovery, and Blackwell intercepted Trevor Lawrence.
Jones figured the Jaguars, who got rolling the week prior with a 37-34 victory over the Indianapolis Colts, would be coming his way. Stevenson gets a lot of targets because opponents want to avoid Jaylon Johnson.
“If I am being honest, I thought I was going to get more action,” Jones said. “The only thing they were doing was the little out routes. We talked about that. We’ll give that up. They were an explosive team on film so I wanted to play top-down. I didn’t want to get too greedy. I tried to come down and make tackles. But I expected a little more action. I thought they were going to try me with (Brian Thomas’) speed.”
Hicks staved off free-agent signing Jonathan Owens during the offseason to lock down the No. 3 safety job and the coaches have been pretty confident in the improvements made by the 2022 seventh-round draft pick.
It was interesting listening to Hicks explain his growth process after getting six starts last season.
“As a professional, your job is to understand your weaknesses and work on them and improve on them,” he said. “I don’t play around with that. My job is to figure out how I can improve, get better and I am real with myself. I think that is the rare part — being 100% with yourself — not lying to yourself. Looking myself in the mirror and be like, ‘These are things I need to work on.’ My process is right whether I am starting or playing special teams. I prepare the same.”
OK. What areas did Hicks identify that needed real work? Where was he coming up short on the field?
“I wasn’t making plays on the ball,” he said. “That’s always the goal — to get the ball. I got a fumble recovery but I want to force fumbles, I want to get interceptions. I missed some tackles. I had to clean up footwork when it comes to tackling. When you have more experience and more reps there, you’re already going to be smarter and more confident in the system. It’s a combination of all of those things and just having a good process.”
Coaches said the game started to slow down for Hicks entering Year 3. He started to understand more of what he was seeing pre-snap from film work. He became quicker reading his keys and understanding angles.
Blackwell knows he didn’t do anything special for his interception. It looked like Lawrence simply didn’t see him. He was right there to make the play. Backups need to capitalize when an opportunity is there and these are three backups with experience. Go back to 2022 when all three were rookies: Jones had 464 snaps on defense, Hicks got 168 and Blackwell had 133.
“We’ve done this before,” Blackwell said. “We know we can play. Sure, we definitely think we’re starters. We’re the starters behind the starters. I think it says a lot about our depth. That is what is so special about us. We got a whole bunch of guys who could be starters anywhere, other places. That’s what is so special. We have a group of guys that can come together, fill that role and make the most of it.”
5. The biggest question for the Bears in the first couple weeks of the season was a simple one: What are they on offense and what do they want to become?
Offensive coordinator Shane Waldron probably didn’t do the best job explaining it when pressed on the matter but this is a results-based business and nothing offers a better explanation than what the team puts on the field.
Given a little bit of time — and that’s more than fair considering he was new on the job, working with a rookie quarterback and trying to get things going with an offensive line that has had injuries and well-documented issues — it’s started to come together.
• The Bears are multiple. They’ve got a lot of different skill position players they can turn to and Waldron with Caleb Williams has done a good job of spreading the ball around. Six players had 20 or more yards receiving in this game. A week ago, six players had 22 or more yards receiving. With DJ Moore, Keenan Allen, Rome Odunze, multiple tight ends and multiple running backs, they should spread the wealth. They have.
• The Bears adapted into a power running team at the goal line. Reserve center Doug Kramer now moonlights as a fullback and they are running iso — working off Kramer and pulling the backside guard — and they’re doing so with success. D’Andre Swift had a 1-yard touchdown run and the Bears have five 1-yard touchdown runs in the last three games — two by Swift and three by Roschon Johnson.
• The Bears can run the football effectively with Swift. Against the league’s eighth-ranked run defense, Swift carried 17 times for 91 yards (5.4 yards average) and with Williams gaining 56 yards on the ground, the offense totaled 155 yards on 26 carries before three kneel-downs by Tyson Bagent at the end of the game lost 3 yards.
Swift continued to be successful as a receiver, too, with four receptions for 28 yards. He had a really poor start to the season. It was fair to wonder if signing him was a big free-agent miss. All of a sudden, he has 518 yards of offense (325 rushing, 193 receiving) and is on pace to produce 1,468 yards.
As Williams continues to grow, things should be sharpened. The offensive coordinator for the Bears takes a lot of heat. Waldron is the 13th coordinator in the last 26 seasons. That’s a heck of a lot of turnover. But for all the heat — and it was fair — that Waldron received in September, it’s worth noting an identity has started to take form.
There’s plenty to improve on and the Bears will encounter some better defenses in the future. At least we’re not trying to decipher what we thought we saw one week while wondering what might take shape the next. A plan has appeared and — of late — it’s working.
6. The play, midway through the third quarter last week against the Carolina Panthers, was wiped out by a penalty but it’s one the Bears will not soon forget.
Caleb Williams took the snap from the Panthers’ 15-yard line and all of his targets were covered up.
He began dancing in the pocket. Scanned right. Scanned left. Repeated that action.
In the meantime, fill-in left guard Bill Murray combined with center Coleman Shelton to block defensive tackle A’Shawn Robinson. Then, Murray peeled off to turn and shove outside linebacker Thomas Incoom to the ground. Next, Murray returned to block Robinson before working off him and pushing defensive tackle LaBryan Ray downfield.
One play. Four blocks. Three defenders. It was an unusual play. Williams held the ball for more than 10 seconds before throwing it away, and the Bears wound up being penalized as right guard Matt Pryor was downfield.
But Murray was everywhere.
“That’s Bill,” offensive line coach Chris Morgan said. “If you go back and watch all of his preseason tape, he’s playing through the echo of the whistle. It’s all on the preseason tape too. Bill is working and he’s ascending. He’s got his opportunity and made the most of it.”
Teven Jenkins’ ankle injury that knocked him out of the Carolina game late in the second quarter had opened the door for Murray to start against Jacksonville. But Jenkins returned to start Sunday, putting Murray back in a reserve role and making Nate Davis a healthy scratch.
Questions about Jenkins’ future will carry on. He’s in the final year of his contract but ongoing durability issues — Jenkins also left the Rams game two weeks ago with a bruised rib — at least create doubt about the feasibility of an in-season extension.
But Murray, 27, is an interesting player who Matt Eberflus singled out for strong play during training camp before he made the 53-man roster to start the season for the first time in his career. He’s still relatively new to the offensive line. A defensive tackle at William & Mary, he signed with the New England Patriots as an undrafted free agent in 2020 and spent his first two seasons on their practice squad playing that position.
Murray was in Nashville with friends squeezing out the remaining time of his offseason in 2022 when Patriots coach Bill Belichick called him three days before the start of training camp.
“I kind of thought there might be a chance I was cut,” Murray said. “I was a little worried. Then, it was a very productive conversation.”
Belichick was calling to gauge Murray’s interest in switching to the offensive line.
“He was saying it would be really interesting to see how I do there,” Murray recalled. “‘We’ll give you a week and if it doesn’t look good, we’ll put you back. No problem.’ He brought me there and my biggest thing is whatever helps the team is what I am about.
“I fully trust him because he is one of the greatest coaches, if not the greatest coach, of all time. You want me at offensive line, you see that is the future for me, I’m all in.”
Murray got 34 snaps at guard in the preseason opener that summer for the Patriots and it’s tape of that game that caught the attention of Jeff King, the Bears’ senior director of player personnel. The Bears tried to sign Murray to a reserve/futures contract after that season before he chose to re-sign with New England.
When he was waived at roster cutdowns in 2023, the Bears signed Murray to the practice squad and he’s reached the point where he’s in the mix.
“(O-line coach) Bob Solderitch always said Bill was the best O-lineman in the program,” said Kevin Lewis, the defensive line coach at William & Mary when Murray was an All-Colonial Athletic Association performer. “He could have flipped over and played O-line for us easily. He’s just a big, physical kid who feels like ‘I gotta outwork everyone.’”
That’s what Belichick said — “Nobody works harder than Bill Murray” — during the three years he was in New England. He said it a couple of times. Lewis recalled what Murray relayed during “real talk Tuesdays” at William & Mary where players would share personal stories of experiences that shaped their football careers.
“Most guys would talk about some adverse situation they had been in,” Lewis said. “And how it helped them be a better football player, teammate or whatever. And Bill gets up and we’re like, ‘What the hell is Murray going to talk about? What kind of adverse situation has Bill encountered?’
“He talked about being a ninth-grader and he was probably a buck-seventy (170 pounds), maybe 5-foot-10. And he said he went out for football as a ninth-grader and just stood and watched because he wasn’t very good. Said he was awful. He wanted to quit and play lacrosse.”
Turns out Murray’s mother Alison convinced him to stick with football.
“To be fair, I have been very blessed,” Murray said. “I really haven’t had to overcome too much adversity. I wouldn’t consider it adversity. It was football. I had a rough year. Didn’t really enjoy it. New school (Delbarton School in Morristown, N.J.). Kind of trying to figure everything out. Thank god my mom told me to stick it out for one more year and see how it goes. My dad, pretty much every day, was, ‘OK, let’s get in the weight room. Let’s work out. Let’s do something.’”
Lewis believes Murray still operates like that ninth-grader trying to figure things out.
“(Coach) Jimmy Laycock would tell the staff, ‘You can’t leave the field until all your players leave the field,’” Lewis said. “You got normal guys who will go do drill work afterward, maybe 10 or 15 minutes and they’ll come in. It would be a half-hour later and Bill is still out there hitting the sled, clubbing bags. I had to beg him to come back in.
“The reason he works the way he works is because he still views himself as that little ninth-grader that couldn’t play. So he kind of feels like ‘I have to work harder than everybody in order to just compete.’”
Murray played well against Carolina. The Panthers do not have a good defensive line but it will be interesting to see if more opportunities come his way.
7. What are the Bears going to do when they get healthy on the offensive line?
That was a question I began wondering about this past week after Bill Murray supplanted former starter Nate Davis as the top backup at guard. It became a more legitimate question on Sunday when Davis was made a healthy inactive.
I don’t think this team is trying to find the button to get Davis going and get his attention. I think this signals the Bears will strongly consider releasing Davis if and when Ryan Bates and/or Larry Borom are ready to return from injured reserve.
The team is carrying nine offensive linemen on the 53-man roster. There were 10 at the start of the season. If Bates (shoulder/elbow arthritis) and Borom (high right ankle sprain) are going to work their way back to the active roster, at least one lineman will have to go.
That’s provided everyone remains healthy. An injury to another player between now and when Bates/Borom are ready to participate could change everything. The hope has been the Bears could start the return to practice window for Bates and Borom at some point after the bye, which means maybe as soon as Oct. 21. From the sounds of things, Borom is a good bet to be going and it’s wait-and-see with Bates.
Davis’ base salary of $8.75 million is fully guaranteed so the Bears will be on the hook for the full boat if they release him but it sure looks to be trending in that direction. The Bears need to feel good about their depth before they can cut loose an experienced player, but it’s been a rapid descent for Davis.
8. As the Bears head home from an international game, the kind of adventure teams will have more regularly in the future, the possibility of an 18-game regular season remains on the horizon.
It’s a topic that gained steam from the league during the offseason and NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell discussed it during his visit to Halas Hall earlier this month. It seems more of a when not if discussion at this point. That’s precisely the sentiment I got from discussing it with players recently.
“Personally, I am for it if it means more money for the players,” tight end Cole Kmet said. “If revenue sharing increases because of the 18th game, I am all for it. I would hope that they would probably add another bye week in the season just to break it up a little bit more, reduce preseason, for sure. How about just cut (preseason) out? I think that’s outdated but that’s just my opinion. I know the coaches love it.”
Popular thinking is the NFL would reduce the preseason from three games (the league played four preseason games through 2020 before going to a 17-game regular season in 2021) to only two and so the total number of games — exhibitions and ones that count — would remain at 20.
“Each game takes a lot out of you as a player,” said free safety Kevin Byard, a nine-year veteran. “I personally think 18 games would be too much. But we all know it’s going to that point. I don’t know if it’s going to be next year or two years but it’s definitely going to 18 games. I understand the fan part of it. Everyone loves watching. I love watching the game, playing the game. But 18 games is a lot. I just hope that with the NFLPA — I have been a part of that stuff (as a player representative previously) — I would just hope with those 18 games it would mean more money for players.
“Even when the regular season was just 16 games, that takes a lot out of your body and it takes a lot out of your mind. Guys put a lot into this thing. Spend a lot of time away from their families.”
Byard said he’s not sure a second bye week — if the league adds an 18th regular-season game — would do a lot to make it easier on players, pointing out it would make the calendar that much longer.
Practically speaking, eliminating a preseason game doesn’t do anything for veterans like Kmet or Byard. They’re players who aren’t asked to play much in the preseason — some games not at all. So, if the league goes from three exhibitions to two, maybe it eliminates 15 to 20 preseason snaps they would take. Replacing it is a full game.
Then, there’s the unanswered question of what a two-week preseason would do for younger players from a developmental standpoint. This isn’t a money driver but should be part of the conversation.
“When we are at 90 (players on the roster), it gives guys an opportunity to show themselves,” Byard said. “Because I know a lot of guys I have played with made the league and made their team based on the preseason. You take away another preseason game, where is the evaluation for those guys?
“The effect of that would be a lot of guys that come out of college that are undrafted may find themselves on the outside looking in a lot of times versus how it used to be when you got a lot more film and a lot more reps to be able to show teams, ‘Hey, I can play this game.’
“I know it’s all about money. You always have to look at the other side. What’s the consequence?”
Weak-side linebacker T.J. Edwards, an alternate player rep for the Bears, said the discussion with the league needs to involve give and take.
“I know it’s something the league is pushing for but I don’t know exactly what that looks like right now,” he said. “We want to understand what we’re getting out of it.”
9. As many teams do, the Bears elected to have their bye following the trip to London.
If teams travel abroad, the NFL is willing to consider requests for a bye coming off an international game.
The Bears played their best game of 2023 coming off a bye, soundly beating the eventual NFC North champion Lions 28-13 at Soldier Field on Dec. 10., outscoring Detroit 18-0 in the second half. It snapped a disturbing trend as the team had lost coming out of the bye week in nine consecutive seasons from 2014 through 2022.
Matt Eberflus is giving players the entire week off, which is what he did last year and what most teams do these days. The CBA mandates that players have Thursday through Sunday off so it’s not like the Bears are getting many extra days off.
I asked linebackers coach Dave Borgonzi, who worked with Eberflus in Indianapolis and Dallas, if the staff approached the time off any differently last season when it was a late bye in Week 13.
“No, our routine is kind of our routine,” he said. “We look at our self-scout and, ‘Hey, what was good? What wasn’t good?’ Things that weren’t good, you’re going to have the same plays (run against you). What plays hurt us? Let’s look at those plays and let’s make sure we work through all of the issues because offenses are going to look at it when they game plan for us and say, ‘What was good against the Bears? This play. This play. This play.’
“So it’s, ‘Why did it work against us and how can we fix it?’ It’s a copycat league. You’ve got to know your issues and how to fix them.”
The Bears have been pretty sound on defense so far. I’m guessing they will look at some of the issues that have led to too many explosive runs allowed on defense, but it’s not like they’ve been glossing over that to this point. Offensively, they’d like to start faster. Again, that’s not a topic they’ve been waiting for the bye week to study and address.
Playing at Detroit on Thanksgiving and then hosting Seattle during “Thursday Night Football” in Week 16 on Dec. 26 will provide what coaches call “mini byes” that will allow the Bears to repeat the self-scouting process later in the season.
10. You can certainly make the case that it was all downhill for Matt Nagy after Cody Parkey’s missed field goal in the wild-card round playoff loss to the Philadelphia Eagles after the 2018 season.
The Bears laid an egg on offense to open the 2019 season in a 10-3 loss at Soldier Field but if you recall, they rolled off three straight wins following that disappointment before traveling to England to face the Oakland Raiders. The Bears entered that game as a 6 1/2-point favorite and lost 24-21.
Oakland led 17-0 at halftime before the Bears scored 17 points in the third quarter. Things were looking good until a running into the kicker penalty on Kevin Pierre-Louis extended what wound up being a 97-yard touchdown drive for the Raiders.
Oakland ran the ball for 169 yards. Coach Jon Gruden schemed up pass protection to turn ex-Raider Khalil Mack into a nonfactor and the Bears were stunned.
As I was walking along Hyde Park in London during rush hour this week, I passed the hotel the Bears stayed at that year and recalled Matt Nagy’s news conference the day after the game. He was still flummoxed.
“Every now and then, though, you need to be able to show a dark side,” Nagy said. “They need to see that and feel that, and it just so happens that yesterday was one of those days.”
The coach’s dark side didn’t exactly spark a turnaround. The defense wasn’t the same after Vic Fangio left following the 2018 season and the offense — with Mitch Trubisky, Chase Daniel, Nick Foles and then Justin Fields — never got going. The Bears finished 8-8 that season, weathered a six-game losing streak to finish 8-8 in 2020 and reach the wild-card round of the playoffs, and then things fell apart in 2021.
Most of the high points of the Nagy era all came before Parkey’s fateful kick nailed the upright and then bounced off the crossbar. But it was after the London loss that the usually upbeat coach displayed his other side. I’m not sure it made a difference.
10a. There are numerous hurdles for the Bears to clear as they seek to gain support for a new stadium, something club officials remained confident about this past week as the goal remains to begin construction in 2025.
“There’s a veto session in November, there’s a lame duck session in January and then there’s a spring session right after that,” chairman George McCaskey said of the Illinois legislature. “So, at some time in one of those sessions, we’re going to have to have some sort of enabling legislation to allow the project to move forward.”
The Bears either have something in the works or are holding out hope for an onside kick recovery followed by a Hail Mary, because it sure doesn’t seem like there’s favorable sentiment to get the kind of hefty public spending required.
“Me worn down?” president and CEO Kevin Warren said when asked if the project has worn on him. “Look back at what we went through in Minnesota. You look back at what’s going on in Kansas City, these stadium projects, that’s why you do them once every 30, 40, 50 years. I’m actually energized by it because anything that is great in life, anything that lasts 50 years takes a lot of energy and effort. I’m confident in the political leadership, the business leadership, our fan base that we’ll be able to figure this out and so it will become a crown jewel for the National Football League.”
Warren has referenced the lifespan of stadiums a few times in public comments and that might be one of the challenges the Bears face here. How do they drum up support for a new stadium to replace one that re-opened in 2003, just over 21 years ago? The Vikings began playing in the Metrodome in 1982. They moved into U.S. Bank Stadium in 2016. The Chiefs are seeking a new stadium and have floated the possibility of moving from Missouri to Kansas. They’ve played at Arrowhead Stadium since 1972.
The Illinois Sports Facilities Authority still owes more than $500 million for the renovation of Soldier Field. The Bears were wise to begin planning for the future some time ago. Remodeled Soldier Field came up short in a lot of ways compared to other NFL stadiums. The team doesn’t find the lease favorable. We’ll see what happens when lawmakers get together if they’ve got the plays necessary to get this thing moving.
10b. The Bears have now held 12 consecutive opponents to 21 points or fewer. That’s going to be challenged the next time they play at Washington. The Commanders are tied for second in the league in scoring, averaging 29.7 points per game.
10c. A fourth-down pass to Keenan Allen moved the chains and made the Bears 8-for-11 on fourth down this season. That is probably not a sustainable percentage but it’s a heck of a start. The Bears finished 13 of 26 on fourth down last season and in the previous 10 seasons, they’ve been above 50% on fourth down in only three seasons.
- 2020: 17-for-27 (60.7%)
- 2018: 9-for-15 (60%)
- 2015: 6-for-10 (60%)
