Bears, 29-24 The Bears' offense probably won't be as prolific against a Brian Flores defense with a game under its belt, and likely in rainy conditions, but it will still be effective. And the Bears' defense figures to improve in Week 2 and continue the theme of 2026 — it doesn't have to be good, just good enough. Key matchup The chess match between Bears quarterback Caleb Williams and Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores is center-stage as it should be. Last year, Will

With the ink barely dry on his three-year, $33.75 million contract extension, D'Andre Swift opened Year 2 under Ben Johnson with a 17-yard run cut down to nine because of a holding penalty on wide receiver Rome Odunze. On the very next play he got the ball again and gained four yards. Then came rushes of four and five yards on the Bears' second series, and a nine-yard gain that was nullified by a holding penalty on center Garrett Bradbury. Four plays later, Swift got the ball

Seven players who made the biggest impact in the Bears' 59-37 victory over the Panthers on Sunday at Bank of America Stadium: 1. Caleb Williams By almost any measurement — starting with the eye test — Williams appeared to have taken the anticipated step up in Year 2 in Ben Johnson's offense — he was 21 of 29 (72.4%) for 269 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions for a 124.1 passer rating. For those tracking Williams' completion percentage as a measuring stick of his growt

Bears, 31-23 Ben Johnson's offense figures to start quickly in Year 2 and give Dennis Allen's defense a little margin for error — a likely theme for the season. The Panthers scored 30 or more points five times last season (including their playoff loss to the Rams), but also scored 10 or fewer five times. This could be a good test of the Bears' ability to start fast with an early knockout to save Caleb Williams from pulling a rabbit out of his hat to win the game. PLAYER TO WA

"Never underestimate the mediocrity of the NFL." The Bears are predicted by some analysts to be victims of that mantra in 2026, but instead could be the beneficiaries. The difference? Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams – a head coach/quarterback combination that allows teams like the Rams and 49ers to stay ahead of the curve of NFL parity. The Bears have their share of flaws, but almost every team in the NFL has flaws and is just as vulnerable. And while defense wins championship

I used to castigate "100 percenters" in football and relievers in baseball who could pitch the eighth inning but not the ninth as "weak" athletes — until I realized that that would be me if I could have run a sub-4.4 40 or thrown in the mid-90s. I have a low threshold of pain and an inability to focus, especially in critical situations. I'd likely have been that guy, no matter how badly I wanted to be as "tough" as Dan Hampton or as cold-blooded as Mariano Rivera. That person

The Bears' initial 53-man roster after cutdown day Sunday is a testament to the new reality at Halas Hall that this team belongs to head coach Ben Johnson — and to a lesser extent, defensive coordinator Dennis Allen. Of the 53 players on the active roster, only 20 of them were on the Bears' roster when Johnson was hired as head coach just 19 months ago (plus cornerbacks Kyler Gordon and Jaylon Jones and linebacker Noah Sewell on the PUP/IR lists). That's a significant amount

Early last season, Pete Crow-Armstrong looked more like Pete Crow-Almora than a future Most Valuable Player. When MLB.com reported in April of 2025 that Crow-Armstrong had declined a $75 million contract offer from the Cubs, it was just as bewildering that the Cubs would make the offer as PCA turning it down. At the time, Crow-Armstrong's development into a big-league star was hardly inevitable — he was hitting .224 with 10 home runs and 53 RBIs in 152 big-league games, with

Everything Ben Johnson touches turns to gold, or so it seems. He's making a quarterback out of Caleb Williams and a general manager out of Ryan Poles. Every player introduced to the Bears offense under Johnson has been a plus – from All-Pro guard Joe Thuney and center Drew Dalman to rookie tight end Colston Loveland and seventh-round running back Kyle Monangai. When 2024 undrafted free agent Theo Benedet replaced benched starter Braxton Jones at left tackle last year, the Bea

With the dust still settling on PSA's impact as a competitor to CGC in magazine grading, the decision to cross over CGC slabs to PSA remains a difficult one. Early returns supported the notion that PSA slabs would command a premium, so when I submitted five slabs to Goldin Auctions in March, I agreed with the decision to send all five to PSA for crossover grading. An overview: I went 5-for-5 in crossovers — a really good percentage considering PSA's grading appears to be at l

Position battles in NFL training camp are favored storylines but generally overrated. If you have two players competing for one position — it's unlikely the winner is that much better than the loser. Even when Rosevelt Colvin beat out rookie Brian Urlacher at weakside linebacker in 2000, it wasn't like Urlacher was going to wither on the bench all season. In fact, it made it even easier for Urlacher to replace injured starter Barry Minter at middle linebacker in Week 3 that s

It's forgettable now, but in 1999, Bears offensive coordinator Gary Crowton created a Ben Johnson-level excitement about the Bears' offense. With Crowton's inventive, screen-heavy passing game, the Bears improved from 23rd to third in the NFL in passing yards, from 21st to eighth in total yards and from 23rd to sixth in passing touchdowns. The Bears were still 25th in points scored, but the excitement of those pass plays and the potential for the Bears to have an offense root

It wouldn't be a Bears preseason if there weren't an eve-of-training-camp issue to worry about. Slot cornerback Kyler Gordon being put on the PUP (physically unable to perform) list with another soft-tissue injury certainly merits the usual concern and skepticism. But it comes with a twist that defines the 2026 season: As long as Ben Johnson is on the sideline and Caleb Williams is healthy, the Bears still are in better shape than they've been in a long, long time. Even if Ky

Babe Ruth appropriately put an indelible stamp on the inaugural All-Star Game in 1933 at Comiskey Park by hitting the first home run in All-Star Game history — a two-run shot off the Cardinals' Wild Bill Hallahan in the third inning of a 4-2 victory for the American League. But it's lesser known that Cubs pitcher Lon Warneke hit the first triple in All-Star Game history — a hit to right field in the bottom of the sixth inning — and scored the first National League run in All-

Michael Jordan has been featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated's weekly issue 50 times — more than any athlete in the 72-year history of the magazine. But it actually took him awhile to get on the cover for the first time. Jordan should have been on the Nov. 30, 1981 cover with North Carolina teammates James Worthy, Sam Perkins, Jimmy Black and Matt Doherty as a ballyhooed freshman starter for the preseason No. 1-ranked Tar Heels. But coach Dean Smith did not allow fresh

The grandaddy of them all. You know a Monopoly game is vintage when the hotels and houses are made of wood! The classic 1960s/1970s version of Monopoly. All-Star Baseball was a classic board game of the 1960s — not only fun to play with the spinner and strategy, but it used Wrigley Field as it's background. Through the magic of baseball-reference.com, this background shot was taken on Aug. 21, 1968. That's Fergie Jenkins pitching to Braves left fielder Mike Page in the top of

The '69 Cubs have their own special place in baseball's Hall of Infamy — a team still beloved if not revered despite a horrific collapse that ruined the greatest summer of our lives. Do the 1964 Phillies or 1978 Red Sox get the same kind of love that the '69 Cubs get? Probably not. Despite the scars of that dreaded finish, the glory of the 1969 season can't be forgotten, or ignored. Why? Timing was everything. The Cubs had not won a pennant since 1945 and had not been in cont

Chicago was the pinball machine capital of the world in the 1940s-70s. Many of the leading pinball manufacturers — including Gottlieb, Williams, Chicago Coin, Bally and Stern — were based in Chicago in pinball's heyday. It was an ironic distinction, because pinball had been illegal in Chicago since the 1940s, as a gambling device that attracted organized crime. Pinball, in fact, was also illegal in many suburbs (Oak Park, Arlington Heights, Evanston, Des Plaines and others)

NFL draft savant Joel Buchsbaum was the nerd's nerd. He looked the part, sounded the part and played the part. He was as reclusive as he was brilliant, with an encyclopedic recall of NFL draft prospects — the only thing I ever heard him talk about. His cramped apartment in Brooklyn was part of his legend. When he first started writing for Pro Football Weekly, they say he submitted his copy in longhand — he did not have a computer — and I believe it. I first heard Buchsbaum on

Subscription issues are the ugly stepchild of magazine collecting. They're the heart and soul of almost any vintage Sports Illustrated collection. But with the advent of grading, pressing and a burgeoning investment-level market for sports magazines, newsstand issues are rightfully king. And not just because of supply (by most accounts, only about 3% of weekly issues of Sports Illustrated magazines were newsstand issues), but aesthetics. I've collected raw issues of SI since