After a 17-16 loss to the Chargers at Soldier Field in 2019, Bears coach Matt Nagy appeared mystified and a little miffed at being questioned about his decision to have Mitch Trubisky kneel to set up Eddy Pineiro for a 41-yard field goal attempt that failed on the final play. Why not run another play to make it a little easier for the first-year kicker, who had previously hit the upright on a 33-yarder in that game?  “I’m not even going to get into that,” Nagy huffed. “I ha

Seven players who made the biggest impact in the Bears' 28-21 loss to the Packers on Sunday at Lambeau Field: 1. Jordan Love This game did not settle the Jordan-Love-or-Caleb-Williams debate one way or the other. Love can't make plays out of the pocket Like Williams, but with adequate protection, his experience in Matt LaFleur's offense (five seasons, 46 starts) gives him the edge for now. Love blinked early with a confounding interception thrown right to C.J. Gardner-Johnso

When the 1985 Bears established themselves as Super Bowl favorites with a stunning 44-0 rout of the Cowboys at Texas Stadium in Week 11 — the Cowboys were two-point favorites, believe it or not — the eyes of the NFL were on them like never before. The 11-0 Bears were 16-point favorites against the Falcons the following week at Soldier Field and had that spread covered by halftime in a 36-0 rout.  The 2025 Bears are not the ’85 Bears, but as statement-game follow-ups go, their

Paying proper respect to the Bears-Packers rivalry is always tricky for newcomers at Halas Hall, most of whom have no idea what it's about. Lovie Smith turned it into a cliche when he said his No. 1 goal was beating the Packers (I'll assume winning the Super Bowl was No. 2) at his introductory news conference. Future coaches avoided the obvious pandering, until Ben Johnson took it a step further and made it personal at his introductory press conference in January when he punc

Ben Johnson was hired to make a quarterback out of Caleb Williams. But he’s also making a general manager out of Ryan Poles.   Before Johnson was hired, Poles had more misses than hits — he traded for the eventual No. 1 overall pick (Williams) and wide receiver DJ Moore , drafted offensive tackle Darnell Wright and traded for defensive end Montez Sweat ; but he also hired head coach Matt Eberflus, signed guard Nate Davis in free agency, drafted wide receiver Velus Jones an

The Bears-Eagles game was branded as a defining moment for Ben Johnson and the 2025 Bears and it certainly was that. Their convincing 25-19 victory — on a short week, on the road, against a defending Super Bowl champion Eagles team motivated to atone for a loss to the rival Cowboys five days earlier — turned into a classic "statement" game. But just how big of a statement was it? The Bears have won "statement" games before, but none in recent Bears history has had much stayin

Seven players who made the biggest impact in the Bears' 24-15 victory over the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field: 1. Kyle Monangai Of all the pieces general manager Ryan Poles drafted with Johnson's offense in mind, it's the seventh-round pick, Monangai, who looks most like he was tailor-made for this offense. His second and third effort set the tone early — even when he was stopped short on fourth-and-1 — and from the start he gave the

Bears fans are tired of hearing about how the Bears haven’t beaten anyone this season. But the flaw in their counter-argument — that the Bears don’t control their schedule — is that the one time the Bears played a legitimate Super Bowl contender, they were waxed by the Lions, 52-21, in Week 2. The Bears objectively have had a primrose path to their 8-3 record. Their last five victories have come against quarterbacks Mason Rudolph, J.J. McCarthy, Jaxson Dart, Joe Flacco and Sp

Since Lovie Smith and Dave Toub left the Bears after Smith was fired following the 2012 season, two high-level coaches in particular have been able to rise above the dysfunctional muck at Halas Hall to be the best version of themselves. Vic Fangio is one.  Ben Johnson is the other. Fangio, hired by John Fox as the Bears’ defensive coordinator in 2015, came to town with a stellar reputation as an old-school, no-nonsense, stickler-for-details coach who was as good as adverti

Seven players who made the biggest impact in the Bears' 31-28 victory over the Steelers on. Sunday. 1. Caleb Williams For better or worse, Williams figured in five of the eight touchdowns scored in the game. He threw three touchdown passes for the Bears — five and 25 yards to DJ Moore and 12 yards to tight end Colston Loveland — and almost literally handed a touchdown to the Steelers when he lost the ball on a sack in the end zone, with linebacker Nate Herbig recovering for a

The last time the Bears beat Aaron Rodgers — way back in 2018 in Week 15 at Soldier Field — they won the battle but lost the war of attrition.  Safety Eddie Jackson’s interception of Rodgers in the end zone was a clinching blow, but Jackson suffered an ankle injury on his 13-yard return and never played again that season. He was missed in the Bears’ playoff loss to the Eagles, who won 15-14 when Nick Foles threw a two-yard touchdown pass to Golden Tate, with backup safety She

When you watch a football game as a teenager and think, "That's the greatest run I've ever seen," chances are that you not only have seen greater runs in your past but will see several more better runs in your future. Not so with Walter Payton's 18-yard run against the Chiefs on Nov. 13, 1977. With the Bears trailing the Chiefs 17-0 at Soldier Field and their faint playoff hopes flickering, Payton took a handoff from Bob Avellini at the Chiefs' 18-yard line, got hemmed in on

With yet another exhilarating victory, the Bears 7-3 start under rookie head coach Ben Johnson keeps evoking memories of previous glorious seasons in the post-Ditka era. To wit:  The uncanny, fantastic finishes in victories over the Raiders, Commanders, Bengals , Giants and Vikings has been reminiscent of the miraculous 2001 season, highlighted by Mike Brown’s back-to-back game-ending pick-6s.  The feel-good energy and rejuvenation under Johnson and an opportunistic defens

Seven players who made the biggest impact in the Bears' 19-17 victory over the Vikings on Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium: 1. Devin Duvernay The veteran kick returner had not made a big impact this season outside of a 49-yard kick return against the Ravens in Week 8, but came up with a clutch return that set the stage for another dramatic Bears comeback. His 56-yard kickoff return to the Vikings 40 with 42 seconds to play — following J.J. McCarthy's 16-yard touchdown pass that ga

The Bears' 2025 rookie class got off to a slow start, but has shown signs of life in recent games, with room for more growth in the final eight games of the season: Tight end Colston Loveland (first round, No. 10 overall) had 11 receptions for 116 yards and no touchdowns in his first six games. But he six receptions for 138 yards and a game-winning 58-yard touchdown against the Bengals, and four receptions for 55 yards against the Giants last week. Wide receiver Luther Burde

The juiciest Ben Johnson matchup with an NFC North rival coach won’t happen until Dec. 7, when the Bears’ head coach faces the guy he loved to beat as the Lions’ offensive coordinator — Packers coach Matt LaFleur. But until then, Johnson vs. Brian Flores will do.  Johnson actually had even better success against Flores’ Vikings defense as the Lions’ offensive coordinator than he did against LaFleur. The Lions were 4-0 in their matchups in 2023 and 2024, with Johnson’s offense

Three plays after Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart needed a little time to get up and walk off the field after fumbling and losing possession with a 17-7 lead late in the third quarter Sunday, Bears quarterback Caleb Williams came up limping noticeably after being sacked by Abdul Carter — a play that was nullified by a penalty.  As it turned out, Dart played just two more snaps before leaving the game with a concussion. Williams shook off the injury and passed for 111 yards

Seven players (actually six players and one coach) who made the biggest impact in the Bears' 24-20 victory over the Giants on Sunday at Soldier Field: 1. Caleb Williams It remains to be seen if Williams has the "it" factor, but he showed more signs Sunday: 1) Made the most of a disappointing day on offense against a vulnerable defense with two late touchdown drives — throwing for one and rushing for the other; 2) didn't let several drops by his receivers throw him off his gam

You are what your record says you are, but the Bears know they can’t be deceived by the 2-7 Giants on Sunday.  The Giants have lost their last three games, but against the Broncos (8-2), Eagles (6-2) and 49ers (6-3) — three teams with a combined record of 20-7. In fact, the Giants have more victories over winning teams this season — the Chargers (6-3) and Eagles (6-2) — than the Bears, who have zero.  “This is a good team coming in here,” coach Ben Johnson said. “I know what

This 2019 feature included a top-10 list of Bears players who were not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Since then, Jim Covert (2020), Devin Hester (2024) and Steve McMichael (2025) have been enshrined in the Hall of Fame.