After yet another exhilarating victory, the Bears’ 7-3 start under rookie head coach Ben Johnson keeps evoking memories of previous glory in the post-Mike Ditka era. To wit:
• The uncanny, fantastic finishes in victories against the Raiders, Commanders, Bengals, Giants and Vikings have been reminiscent of the miraculous 2001 season, which was highlighted by Mike Brown’s back-to-back game-ending pick-sixes.
• The feel-good energy and rejuvenation under Johnson and an opportunistic defense leading the NFL in takeaways are similar to Matt Nagy’s rookie season of 2018, the last time the Bears were 7-3 after 10 games.
• The momentum shift after an 0-2 start and the sense that the Bears are building a foundation for future success is a lot like 2005 under Lovie Smith, when the Bears started 1-3 and won eight consecutive games to set the tone for the Super Bowl season of 2006.
But as the Bears’ season stands right now, with all seven victories coming against teams with losing records and a much more difficult schedule in the final seven games, the more applicable reference point is a little more sobering. In 2012, Smith’s Bears started 7-1 against an easy schedule and predictably lost five of their next six games against playoff-bound teams and missed the playoffs at 10-6.
In case nobody knows it, the Bears haven’t beaten anybody. Their strength of victory (.285, 20-51-1) is last among the 17 NFL teams with five or more wins. Their ‘‘best’’ victory is against the 4-5-1 Cowboys, who have the worst strength of victory (.214) in the league.
On paper, that party is over. The Bears’ remaining schedule features six teams with a combined 39-20-2 record (.658) in the Steelers (6-4), Eagles (8-2), Packers (6-3-1) home and away, 49ers (7-4) and Lions (6-4). The only losing team they will face is the Browns (2-8), who arguably have the best defense the Bears will face this season (second in yards, third in sacks, though 17th in points allowed).
By the numbers, 2025 is eerily similar to 2012. Heading into Week 10 that season, the seven teams the Bears had beaten in their 7-1 start were a combined 21-36 (.368), while their next six opponents were a combined 34-18 (.654). The feared correction happened. The Bears lost five of those six to fall to 8-6. Not even victories against the 5-11 Cardinals and 4-12 Lions could get them in the playoffs at 10-6.
But that’s where the similarities end. The 2012 team was past its prime, with Brian Urlacher chasing Russell Wilson in futility — and suffering a career-ending hamstring injury — in an overtime loss to Pete Carroll’s up-and-coming Seahawks that served as the dreary snapshot of the end of the Smith era.
The 2025 team’s arrow is pointing up, with a promising — and arguably better — quarterback in the hands of a head coach with credentials in building a sustainable NFL offense. These Bears are due for a correction. But with Johnson, Caleb Williams and offensive-line continuity, they have room for growth that can meet any challenge.
Keep pushing
2. Culture change is a little like momentum in hockey: You have it until you don’t. But Johnson’s effect on the Bears’ offense is real. Even in a formative state, this offense plays with a push-the-pile verve that seems linked to Johnson’s influence.
That was never more evident than on Rome Odunze’s 17-yard reception against the Vikings. Odunze made a diving six-yard reception, then got up and bulled his way to the 17-yard gain — with help from Kyle Monangai, Joe Thuney, Theo Benedet, Cole Kmet and Luther Burden.
Snappy play
3. When Benedet left the field with an injury against the Vikings, it ended a string of — appropriately for Chicago — 312 consecutive snaps for the offensive-line combination of Benedet, Thuney, Drew Dalman, Jonah Jackson and Darnell Wright.
But, perhaps in a sign of better luck, Benedet missed only one play. So that combination has played 378 of 379 snaps in the last six games. The Bears, in fact, have lost 12 offensive-line snaps to in-game injuries through 10 games this season. That’s far better than in 2024, when the offensive line lost 393 snaps to in-game injuries. Johnson’s Lions lost 19 last season.
New clock management
4. To most coaches, there’s no such thing as scoring too soon. But the Vikings did when J.J. McCarthy threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Addison with 50 seconds left in the fourth quarter Sunday.
It used to be that the clock was an issue with less than a minute to play, even with quarterbacks such as Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers. But now, with touchbacks bringing the ball to the 35 and kickers with preferred K-balls making 60-yard field goals at a 50% clip (7-for-14), every offense is a threat when all you need is a field goal to win or tie.
Even without Devin Duvernay’s 56-yard kickoff return, the Bears were a threat with 50 seconds and two timeouts in that situation. And that return never would have happened in the old days. The kickoff would have gone out of the end zone, with the Bears taking possession at their 25.
Unfamiliar situation
5. Veterans Montez Sweat, Andrew Billings, Kmet and Jaylon Johnson, who have a combined 27 seasons in the NFL, are on a winning team through 10 games for the first time in their careers. And DJ Moore is on a team with a winning record after 10 games for the first time since his rookie season of 2018, when the Panthers were 6-4 but already two games into a seven-game losing streak that would lead to a 7-9 finish.
Trade off
6. Success has come at a personal cost for Moore. He averaged 67.9 receiving yards in his first 36 games with the Bears (202 receptions, 2,444 yards, 14 touchdowns), but the team was 12-24. Now that Odunze has eclipsed him as the Bears’ No. 1 receiver, Moore is averaging 38.4 receiving yards in the last eight games (23 catches, 307 yards, one touchdown), but the Bears are 7-1.
Trade off 2
7. Kmet also has seen his production diminish as the Bears improve their roster. His 21.3 receiving yards per game is his lowest since his rookie season in 2020 (15.3) and half of his peak of 42.3 yards per game in 2023.
He has faced a physical toll, as well. Kmet missed his first game in six seasons against the Ravens with a back issue, then left the game against the Bengals with a concussion. On Sunday, he took a helmet-to-helmet hit from Vikings cornerback Isaiah Rodgers but stayed in the game.
Meanwhile, rookie Colston Loveland seems to have a force field around him. For the second time in three games, two defenders who had a bead on Loveland whiffed to spring him for big gains. Bengals safeties Jordan Battle and Geno Stone missed on the 58-yard game-winning touchdown in Week 9, and Vikings safeties Harrison Smith and Josh Metellus missed badly Sunday to turn a short pass into a 24-yard gain on third-and-14.
Record conflict
8. Two historical trends — one a little less random than the other — will collide if Rodgers starts at quarterback Sunday for the Steelers. The Steelers are 1-13 against the Bears in Chicago (the Steel Curtain never played at Soldier Field), but Rodgers is 25-4 against the Bears in games he has started and finished, including victories in the last eight in a row and 12 of the last 13. He’s 12-3 at Soldier Field. It’s likely to take more than a broken wrist to keep him out of this one.
Steady Eddy
9. Josh McCown Ex-Bears Player of the Week: Niners kicker Eddy Pineiro was 3-for-3 on field goals — from 48, 47 and 47 yards — in a 41-22 victory against the Cardinals.
Pick ‘em
10. Bear-ometer — 10-7: vs. Steelers (W); at Eagles (L); at Packers (L); vs. Browns (W); vs. Packers (W); at 49ers (L); vs. Lions (L).
