The Chicago Bears have one more regular season game before they start on the road to the postseason, so on Sunday, January 4, the team will take on the Detroit Lions at home. While Chicago is already in the postseason, they’re still playing for the No. 2 spot in the NFC, so expected them to give it their all against Detroit.
Sure, quarterback Caleb Williams from the Bears is getting a lot of attention this season. But, there’s another Chicago player who’s getting recognized by ESPN a good way for his Week 17 performance.
“He’s certainly settled in,” Johnson said of Williams’ late-season performance and upswing. “The conversations we have now are a little bit more advanced than they were earlier in the season in terms of what we’re trying to get done with these ball plays. You’ve seen the pre-snap penalties start to go down. And when you see things over the last half of the season where you’re getting these free plays, you feel his control at the line of scrimmage starting to come out.”
Chicago Bears Player Gets Honored
On Thursday, January 1, ESPN announced their tally of their 2025 NFL All-Pro team picks, and one Bears player made the cut. No, it wasn’t Williams, since the quarterback honor went to Drake Maye of the New England Patriots. But, it was guard Joe Thuney.
“The most important and reliable part of Chicago’s resurgent run game this season, Thuney was every bit the player the Bears hoped to acquire when they sent a fourth-round pick to the Chiefs this offseason,” Bill Barnwell of ESPN states in ESPN’s feature on the picks. “He ranks fourth in the league in run block win rate and leads all guards in pass block win rate, all while continuing his habit of virtually never coming off the field.”
Barnwell adds, “Thuney has missed just five snaps all season. Thuney has the league’s lowest quick pressure rate and is one of two guards who played more than 400 pass-blocking snaps without allowing a single sack this season, per Next Gen Stats. The other one, of course, was Nelson.” So, congratulations are certainly in order.
Chicago Bears Coach Ben Johnson Discusses Caleb Williams
So, the Bears are playing for seeding, which is important, too. A win against the Detroit Lions secures them the No. 2 spot in the NFC playoff bracket, and that would mean another game against the Green Bay Packers, according to NFL research, who are at No. 7. They’ll also get that much-coveted home game if they win the NFC wild-card round. So, the Bears can get that No. 2 spot with a win over the Detroit Lions or a loss by the Philadelphia Eagles.
“I think he feels very much involved in the process. I think he feels like he has a great grasp on what we’re trying to get done,” Johnson said of Williams. “That’s showing up now on game day on a consistent basis and so he is able to play a little faster. He made some big-time throws there [last Sunday night against the 49ers]. He’s just playing really confident right now. Hopefully we can continue on that trend.”
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Bears Player Gets Good News as Lions Game Approaches appeared first on Heavy Sports.