Sunday’s 42-38 shootout loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday marked the first time in 12 years that the Chicago Bears lost when scoring at least 38 points.
The last such loss came in a 45-41 loss to Washington on Oct. 20, 2013. Before that it hadn’t happened since 1958, according to Stathead.
Here are the other numbers, stats and figures that stood out this week for the Bears.
Who will the Bears play in the wild-card round?
The simplest scenario for the Bears is to beat the Detroit Lions on Sunday and clinch the No. 2 seed in the NFC. Even if Philadelphia beats Washington, which would give the Bears and Eagles the same record, the Bears hold the head-to-head tiebreaker. That would mean a matchup with the Green Bay Packers, who are locked in as the No. 7 seed.
If the Lions beat the Bears and the Eagles beat the Commanders, the Bears would drop to the No. 3 seed and face either the 49ers or Los Angeles Rams as the No. 6 seed.
If the Seahawks beat the 49ers in Saturday night’s battle for the No. 1 seed, the 49ers will remain in a wild-card spot. If the Rams then beat the 3-13 Arizona Cardinals, the 49ers and Rams would have the same record and Los Angeles would win the tiebreaker and earn the No. 5 seed — landing the Bears a rematch against the 49ers.
If the 49ers beat the Seahawks, San Francisco would earn the No. 1 seed and Seattle would fall to a wild-card spot. The Seahawks still would have a better record than the Rams no matter what the Rams do in Week 18, so Seattle would be the No. 5 seed and Los Angeles the No. 6.
The Rams also would be the No. 6 seed if they lose to the Cardinals, regardless of what happens between the Seahawks and 49ers.
Bears coach Ben Johnson already said his team is “playing to win” in Week 18.
How important is home-field advantage?
The Bears no longer can earn the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs. The No. 2 seed, however, would guarantee them a home game not only in the wild-card round, but also in the divisional round should they advance.
“Playing at Soldier Field is absolutely one of the things that we wanted to do in the playoffs,” linebacker T.J. Edwards said.
Since 1920, according to Stathead, the Bears are 12-9 in the postseason when playing at home.
On the road — which they’ve done only once since 1995 (2020 versus the New Orleans Saints) — the Bears are 4-10 all time. They haven’t won a road playoff game since 1995 and haven’t won any playoff game since the 2010 season.
Can Caleb Williams set a franchise record? What about 4,000 yards?
Williams has 3,730 passing yards through 16 games with 25 touchdown passes and six interceptions.
He’s 109 yards shy of breaking Erik Kramer’s franchise passing record of 3,838 yards in 1995. Williams’ season low is 154 yards against the Eagles.
He’s also 270 yards shy of becoming the first Bears quarterback to throw for 4,000 yards in a season. The Bears are the only NFL franchise that never has had a 4,000-yard passer.
Williams has thrown for 270 yards or more in four games this season, including a season-high 330 on Sunday night against the 49ers.
The Detroit defense is surrendering 218.1 passing yards per game (ranked 19th), and the Lions have dealt with some significant injuries on defense. Before Christmas Day, when former third-stringer Max Brosmer and the Minnesota Vikings totaled 3 net passing yards, the Lions had given up 313.2 per game over their previous five games.
It’s not out of the question that Williams could reach 4,000 yards, but it would take one of his biggest games of the season.
It’s worth noting that Kramer also holds the Bears single-season record with 29 touchdown passes in 1995. Williams needs four to tie it. His 25 TD passes currently ranks fifth in franchise history.
Top targets share the load.
All of those passing yards have to go somewhere. After big games Sunday night, wide receiver Luther Burden III and tight end Colston Loveland both surpassed 600 receiving yards on the season.
The Bears now have four pass catchers with at least 600 yards: DJ Moore (671 yards), Rome Odunze (661), Loveland (622) and Burden (617). The rookies Burden and Loveland have come on strong late in the season. Odunze was leading the pack before a foot injury sidelined him the last four games.
This is the first time since 2014 that the Bears have had four players with 600 or more receiving yards in the same season. Alshon Jeffery (1,133), Martellus Bennett (916), Matt Forte (808) and Brandon Marshall (721) did it that season, when Jay Cutler threw for 3,812 yards, second in franchise history. The Bears finished 5-11 and fired coach Marc Trestman.
According to Stathead, the 2025 and 2014 seasons are the only instances in Bears history that four players totaled at least 600 receiving yards.
How the Bears would feed all of these playmakers was one of the stories of the summer. The answer, it seems, is that each has had his moment. The distribution has been remarkably even across the board.
Moore leads the Bears with 49 receptions. Odunze, who hasn’t played since Nov. 28 in Philadelphia, still leads the team with 90 targets.
Odds and ends
- The Bears have scored 30 points or more in five games this season. That’s the most since their last playoff appearance in 2020. After scoring 38 against the 49ers, the Bears have two games with 38 or more points (including the 47-42 win over the Cincinnati Bengals) for the first time since 2018.
- With 54 rushing yards against San Francisco, D’Andre Swift passed 1,000 yards for the second time in his career. At 1,047, he’s 2 yards shy of his career high.
- The Bears lead the NFL with 32 takeaways. The Jacksonville Jaguars, with 30, are probably the only team that can catch them in Week 18. The Bears are also best in the NFL with only 10 turnovers. The Houston Texans are next-best with 12.
- Per the Bears, left guard Joe Thuney tied an NFL record for most regular-season starts in his first 10 seasons with his 162nd last week. With a start in Week 18, Thuney would pass Atlanta Falcons tackle Jake Matthews, who also started 162 games in his first 10 years. Thuney has missed only two regular-season games in his career, both in 2022 with the Kansas City Chiefs. He already holds the record for combined regular-season and playoff starts over his first 10 years with 183.