The regular season is in the books. The NFL playoffs are here — and for the first time in five years, the Chicago Bears are part of the postseason field.
Before Saturday night’s wild-card game kicks off at Soldier Field against the rival Green Bay Packers, the Tribune’s Brad Biggs reaches into his weekly Bears mailbag.
How do you view this season and how much is it influenced by what happens in the Packers playoff game? Big picture very bright regardless? — @jtbcubs
This season is a rousing success no matter what happens Saturday night at Soldier Field. If you disagree, that’s fine, but I don’t know many people who were forecasting a division title in August without using their team-issued orange-and-navy glasses to see into the future.
It’s OK to move the goalposts at this time of year and reset the outlook, but only if you maintain a wide vision in understanding where the franchise has come from and how the first week of January has been a carnival after so many previous seasons in the last decade and a half.
Ben Johnson came in with a goal of changing the culture in the building and providing legitimate hope to the locker room. He has checked those boxes already. The second initiative was getting the offense going in quarterback Caleb Williams’ second season, and the improvement there has been easy to identify.
This isn’t like the recent past with Bears quarterbacks, when folks would tie themselves into knots trying to convince you legitimate progress was being made when there was none. Williams has made huge strides when you use the eye test, and look at the numbers: 3,942 yards, 27 touchdowns, seven interceptions and only 24 sacks. That’s 44 fewer sacks than in 2024!
I’m pretty sure Johnson would tell you they’re just beginning to scratch the surface with Williams, too, and he’s far from being what he can become and ultimately what the team needs. There’s real optimism that 2026 will bring more growth.
So you have a roster that has belief, you have exciting young players in the fold, you have a legitimate possibility of having a franchise quarterback and the Bears won the NFC North with an 11-6 record. I don’t know how the result Saturday night possibly could change that. If the Bears win, it only will increase belief.
If they lose, there will be disappointment and it will sting for the coaches, players and fans. But I agree with you, in the big picture, the future is bright and ultimately that’s what the organization was seeking — a complete turnaround. Winning the division and earning the No. 2 seed with Williams (and many others) improving along the way makes Johnson’s debut season a smash success no matter which way Saturday’s game goes.
Why would the NFL put the Bears on Saturday night and not in one of the two later slots on Sunday? — Robert F., Chicago
Logistics probably played some part in the decision as three of the six wild-card games feature a West Coast team traveling to the East Coast. I imagine the NFL wanted to put at least two of those games on Sunday considering the cross-country travel, and it accomplished that goal with the San Francisco 49ers at the Philadelphia Eagles at 3:30 p.m. Central time and the Los Angeles Chargers at the New England Patriots at 7 p.m.
That left the Los Angeles Rams at the Carolina Panthers for 3:30 p.m. Saturday in the least appealing of the weekend television slots. That’s no surprise considering Charlotte is a smaller TV market and the 8-9 Panthers don’t generate a lot of interest nationally. Similarly, the Jacksonville Jaguars were an easy choice for the noon Sunday slot because they aren’t a big draw nationally, even if the game involves the Buffalo Bills and star quarterback Josh Allen.
One other thing: The NFL has used the Monday night slot for a 4-vs.-5 matchup and chose the Houston Texans at the Pittsburgh Steelers. That probably forced the league to have two AFC games on Sunday. Otherwise, the Texans-Steelers winner possibly would have had a two-day rest disadvantage for the divisional round.
If the seventh-seeded Chargers upset the second-seeded Patriots, you’re looking at the Chargers at the top-seeded Denver Broncos in the divisional round, with the Texans-Steelers winner playing the Bills-Jaguars winner. If the Bills-Jaguars game had been played Saturday, you’d be looking at a significant rest advantage.
The Bears defense has been a mess most of the year, especially the last month. Is Dennis Allen on the hot seat? If not, should he be? While the defense lacks talent, Allen seems to get very little from the talent he has. His reputation as a strong defensive coach should not overshadow the poor job he has done this year. — Jim A., Plymouth, Minn.
Allen is not on the hot seat, and I think he’s done a pretty good job this season, especially if you had a realistic view of what the Bears had defensively. They lost starting defensive end Dayo Odeyingbo for the season in Week 9. Defensive tackle Grady Jarrett missed time with a knee injury and hasn’t been at full strength really at any point this season. Linebackers T.J. Edwards and Tremaine Edmunds missed chunks of the season, and we’ve gotten only brief glimpses of what you’d consider a starting secondary with Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon on the field at the same time. Nearly all of the Bears’ injury issues have been on that side of the ball.
The Bears led the NFL in takeaways and finished middle of the pack (15th) in the red zone. If you think the defense lacks talent, then I don’t know how you can beat up Allen unless you’re saying he should be better with smoke and mirrors. There’s an old saying that Jimmys and Joes are always more important than X’s and O’s, and if you subscribe to that, has Allen really underachieved? Get him some better players — especially an improved and more consistent pass rush — and I think you’ll be a lot happier with the results. I’d be stunned if Allen is on the hot seat, and I think he’s someone Ben Johnson really leans on for guidance at times.
Why did the Bears play so much man defense when they clearly didn’t have the speed in the secondary to keep up with the Lions wide receivers? Tom Brady seemed befuddled by the Bears defensive scheme all game. Jaquan Brisker said as much in his postgame interview. — Brie B., Chicago
The Bears probably went to a little more man coverage because they wanted to pressure Detroit quarterback Jared Goff. That didn’t work very well, but we can’t ignore the reality that Goff also chewed up the defense when it played zone. Here are the numbers from the game:
- Goff vs. man coverage: 17 of 30, 228 yards, 7.6 yards per attempt
- Goff vs. zone coverage: 10 of 12, 103 yards, 8.6 ypa
That’s what wise former Bears coach Dick Jauron would have called a conundrum.
Do Ben Johnson and/or Dennis Allen not like Tyrique Stevenson for any specific reason? I know Nahshon Wright has made some big plays but Stevenson is the better player, right? — @chainscooper91
There were a lot of questions in the mailbag this week about Stevenson not playing against the Lions. He had been rotating with Jaylon Johnson in previous weeks and his playing time had been going down — from 33 snaps versus the Cleveland Browns to 27 against the Packers and then 18 at San Francisco. So Stevenson’s role was being reduced as the coaching staff felt Johnson was ready for more action and, finally on Sunday, a full game.
The issue is none of the cornerbacks played well against the Lions. Goff tore up the secondary hitting crossers and dig routes all game, and that’s primarily how Detroit rolled up 433 yards of offense — the fifth time this season an opponent has had 431 or more. As has been the case in a handful of close games, the Bears played well in the red zone.
The question now is will the coaches adjust in preparation for Green Bay and quarterback Jordan Love and use Stevenson in place of either Johnson or Wright, who has five interceptions? Wright has tremendous length and we’ve seen that be a factor on some of his highlight plays. He also lacks short-area quickness and is tight-hipped, so receivers can create separation coming out of breaks against him. Stevenson has gotten lots of playing time this season (588 snaps), so he has been on the field for plenty of good and bad.
It will be very interesting to see what the Bears do with their personnel in the secondary and how Kyler Gordon looks if he gets an opportunity to play. Here’s one thing I know for certain: No matter who is lined up at cornerback, the defense needs to do a much better job of matching up pressure on the front end with coverage on the back end. Otherwise, Love could be poised for a big game.
What is contributing to the Bears’ rushing game changing from being one of the tops in the league to average at best? What are they doing to correct it? — @aslandayle
The Bears didn’t run the ball particularly well against the Lions. They had some missed assignments up front, and the running backs probably would tell you they could have done a better job hitting their tracks on a few plays.
But nothing has changed with the ground game. Let’s keep in mind the last two games were against a couple of secondaries that were beat up and had played poorly of late. There were major opportunities in the passing game against the Lions and 49ers.
Why is it that the defense looks worse now that all of the starters minus Kyler Gordon are back? — @balakay
Well, in the last five weeks they’ve faced Jordan Love (with Malik Willis) twice, Brock Purdy, Jared Goff and Shedeur Sanders. In the seven games before that, they played Spencer Rattler, Tyler Huntley, Joe Flacco, Jaxson Dart and Russell Wilson, J.J. McCarthy, Mason Rudolph and Jalen Hurts.
The defense had maybe its finest game of the season in Philadelphia, although the Eagles were missing a few key players, including elite right tackle Lane Johnson. I’d say the degree of difficulty was turned up for the defense as the schedule got more challenging. There won’t be any easy outs in the postseason. The margin for error is reduced.
While I basically agree with Ben Johnson, play football and don’t rest guys, I’m wondering if fatigue is catching up with them. Not only did they have the earliest bye but their “mini-bye” was from a Friday game, not Thursday. The Packers also had the early bye but had the mini-bye from a Thursday game and they chose to rest guys. The Eagles prioritized rest also (which kind of backfired since the Bears lost) but may work out if the Bears don’t win Saturday. Do you think they look tired and, given the circumstances, should they have rested guys on Sunday? — David K.
Fair question. I think Johnson, who puts a lot of stock in full-pads practices during the regular season as the collective bargaining agreement allows, has been mindful of rest and recovery, especially in the last five or six weeks. The Bears have gone to more walk-throughs early in the week to allow players to get their legs back under them.
I asked right guard Jonah Jackson after Sunday’s game if the Bears were perhaps a little fatigued after returning from a night game at San Francisco the week before.
“Not at all,” he said. “Ben does a good job of taking care of us. It is Week 18, so you are going to feel something. At the end of the day, it’s time to go on game days.”
How do the equipment folks keep the face shields some of the players wear, such as Caleb Williams, from steaming up when the weather is cold? — @frontrowrx
I had to consult equipment director Tony Medlin, who has been with the organization since 1987, for the answer to this question. Medlin told me the visors some players wear are produced by Oakley, and the company provides a spray that helps prevent the shields from fogging up.
Medlin said the spray isn’t perfect — there are still times when the visors will fog over — but it helps.
Why does the NFL continue to give home playoff games to division winners that have poor records like the Panthers? Wouldn’t it make more sense to seed the playoffs by teams’ records, period? — Shaun B., Carol Stream
In a scenario like you describe, the fourth-seeded Panthers, who at 8-9 are the fifth team in a non-strike season to reach the playoffs with a losing record, would be the seventh seed in the NFC. Also the NFC North champion Bears (11-6) would go from the No. 2 seed to No. 4, falling behind the Rams (12-5) and 49ers (12-5), so you’d be looking at the Bears hosting the Eagles this weekend in a 4-vs.-5 game.
In the AFC, the Steelers are the No. 4 seed with a 10-7 record as the AFC North winner. The Texans (12-5), Bills (12-5) and Chargers (11-6) are all seeded lower.
The common answer you get when you ask this question is that the league wants to provide a reward to division winners — that finishing first in your division should have some value to it.
The thing the NFL has run into the last couple of seasons is there has been a bunch of dog games on the schedule in Weeks 17 and 18, especially when teams with playoff spots secured have rested starters and key players. Of course, Game 272 on Sunday night between the Steelers and Ravens was a doozy. That was a grand way to close the regular season and head into the playoffs.
You can make a case for more compelling viewing late in the season if the NFL ordered the playoffs strictly based on record. If the league ultimately views that as a potential means to drive interest and television ratings, it might eventually happen.
When is the last time teams faced each other three times in six weeks like the Bears and Packers are going to do in the wild-card round? — Jeff R., Bloomington
The Packers were involved the last time it happened at the end of the 2012 season and into the playoffs in January 2013.
- Week 13: Packers 23, Vikings 14 at Lambeau Field
- Week 17: Vikings 37, Packers 34 at the Metrodome
- Wild-card round: Packers 24, Vikings 10 at Lambeau Field