Dec 14, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson walks along the sideline during the first quarter against the Cleveland Browns at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images
The Chicago Bears are officially knocking on the door of the postseason, and they have a real opportunity to clinch a playoff berth this weekend. According to the NFL, the Bears can punch their ticket under two specific scenarios, both of which highlight just how far this team has come in Year 1 under head coach Ben Johnson.
The first and most straightforward path is a Bears win over the Green Bay Packers on Saturday, paired with a Detroit Lions loss or tie against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday at Ford Field. If Chicago handles its business and Detroit loses at home, the Bears would lock up a playoff spot with two games still remaining on the schedule.
The second scenario is slightly less conventional but still very much in play. If the Bears and Packers play to a tie on Saturday, and the Lions lose to the Steelers on Sunday, Chicago would still clinch a postseason berth.
Regardless of how it happens, the bigger picture is what truly stands out. In Ben Johnson’s first season as head coach, the Bears already sit at 10 wins and control their own destiny entering the final stretch of the regular season. Expectations were modest heading into the year, but this team has exceeded them in just about every way.
Now, with two games left and the playoffs within reach, the Bears have a chance to turn an impressive season into a special one.
Sep 13, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Cubs pitcher Caleb Thielbar (24) pitches against the Tampa Bay Rays during a game at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images
The Chicago Cubs are bringing back one of their dominant relievers from the 2025 bullpen as ESPN’s Jeff Passan and Jesse Rogers reported on Tuesday that the team is re-signing Caleb Thielbar. The veteran lefty was signed to a modest one-year, $2.75 million deal last offseason and now Thielbar is coming back to the Cubs after one of the best years of his MLB career.
Thielbar, 38, made 67 appearances with the Cubs in 2025, and he recorded a 2.64 ERA in 58 innings of work. He did a fantastic job of limiting any damage whatsoever as Thielbar posted a 0.88 WHIP, held opposing hitters to a .186 batting average and had a 25.5 K% rate.
The left-handed reliever also pitched well in the postseason, recording five scoreless appearances for the Cubs. Thielbar was one of the most reliable pitchers for Craig Counsell in 2025, and ultimately slotted into a set-up role. The veteran posted 25 holds out of the bullpen.
As a reminder of how great Thielbar pitched for the Cubs he recorded a 1.70 ERA in 53 innings out of the bullpen from April 5 through Sept. 16, covering 61 appearances. Thielbar was good against hitters from both sides of the plate, but he was obviously a shut down weapon against left-handed batters. Southpaws only mustered up a combined .486 OPS against Thielbar, while right-handed batters were at a .590 OPS last season.
This signing pretty much rules out the return of Drew Pomeranz. Last week the Cubs signed Hoby Milner, another veteran lefty reliever and with Thielbar’s reunion there’s not much of a need for another left-handed reliever.
Looking ahead, the Cubs still have to target a high-leverage arm to go along with Daniel Palencia and Phil Maton. The Cubs have been linked to Pete Fairbanks since the last season’s trade deadline and at this point he’s the top free agent closer left.
Green Bay Packers defensive end Micah Parsons (1) pressures Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams (18) on Sunday, December 7, 2025, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis. The Packers defeated the Bears 28-21.
Wm. Glasheen USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
The Chicago Bears came up short in the first meeting with the Green Bay Packers, 28-21. However, Caleb Williams had an incredible second half, putting up 18 points and making plays that hadn’t been seen against that defense all year. He was one pass away from sending it to overtime. One must also not forget that he beat the Packers in Green Bay last year and almost did it in the other meeting at Soldier Field. For all the confidence Packers fans project, they were nervous going into the rematch this week.
Now they’re panicking.
The NFL world was rocked on Sunday when Micah Parsons, Green Bay’s glorious trade acquisition, tore his ACL in the loss to the Denver Broncos. He had been their unquestioned best pass rusher all season and was essential to closing out close games. With him done for the season, reality is setting in for Packers fans. Their defense struggled to contain Williams with Parsons on the field. Without him, their pass rush is in the hands of Rashan Gary and Lukas Van Ness, who haven’t been overly effective in recent weeks.
Hafley HAS to cook up some mean blitzes moving forward, especially Saturday…. Outside of Micah, nobody on that DL can catch that lil zesty mf🤦🏾♂️ pic.twitter.com/FvG2lnRzI6
They’re right to fear Caleb Williams under those conditions.
The Bears quarterback has thrown 325 passes from a clean pocket this year. He has completed 66.2% of them for 2,519 yards, 17 touchdowns, and five interceptions. That works out to a 100.5 passer rating. Parsons is out. So is Devonte Wyatt, Green Bay’s best interior pass rusher. Combined, they accounted for 38% of the Packers’ total pressures this season. There is no replacing that. The only hope they have is that Gary, Van Ness, and others can somehow step up their games. Typically, that doesn’t happen.
If Caleb Williams plays at the same level he did in that second half of the first meeting, the Packers are in big trouble. Chicago already knows it can run the ball effectively against them. The one issue was passing. Everybody knew how dangerous Parsons was. With him out of the picture, that fear is gone. Green Bay is still well-coached and has talent elsewhere. Yet their X-factor is gone. The consequences of that are often felt immediately, and in the most important games.
Nov 23, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson before the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Mike Dinovo-Imagn Images
Let’s get one thing straight before the comments section turns into a dumpster fire of people trying to discredit what we just did to Cleveland. Sure, it was the Browns, but 31-3 is a statement. And while the scars from Lambeau are still fresh, we need to stop nitpicking Caleb’s completion percentage and look at the bigger picture.
But I need us to take a collective breath. Put down the Malört (just for a second) and look at the bigger picture.
We are so traumatized by decades of “offensive geniuses” who turned out to be frauds — Marc Trestman’s screen passes, Matt Nagy’s “Be You” playbook, Luke Getsy’s inability to understand the forward pass — that we are missing what is happening right in front of our eyes.
If you’ve been watching the games with your heart instead of just your anxiety, you’ve felt it. It’s chaotic. It’s volatile. Sometimes, like that first half in Green Bay, it makes you want to throw your remote through the TV. But if you actually dig into the data — the stuff that tells you how we are winning, not just if we won — you’ll see a startling truth.
Ben Johnson’s 2025 Bears aren’t just “on track” to match his 2022 Lions offense.
They are already ahead of it.
Yeah, I said it. Save your angry tweets. Let’s break down the tape and the numbers to prove why our offense, warts and all, is a more dangerous beast than the Lions in Ben Johnson’s first year calling the plays ever were at this stage.
1. The Scoreboard: Mirror Images with a Different Engine
Let’s start with the “normie” stats. You know, the ones your uncle quotes at Thanksgiving to explain why the Bears still “suck” (even though we’re 10-4).
When you stack Ben Johnson’s first full year calling plays in Detroit (2022) against his first 13 games with us in Chicago (2025), the raw production is almost identical. It’s spooky.
2022 Lions Points Per Game: 26.6 (5th in NFL)
2025 Bears Points Per Game: 26.9 (Top 8)
2022 Lions Yards Per Game: ~380.0
2025 Bears Yards Per Game: 378.4
On paper, it’s a wash. But we know context is king. The 2022 Lions were an efficiency machine. They dinked, dunked, and gashed you with a play-action game that Jared Goff — an 8th-year vet who had been to a Super Bowl — operated like a surgeon. They were 5th in Offensive DVOA (+13.7%) because they didn’t make mistakes. They were boringly effective.
Our 2025 Bears? We are a rollercoaster in a hurricane. Our Offensive DVOA is middle-of-the-pack (around 14th). We have quarters where we go three-and-out four times in a row and I start having flashbacks to 2004.
But we are matching Detroit’s scoring output.
Think about how insane that is. We are scoring nearly 27 points a game without the down-to-down consistency Detroit had. How? Because Ben Johnson has replaced “efficiency” with pure, unadulterated violence.
Ben Johnson’s 2025 Bears vs. 2022 Lions: offensive profile comparison on key metrics
2. The “Scare” Factor: Explosives Over Efficiency
Here is the biggest difference, and why I honestly believe defensive coordinators are losing more sleep over preparing for Caleb than they did for 2022 Goff.
Ben Johnson has seemingly realized that with a rookie QB and an offensive line that’s been taped together with hope and prayers, he can’t rely on 12-play, 80-yard marches every time. So, he flipped the script. He traded consistency for the knockout punch.
Per TruMedia and Next Gen Stats, the Bears currently lead the NFL with a 14.1% explosive play rate.
Read that again. The Chicago Bears. The franchise where “explosive offense” used to mean a fullback dive for 6 yards on 3rd-and-1.
In 2022, the Lions were methodical. They killed you with a thousand cuts. 6.2 yards per play (2nd in the league), sure, but it was sustained. We are hunting big game. We have 48 “big plays” (runs of 12+, passes of 16+) in just the first six games alone.
Johnson has openly said he’d rather hit one 20-yard gain at a 50% clip than string together three 5-yard completions. Why? Because explosives score points. Efficiency just moves chains.
This is a massive philosophical shift. In Detroit, Johnson needed a year and a half to turn that offense into a juggernaut. In Chicago, he has already installed the “nuclear option.” Is it messy? Hell yes. Caleb’s completion percentage is hovering around 59%, which looks ugly compared to Goff’s robotic precision. But ask a defensive coordinator what they’d rather face: A QB who completes 70% of his passes for 6 yards a pop, or our guy who might drop a 50-yard bomb to Luther Burden III or rip off a 20-yard scramble while making a linebacker look stupid?
We are winning with volatility. And in today’s NFL, volatility is a weapon.
3. The Ground Game: Faster, Harder, Stronger
If you want to talk about “ahead of schedule,” look at the run game. This is where the debate officially ends.
It took the Lions until late 2022 and really 2023 (the Jahmyr Gibbs/David Montgomery era) to establish truly elite, dominant ground prowess. In 2022, they were 11th in rush yards per game (128.2). Good, not great.
The 2025 Bears? We are 2nd in the NFL, averaging 144.4 rushing yards per game.
And we aren’t doing it with first-round picks. We are doing it with Kyle Monangai, a 7th-round pick who runs like he’s angry at the grass.
Lions 2022: 4.9 yards per carry.
Bears 2025: Leading the NFL in yards before contact per rush (~2.07).
That “yards before contact” stat is the smoking gun for Ben Johnson. That’s not the running back making a play; that is the scheme erasing defenders. Johnson has our offensive line—which, let’s be real, has had more lineups than a bad 80s rock band—opening actual highways.
We have the best rushing success rate (~46.7%) a Bears team has seen since the early 2000s. Structurally, Chicago has built a 2023-Lions-level run game in Year 1. That is absurd. That is the definition of being ahead of the curve.
4. The QB Context: The Vet vs. The Kid
This is the part where context matters. You cannot compare these two offenses in a vacuum without looking at the trigger man.
2022 Detroit: Jared Goff. A veteran. A guy who had seen every coverage, knew his protections, and was operating in a system built entirely around his strengths (play-action, middle of the field).
2025 Chicago:Caleb Williams. A second-year player coming off a “meh” rookie season, learning a system that was supposedly “ripped down to the studs.”
The fact that we are matching the Lions’ 2022 scoring output with a young, developing QB instead of a polished vet is the strongest indicator of Johnson’s coaching evolution.
Caleb isn’t playing “point guard” like Goff. He’s playing street ball within a structure. His turnover rate is Rodgers-esque (0.9%), and while he makes young QB mistakes (like that INT to end the Packers game — oof, I still feel that one in my gut), his high-end plays are significantly higher than 2022 Goff (like that dart to DJ Moore this past weekend — Goff isn’t making that throw).
Johnson is trusting Caleb with a much heavier mental load than he gave Goff in Year 1. We’re seeing more motion, more checks at the line, and more “12 personnel” (two tight ends) looks involving Colston Loveland and Cole Kmet that demand the QB read leverage instantly.
The Lions needed training wheels in early 2022. We took the training wheels off in Week 5.
QB efficiency comparison: Veteran Goff (2022) vs second-year Williams (2025) in Ben Johnson’s system
5. The “Eye Test”: It’s Not Just Detroit 2.0
Lazy analysts will tell you Johnson just brought the Detroit playbook to Chicago. Those people aren’t watching the All-22.
Johnson told us in the offseason: “It’s not going to look like it did in Detroit.” And he wasn’t lying.
The 2022 Lions were under center 50% of the time (highest in the NFL). We are under center heavily (about 58% on early downs), but the variety out of those looks is miles ahead of where Detroit was in 2022.
The TE Usage: In 2022, the Lions used tight ends, but it wasn’t the focal point until LaPorta arrived. In Chicago, the Loveland/Kmet duo is the engine. Loveland is playing like a top-10 pick, creating matchup nightmares that Detroit didn’t have in the passing game back then.
The Motion: Our motion usage post-bye week has skyrocketed. We are confusing linebackers and safeties before the snap, creating those massive “yards before contact” numbers for Monangai.
Johnson isn’t installing “Lions Offense 1.0.” He’s installing “Lions Offense 3.0” with a rookie-ish QB. It’s a harder install. It’s more complex. And it’s already producing the same points.
Final Verdict
Is this Bears offense perfect? Hell no. Our third-down efficiency is trash compared to Detroit. We rely way too much on the big play. We have games where we disappear for 30 minutes (looking at you, Green Bay game).
But if the question is “Are we ahead of schedule?”, the answer is an emphatic YES.
We have matched the scoring.
We have exceeded the explosiveness.
We have a better run game.
And we are doing it with a younger, higher-upside quarterback.
Ben Johnson’s 2022 Lions were a Honda Accord: Reliable, efficient, got you there safely. Ben Johnson’s 2025 Bears are a Dodge Hellcat with a student driver. It might crash into a ditch. It might stall at a light. But when it hits the straightaway? It’s leaving the Honda in the dust.
And I don’t know about you, but after years of driving a beat-up Pinto, I’d rather ride in the Hellcat.
Nov 30, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett (95) greets fans as he walks off the field after the loss to the San Francisco 49ers at Huntington Bank Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images
Not every highlight shows up in the box score. Sometimes, the moments that matter most happen after the game, and that was the case with Bears rookie left tackle Ozzy Trapilo and Browns star Myles Garrett on Sunday.
Trapilo spent the afternoon lining up against arguably the best edge rusher in football. Garrett is a former Defensive Player of the Year, a perennial All-Pro, and a nightmare matchup for even the most seasoned offensive tackles. For a rookie making his way through the early part of his NFL career, it was a true trial by fire.
Trapilo did give up two sacks in the game, which is to be expected when facing an elite talent like Garrett. But those snaps don’t tell the full story. The rookie continued to compete, adjust, and battle throughout the game, never backing down from the challenge. That effort didn’t go unnoticed.
After the game, Garrett made a point to show respect to Trapilo, a moment that spoke volumes. When one of the league’s most dominant defenders acknowledges a rookie lineman, it carries real weight. It’s a sign that Trapilo’s work, toughness, and approach stood out, even in a difficult matchup.
While Trapilo is still developing in pass protection, he has already shown dominance in the run game. The passing game will come with reps and experience.
Moments like this are encouraging for the Bears. They suggest Chicago may have something real in their rookie left tackle and that respect from the league’s best is already starting to follow.
The Chicago Bears have reached double-digit wins for only the second time in the past 13 years this season. A significant portion of the credit for this achievement goes to head coach Ben Johnson. His leadership and offensive genius have completely transformed the locker room in only a few months. Players are confident, energetic, and playing with a real purpose. Caleb Williams is evolving at quarterback. The running game is revived. Even the defense, despite a laundry list of injuries, leads the NFL in takeaways.
However, much of the success must go to the Bears’ 2025 draft class. Getting strong contributions from their rookies was not something they initially planned. Circumstances made it difficult to avoid. To the surprise of many, multiple Bears draft picks have stepped up. Colston Loveland is 16th in the NFL in receiving among tight ends. Wide receiver Luther Burden gains the fifth-most separation on routes run in the league. Kyle Monangai is averaging 4.7 yards per carry and is 319 yards away from cracking 1,000 for the season. Yet those three aren’t the ones who have Johnson the most excited.
That is left tackle Ozzy Trapilo. The head coach gushed about the progress the 2nd round pick has made since being demoted in training camp to Jeff Joniak on ESPN 1000.
Ben Johnson has every reason to love the Trapilo development.
Remember, the rookie was a right tackle in college. The Bears moved him over to the left to compete with Braxton Jones in camp. Things seemed to start well, but during the preseason his progress stopped. Rather than force the issue, Ben Johnson and offensive line coach Dan Roushar decided to shift him back to the right side. It wasn’t because they’d lost faith in him. Rather, it was more that they felt he wasn’t ready yet. Theo Benedet took over the starting job during the season after Jones regressed. It looked like he’d hold the job the rest of the year.
Then Benedet suffered a quad injury.
Trapilo was forced into the lineup. Across the last four starts, the rookie has allowed eight pressures. Keep in mind this was against teams that rank 3rd (Browns), 5th (Steelers), 12th (Eagles), and 15th (Packers) in sacks. That includes Myles Garrett, Micah Parsons, and T.J. Watt. For Trapilo not to get railroaded like most rookies would is a testament to his talent and the progress he’s made.
Johnson has every right to be excited. Left tackle was the last spot on the offensive line that was a question mark for the Bears. If Trapilo builds on what he’s shown over the past month, the Bears may have found their guy.
Dec 14, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Bulls forward Dalen Terry (7) shoots against the New Orleans Pelicans during the first half at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images
On Sunday night, the Chicago Bulls lost their seventh game in eight outings, falling 114-104 to the New Orleans Pelicans. The Pelicans have five wins on the year in 27 games, and two of those have now come against Chicago, both in the last month. The Windy City faithful have witnessed a rapid, embarrassing decline since their 6-1 start to the year, and they now sit at 10-15 through the first 25 games. There would be several different answers if everyone were asked what the root of Chicago’s issues are this season. Many of these are easy to spot, and repeated flaws have been evident over the past decade. Whether it’s rim-protection, turnovers, or other on-court issues, or coaching, development, drafting intelligently, or executing trades and contracts, most can agree that the franchise has been a mess for too long. During their last outing in the United Center, a message finally started to resonate within the organization.
The Fans Have Had Enough
During the loss at home two nights ago, the United Center looked absolutely deflated and depleted. Fans slowly filtered out as the game progressed, and the fourth quarter featured a ghost town in the stands. Chicago will always be one of the most active and rowdy fan bases with the size and passion of the city. Still, Sunday night may have shown that they’re finally standing against the leadership group and are done supporting a subpar product.
You can tell by the empty seats in the background & the "Green Bay sucks" chant from the fans what type of atmosphere we have here at the UC tonight…it's giving Tuesday night high school JV vibes as the Bulls have a 3 pt (35-32) lead over the Pelicans w/7 min left in the half. pic.twitter.com/N8jj3i91CP
It’s quickly become the laughing stock franchise of the league, and seeing the neighboring Chicago Cubs and Chicago Bears turning a few years of rebuilding woes into a successful product makes it even more baffling and frustrating.
Call To Action For Ownership
Chicago White Sox fans can agree that Jerry Reinsdorf is a significant reason both the White Sox and Bulls franchises are underperforming and failing to meet the city’s expectations. As one of the largest markets in the country, with some of the most passionate and dedicated fans, it’s genuinely a disservice that the Bulls continue to be a bottom-dwelling group. Despite being in the top five of the NBA in revenue and attendance each of the last five years, they’ve only made the playoffs once in that span, and are slated to miss it again this year. How does Reinsdorf continue to let Arturas Karnisovas or Billy Donovan keep their jobs?
Chicago Bulls have lost seven games in a row. Worst team in basketball. Our owner Jerry Reinsdorf sucks. The problem is Bulls fans packing the United Center filling Reinsdorf’s pockets every game to watch a garbage product. Nothing going to change until fans stop showing up.
Only five head coaches have led the Bulls for over 300 games, and Donovan has the worst winning percentage of the group, despite coaching the third-most games in franchise history. Four of those coaches have also led the team to the playoffs at least three times and have accumulated 10 or more playoff wins during their tenure. Donovan has one postseason appearance, with only one game won. There’s no justification for his continued employment, and no reason not to experiment elsewhere.
Karnisovas has a similarly pathetic resume. He mirrors Donovan’s postseason numbers with Chicago, but also has notably whiffed on several draft choices, most famously Patrick Williams over Tyrese Maxey or Tyrese Haliburton. This season, he grabbed Noa Essengue over Derik Queen, which is already proving disastrous.
It’s getting nearly impossible to defend Reinsdorf, and while the profit continues to roll in for the Bulls, there’s no urgency for change. Was Sunday a sign that the fans are starting to take matters into their own hands and impact Reinsdorf’s highly profitable operation?
Browns defensive end Myles Garrett shakes hands with Bears quarterback Caleb Williams after their game in 2025.
The Chicago Bears had one objective above all in their game against the Cleveland Browns. Don’t let Myles Garrett ruin everything. Stopping the future Hall of Famer was not possible. He is way too good at what he does. The goal was to minimize the damage. All things considered, the Bears did that pretty well. Garrett did have 1.5 sacks, but Ozzy Trapilo held up well enough to keep him from going crazy. Caleb Williams threw for 242 yards and two touchdowns while the offense put up 31 points in a blowout 31-3 win.
After the game, cameras caught Garrett and Williams meeting up on the field to hug. The All-Pro pass rusher lodged a complaint with the Bears quarterback.
“I just needed one more!”
This is in reference to Garrett having 21.5 sacks this season, which is one shy of the NFL record held by Michael Strahan and T.J. Watt. Most believe he will break the record. It is only a matter of when. Williams’ response to Garrett was equal parts cheeky and out of pure respect.
Myles Garrett deserves much more from the Browns than he’s gotten.
The defensive end is a shoo-in for the Hall of Fame when he retires. Yet the organization has routinely mismanaged its roster for years. They had a young quarterback in Baker Mayfield who led them to their first playoff win, only to dump him in exchange for Deshaun Watson. That blew up in their faces. Multiple great defenses built around Myles Garrett have been wasted as the Browns frantically try to undo the damage. All attempts have failed. Now the superstar approaches a crossroads in his career, having signed a massive extension with the organization while staring down another rebuild.
It feels like he’s going down the same path as Joe Thomas. One of the greatest players ever at his position never even sniffed a Super Bowl with that team. It’s sad. You can’t help but wonder if Cleveland decides to trade Garrett while his value is at its peak, hoping to procure enough assets to retool the roster. If so, the Bears have every reason to be interested. His presence would catapult their defense into the NFL elite, while Williams and the offense are blossoming simultaneously.
Nov 9, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Bears wide receiver Rome Odunze (15) makes a catch against New York Giants safety Jevon Holland (8) during the first half at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Mike Dinovo-Imagn Images
The Chicago Bears have lost more games to injuries this season than any team in the NFL. It’s been an epidemic of the highest degree. Several starters have missed at least a month or more of action. Some are done for the season. Neither side of the ball is immune. What has stood out the most with the ailments is how many of them are soft tissue-related, including hamstrings, calves, quads, and groin. Usually, when that is a problem, it speaks to a questionable program from your strength and conditioning staff. Then we have Rome Odunze.
It was reported last week that the Bears receiver has been suffering from a stress fracture in his foot. To some, that meant he’d likely miss some time. However, Odunze appeared to be aiming to play on Sunday against Cleveland. Then he apparently aggravated it in warmups. Head coach Ben Johnson had an interesting comment on Monday about Odunze’s recovery outlook.
“I know he wants to be out there on the field competing, contributing and helping our team win. There may be a case where we got to protect him from himself a little bit.”
This all but confirms something that has been speculated about the Bears training staff all year. They have given the players way too much leeway in deciding when to return. This then opens the door for them to aggravate their injuries. It already happened in September with Jaylon Johnson, who many thought returned too soon from a groin problem. Now Odunze.
Odunze considered 'week-to-week right now,' per source, but sounds like that could change based on what action the team and player take. https://t.co/vho9XyVtJR
Rome Odunze will likely be shut down for a few weeks.
It’s unfortunate because the receiver started off the season so hot. He was a touchdown machine and looked poised for a breakout. Having things undone due to a foot injury must feel incredibly frustrating, especially for a competitor like him. The good news is that Chicago seems capable of handling his absence well enough. Luther Burden and Colston Loveland have both stepped up in a big way over the past two weeks. D.J. Moore had one of his best games against Cleveland. The Bears have enough pieces to remain effective in the passing game.
A healthy Rome Odunze will help them much more in meaningful games than one who only has one foot. It is the responsibility of a football team to do what is best for the players. If it were their choice, most would play even if they’re far below 100%. While an admirable sentiment, it’s also a reckless one. As Johnson said, players must sometimes be protected from themselves. The Bears training staff hasn’t done a good job of that by any measure. Something needs to change, and soon.
