The Pittsburgh Steelers made an interesting move this week, adding QB/WR John Rhys Plumlee to their practice squad with a very specific purpose: help the defense prepare for Caleb Williams. According to reports, Plumlee was brought in because his athletic profile closely mirrors Williams ability to escape pressure, extend plays, and turn broken situations into game-changing gains.

It’s a pretty remarkable sign of how much respect Williams has already earned across the league. When teams start adjusting their practice squads just to simulate your skillset, you’re doing something special.

Williams has quickly developed a reputation as one of the NFL’s elite sack-avoidance quarterbacks. Through the first half of the season, he leads all NFL quarterbacks in broken tackles. His ability to turn what should be sure sacks into explosive plays has become one of Chicago’s biggest offensive advantages.

Defenses know this, and they’re scrambling to prepare. That’s why the Steelers decision to bring in Plumlee makes sense. As a former dual-threat quarterback at UCF and Ole Miss — and now a versatile QB/WR hybrid — Plumlee offers enough athleticism to give Pittsburgh’s defense a realistic look at the challenge Williams presents.

Williams already forces teams to rethink how they rush, contain, and pursue. And when a young quarterback is commanding this much attention, it usually means his ceiling very high.

The fact that teams are doing this for Caleb Williams? Pretty cool — and a sign of what’s coming.

The Chicago Bears host their only home game of the next month on Sunday. It will be against the Pittsburgh Steelers, who are always a formidable opponent. The big discussion centers around the status of quarterback Aaron Rodgers. In last week’s win over Cincinnati, the future Hall of Famer suffered a broken left wrist. That leaves his status for the game at Soldier Field in question. Reports indicate he’s pushing to play, no doubt motivated by what is likely his last chance to play the Bears before he retires. Apparently, he isn’t the only one. Head coach Ben Johnson is hoping Rodgers suits up too.

Chicago isn’t the only one that has a long-standing beef with the former Green Bay Packers legend. Johnson joined the Detroit Lions coaching staff in 2019. Rodgers beat them four straight times over the next two seasons. They split the series in 2021. It wasn’t until 2022, Johnson’s first year as an offensive coordinator, that Detroit swept the season series in what was Rodgers’ last season in Green Bay.

He admitted he’d love nothing better than to have one more shot at taking the all-time great down on Sunday. Both out of revenge and respect.

Never forget that Ben Johnson is a maniacal competitor.

He lives for rubbing it in the face of every opponent. Rodgers had no problems doing it when he was with the Packers, acting all superior for years. Ben Johnson is not one to silently hope the Hall of Famer sits the game out. This head coach is begging for a chance to send the man into retirement with a firm reminder that his time has passed. The game sets up pretty well for the Bears.

Pittsburgh has the worst pass defense in the NFL this season. They also haven’t faced many mobile quarterbacks this season. The one time they did, Justin Field put up 32 points on them. Johnson likely has an idea of how he will attack them. Meanwhile, he can trust defensive coordinator Dennis Allen to deal with Rodgers. The quarterback had one of the worst games of his career the last time he faced him.

The Chicago Bears are enjoying a successful 2025 season (to this point). Their first in seven years. However, many in the organization can’t afford to stay focused on what’s happening now. They must keep their eyes on the future. One of them is team president Kevin Warren. His job is always to seek ways to make the Bears a more profitable and successful brand. Right now, most of that involves getting the new stadium off the ground, which hasn’t happened yet. However, that might not be the only angle Warren is taking.

The Bears announced a new hire for their front office this week. His name is Matt O’Brien. He won’t be joining the personnel department. Fans might immediately shrug that off and stop paying attention. While understandable, it’s worth noting his job title: Senior Vice President of Global Commercial Revenue. O’Brien comes over from the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers and Rock Entertainment Group. His experience working in those places provides a clear indication of what might await the Bears in 2026.

An international game.

O’Brien has accumulated over 30 years of experience in the professional sports industry. Joining the Cavaliers in 2013 as Vice President of Corporate Partnership Development, O’Brien steadily advanced to lead commercial partnerships spanning the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers, AHL’s Cleveland Monsters, NBA G League’s Cleveland Charge and Rocket Arena. After five years, he went to work overseas at National Basketball League (NBL) in Australia as Chief Commercial Officer, then came back home serving as SVP, Development at Notre Dame Global Partnerships, benefitting the University of Notre Dame. Returning to Cleveland in 2020, O’Brien rejoined the operation as SVP, Global Partnerships, advancing to SVP, Chief Partnerships Officer in 2024.

O’Brien’s responsibilities increased and expanded into the broader Rock Entertainment Group, where he also played a significant role in global partnership strategies for wider sports and entertainment properties.

The Chicago Bears will likely be entering a new international market.

As of now, all of their jaunts overseas have been to the United Kingdom. Their most recent was a showdown with Jacksonville in London. Adding O’Brien suggests that won’t be the case this time. They will be going somewhere else. To date, the NFL has expanded into Ireland, Germany, Brazil, and, most recently, Spain. Remember that the NFL announced some time ago that every NFL team was granted marketing rights to certain international zones. For the Chicago Bears, it was two. One was the UK, and the other was Spain.

It isn’t hard to connect the dots after that. The NBA has significant inroads with the Spanish sports scene. It is one of the biggest basketball hotbeds in the world. That would mean O’Brien has experience dealing with various businesspeople in the country. If the Bears are going to play a game in Madrid next year, it makes perfect sense to hire somebody who can guide their marketing approach.

If you’re still clutching your chest after Cairo Santos drilled that 48-yarder to walk off the Vikings, congrats — you’re officially alive for Bears football in 2025. The Monsters of the Midway are 7-3, sitting on top of the NFC North like it’s 2018, and winning games like a team that’s got no business being this damn good. Here’s five stats from the Bears’ Week 11 win that’ll make go “WTF????”

1. Bears’ Turnover Margin is Straight-Up Criminal

+16 turnover margin. You read that right. This isn’t some stat padded against bad teams — it’s a bloodbath. In their seven wins, they’ve outscored opponents 21-2 in turnovers. That’s a turnover margin of +19 in victories alone. That’s not just good, it’s “someone call the league office because this ain’t fair” level.

Kevin Byard snagged his fifth pick of the year — NFL leader through Week 11 — and Nahshon Wright went full Superman in the end zone with an emotional, high-point INT that doubled as a tribute to his late coach. The secondary is flying, and the defense is hitting like it’s personal. Because it is.

Denis Allen’s defense isn’t just forcing mistakes — they’re manufacturing chaos.

2. One Division Win All of Last Year. One Already This Week.

This was Chicago’s first NFC North win of 2025, and it already matches their entire division output from last season. Want more pain? They had just three total division wins combined across the past two seasons. Now? They’ve got the same number of division wins in one November night as they had in all of 2024.

Also wild: The Bears are 5-1 in one-score games after going 3-7 last year. Mental toughness ain’t in the box score, but it’s written all over this team’s fourth quarter. Ben Johnson has them finishing games like closers. Not pretty, but clutch as hell.

3. Cairo Santos Broke Robbie Gould’s Record… and Then Almost Cost the Game

Cairo Santos now owns the Bears’ franchise record for 50+ yard field goals with 24. He did it in half the time Gould took. The man’s been money.

Except when he wasn’t. Santos missed a 45-yarder late in the 4th that would’ve iced it. Instead, the Vikings punched back and took the lead with 50 seconds left. But like a kicker with ice in his veins, Santos nailed the 48-yard dagger as time expired. Redemption arc? Damn straight.

He went 4-for-5 with makes from 54, 48, 38, and 33. The best kicker in Bears history? At this point, probably.

4. Bears Rushed 39 Times, Dominated Time of Possession, and Still Almost Choked

You rush 39 times, own the clock, and your quarterback is the No. 1 overall pick… you should win comfortably, right? Not in Chicago.

The Bears ran 39 times for 140 yards, with D’Andre Swift leading the charge at 90 yards on 21 carries. Kyle Monangai chipped in with the lone TD. They doubled up Minnesota on rush attempts and still ended up sweating the finish.

Third down? A mess. 7-of-18. Red zone? Nonexistent. They kept settling for field goals and let J.J. McCarthy — who played like a deer in headlights for three quarters — hang around until the 4th. That’s not sustainable.

But it is very Bears.

5. Devin Duvernay’s 56-Yard Return Saved the Damn Game

Down 17-16 with 50 seconds left, Chicago needed a miracle. Devin Duvernay gave them one.

He housed a 56-yard kickoff return to the Vikings’ 40 — Minnesota’s longest allowed since 2022 — and flipped the field so hard the Vikings’ special teams still don’t know what hit them. One D’Andre Swift run later, and Santos trotted out for the game-winner.

Duvernay earned a game ball, and maybe a key to the city. “I just saw green grass and my eyes lit up,” he said. So did every Bears fan with a pulse.

The Final Verdict

Caleb Williams had his worst game of the season — 16-of-32 for 193 yards — and the Bears still won. That’s what good teams do. They win when the plan goes sideways. They win when the star QB’s off. They win when it’s ugly.

This team finds heroes in different corners every week. First it was the defense. Then Santos. Then Duvernay. Ben Johnson has built a culture where “next man up” isn’t a cliche — it’s the playbook.

7-3. Top of the North. And they still haven’t played their best game.

Jaylon Johnson had been out most of the season with groin and core injuries. The Chicago Bears were forced to soldier on without their best defender, hoping he might be able to return before the end of the season. Their first sign of hope came when the team opened his 21-day practice window last Friday, indicating he was healthy enough to resume working with the team. From there, it became a question of how healthy he felt. If things came together nicely, he’d be activated. Initial speculation was he’d probably be back for the big showdown with Green Bay on December 7th. Sources told SM the original target date was against Philadelphia next Friday night.

Apparently, we weren’t thinking big enough.

Montel Fleming, CEO of FDS Midwest Region Inc., is an NFL rehab specialist. He has been the one responsible for helping Johnson work his way back into game shape. He posted an update on Instagram early this morning. It showed the cornerback going through drills with a single quote listed near the bottom.

“He’s ready.”

It suggests Johnson himself said it, which would mean he feels good enough to play this Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers and Aaron Rodgers.

Jaylon Johnson picked the perfect time to return.

Rodgers might not be the elite player he was five years ago, but the guy is still a future Hall of Famer. He can still put up numbers if you’re not careful. There is no doubt he aims to return to Soldier Field one last time to rub it in the faces of Bears fans. That job would become significantly tougher with a healthy Jaylon Johnson on the field. Pittsburgh’s only viable threat in the passing game is DK Metcalf. When teams have held him to 55 or fewer yards in a game, the Steelers are 3-4 this season.

Johnson was integral to shutting him down last year when the Bears played Seattle. Having him back would open so many doors for defensive coordinator Dennis Allen to attack Rodgers. If this signal is what it appears to be, the Bears’ defense just got significantly tougher going into an important matchup as their playoff push gets serious.

Caleb Williams is having a solid season. He has 13 touchdowns to just four interceptions and is on pace for one of the highest yardage totals in Chicago Bears history. However, critics have become annoyed by his seeming unwillingness to attack throwing windows more aggressively. His ball placement is often directed to spots where only his receivers have a shot, which has led to a lot of incompletions. Many have felt unnecessary just because Williams is trying to avoid turnovers. People feel he should try giving his wide receivers more opportunities to make plays. Head coach Ben Johnson was asked about this.

Undoubtedly, the assumption was he’d agree. Most coaches are aggressive by nature. One would think he’s all for getting the ball to the playmakers, even if the coverage is sometimes tight. Not Johnson. He is not a believer in jump ball situations. That leaves too much up to chance. His mentality has always been that it’s possible to get receivers more than open enough for the quarterback to have a good throwing window. There is no sense in forcing the ball just for the sake of doing so.

Ben Johnson hates rolling the dice.

He is a perfectionist by nature. The head coach believes that with enough preparation, film study, and brainstorming, it’s possible to have a solution for any situation. If players execute their jobs on a given play, somebody will be open. Every single time. It’s hard to argue that. Bears wide receivers have some of the highest separation per pass in the NFL this season. That is why he doesn’t like quarterbacks scrambling a ton or throwing 50/50 balls. Coaches have no control over those situations. There are way too many variables that most break in your favor. For a mathematical brain like Ben Johnson, that is anathema.

That is why he has consistently instructed Williams to keep the ball out of harm’s way. Put it in spots where only the receiver has a shot. He’d much rather take an incompletion over a turnover. At least one gives him another chance to find the right play. The other ends the drive and possibly alters the momentum of a game.