When Chicago Bears fans looked at the 2025 schedule, most circled this game as a probable loss. It made sense. The Baltimore Ravens have made the playoffs in six of the last seven years and won 12 games last season. They have one of the best quarterbacks in football and a usually tough defense. Playing them on the road wasn’t something to look forward to. However, crazy things have happened. A brutal collapse on opening night against Buffalo, coupled with several injury setbacks, has resulted in Baltimore stumbling to a 1-5 record.

It is their worst start to a season in franchise history.

Still, the Ravens remain the betting favorite for Sunday, which is no surprise. They have credibility on their side and are also getting healthy. Even so, Dan Wiederer of The Athletic got some interesting responses from people around the league. There is a sense that things aren’t great inside Baltimore’s building. The usual sense of confidence is gone. Team leaders have cracked down by removing fun activities in the locker room, hoping to get guys more focused on the games. It hasn’t worked.

Within league circles, there’s concern the Ravens never really recovered from that gut punch in Buffalo, that their 2025 season is hanging by a thread, that the search for solutions, particularly during the team’s Week 7 bye, hasn’t produced clear answers.

On paper, the Ravens still are obvious favorites (minus-6.5) for Sunday’s game. They’re at home. They’re hungry. They’re getting healthy again, even with Jackson seemingly still not 100 percent. Few around the league would be surprised if the Ravens, in this “now or never” moment, respond and record a convincing victory that revives their confidence and reroutes their season.

At the same time, unfamiliar anxiety continues percolating through team headquarters in Owings Mills, Md. The vibes aren’t great.

The Baltimore Ravens are in pure desperation mode.

They have zero room for error anymore. Only four teams in NFL history have started 1-5 and rebounded to make the playoffs. Just one did it from 1-6, and they (the 1970 Bengals) benefited from a weak division. The Baltimore Ravens are unlikely to get nearly as much help from the AFC North. They need this game in the worst way. Chicago is red-hot and eager to prove they can slug with the best teams in the league. Going into Baltimore and all but knocking the Ravens down for the count would be quite a statement.

Much of this hinges on Jackson’s health. He has battled a hamstring injury for weeks. The two-time MVP finally returned to practice on Wednesday, but it’s been strictly on a limited basis. Most believe he will likely play, even if he isn’t 100%. The Ravens are that desperate. Will the tension boil over if things don’t go well early? It sure sounds like the Bears can find out if they come out strong.

The Chicago Bears defense has been outstanding the past few weeks. They stymied the red-hot Dallas Cowboys and then forced 11 turnovers over the following three games. Much of that comes from the superb play of their secondary. Kevin Byard already has four interceptions this season. Jaquan Brisker had a sack and an interception last week. Kyler Gordon also had a sack. Yet, probably the unsung hero has been Tyrique Stevenson, quietly becoming their #1 cornerback in the absence of Jaylon Johnson.

As has become the case this season, though, the injury bug continues to haunt this team. Thursday’s injury report was not encouraging. Stevenson missed his second practice in a row with a shoulder problem. If he is unable to go on Sunday in Baltimore, the Bears will be down two of their top three corners against a possibly returning Lamar Jackson. You’re looking at Nahshon Wright and either Nick McCloud or Josh Blackwell as your starters alongside Gordon. Not an ideal scenario when your pass rush has been hot and cold all year.

The Chicago Bears can’t expect to lean on the defense this time.

As great as Dennis Allen is as their new offensive coordinator, even he has limits. When you start losing so many key players, it’s going to show on the field. Caleb Williams can’t afford another down game like last week. He and the running game must control the action and put up points. Baltimore may be 1-5, but they’re still a talented team, will be at home, and are desperate. They will come at the Chicago Bears with everything they have, knowing a loss all but torpedoes their season.

The best the defense can do is try to minimize the damage. Don’t let it get to shootout territory. This team isn’t built or that yet. If they can keep it to around 24 points, we’ve seen the Bears able to pull off victories. The tougher question is how long Stevenson will be out. Is this a one-week thing, or could we see him gone for multiple games? If it’s the latter, Chicago might be compelled to go hunting for help on the trade market.

Theo Benedet disappeared from the radar after he suffered his injury last year, ending his season. Most figured he’d just become a fun memory from the Chicago Bears‘ Hard Knocks episodes. That was especially true when the coaching staff that helped recruit him as an undrafted free agent was fired. However, things have a funny way of working out. While the left tackle competition was stuck in the mud during training camp, head coach Ben Johnson took notice of the work Benedet put in. There were clear signs of progress. It was enough to help him win the swing tackle job as the primary backup to Braxton Jones and Darnell Wright.

Just a few weeks later, Jones was benched during a rough showing in the first half against Las Vegas. Benedet was inserted as the Bears’ new starting left tackle. It was an ascent nobody saw coming. Since then, he has kept a firm grip on the job through three straight wins. One person who’s kept a close watch on his progress is former offensive lineman Brian Baldinger. He’s surprised at how much progress Benedet has already made, especially in the running game. The Bears may have discovered one.

The numbers back Theo Benedet up too.

ESPN released its latest update on player win rates this season. Theo Benedet currently ranks 5th in the NFL among offensive tackles in run-block win rate. In 90 snaps, he has 73 “wins.” He is sandwiched between Bernhard Raimann and Taylor Moton, two established veterans and former high draft choices. That is incredible work considering where things began for him a few months ago. It once again shows that good football players come from any and all backgrounds. The Bears deserve credit for giving him a shot.

Moving forward, his obvious goal is to improve his pass protection. Last Sunday’s game against New Orleans showed that he has a lot of work to do. Veteran rushers like Cam Jordan and Chase Young managed to expose some of his weaknesses. He still has fundamental issues to fix. That should come with time and experience. If Baldinger is right, don’t expect this to suddenly go away. Benedet is a player.

The Chicago Bears hired Ben Johnson for several reasons, but everybody knows the most important one. He knows how to craft a successful NFL offense. He’d proven it over three years in Detroit, morphing the Lions into a juggernaut. His superpower at that time was play calling. The young coach seemed to have uncanny instincts for knowing what to call and when to call it. Defenses never knew what was coming, and even if they did, it didn’t matter. Johnson was always a step ahead. Yet what fans never got was actual footage of him at this craft.

That finally changed last Sunday. Johnson was mic’d up by the team ahead of their matchup with the New Orleans Saints. He showed all the hallmarks of a leader before the game, meeting with players to give them encouragement and last-minute tips. However, once the action started, it was all business. You couldn’t tell if Johnson was calling plays or giving a quarterly earnings report in a corporate boardroom. No emotion. That isn’t what you’d expect from somebody who is often called a maniacal competitor, but it fits with the stories we’ve heard about him.

Ben Johnson is in total control of his emotions.

That isn’t the case with many head coaches who call plays. They get animated and celebrate when things go well. It is part of the game. Ben Johnson seems determined to give nothing away until the game is over. Remember, he spoke to players about body language on the sideline. How you hold yourself can be seen as weakness if you’re not careful. It seems as if Johnson takes his own advice, never letting anybody know what he’s really feeling. A team that sees its head coach always in control tends to play with more confidence. That is the philosophy. It’s hard to argue with it. The Bears have won four in a row.

Outside of that, Johnson’s command of the call sheet seems as advertised. He knows which plays to call in which situations, understands the clock, and keeps Caleb Williams motivated with occasional comments. The guy is clearly good at what he does.

I always like the Chicago Bears. And even against a desperate Fighting McNulties this week, there are things to like about this matchup. Here are three.

[NOTE: As the time of publishing this on Thursday morning, there is still a belief that Lamar Jackson may not play Sunday. The betting line opened at Baltimore -6.5. It has not moved. So I’m operating as if Lamar WILL play.]

(1) Baltimore is allowing 4.5 yards per carry and 134.3 yards per game through six weeks. The Bears have become bully rush team since the bye week. With Lamar returning, and seemingly healthy, Ben Johnson will need to protect his injury-riddled secondary. The best way to do so is to keep Jackson off the field, moving the chains on the ground.

(2) Sometimes you scavenge the stat pages and look for eye poppers. And you won’t find a more eye-popping disparity than turnover differential this week. Both teams have played six games. The Bears are +11. The Ravens are -7. (For context, the only wider gap than 18 possible this week would have been the Bears v. Jets at 20.) There are two logics when it comes to turnovers. One, that turnovers are as much chance as skill, and will revert back to a mean. But two, sometimes teams just have nightmare seasons in the turnover department, and the reversion doesn’t begin until the following September. Unless you believe this Sunday will be a trend breaker for both teams, this is a massive advantage for the Bears.

(3) Belief in Ben Johnson, re: Caleb Williams. Johnson has somewhat miraculously fixed the running game since the bye, but the quarterback is still a work-in-progress. If you believe in this coach (I do) and you believe in this quarterback (I also do), you must believe the message will get through at some point. Caleb left a lot of yardage on the field against the New Orleans. He left first downs on the field. He left points on the field. The coach will be in his head about that decision making all week. The Bears are winning, so the noise around Caleb’s performance last Sunday has not been deafening. If they start losing because of his decision making, the volume will increase.

Prediction: UPSET ALERT! Chicago Bears 27, Baltimore Ravens 23

Chicago Bears fans have kept an eye on the trade market for the past few weeks. They know GM Ryan Poles has a history of making noteworthy moves this time of year. If he senses an opportunity, he’ll take it. There is no question that there could be a number of teams ready to sell off some of their key players by the November 4th deadline. It depends on who the key names are and whether any of them fit what the Bears need. By the look of things, this could be a great market for pass rushers.

That fits Chicago perfectly, given their struggles with their front four to sack the quarterback. Jeremy Fowler of ESPN believes there is a name out there who fits what the Bears would want.

Jermaine Johnson, Edge, New York Jets

The buzz: The Jets are not desperate to trade Johnson; good edge rushers are hard to find, and his $13.4 million salary for 2026 (a fifth-year option) is reasonable. But my sense after asking around is that New York would be more willing to part with Johnson than Will McDonald IV if it made any move at the position. Macdonald is in the third year of his rookie deal, whereas Johnson is in his fourth. And Johnson has garnered a bit of interest thus far.

Predicted chance of getting traded: 35%
Team fits: Philadelphia Eagles, Chicago Bears

Johnson looked like a budding star in 2023, collecting 7.5 sacks and 16 QB hits while making his first Pro Bowl. Unfortunately, injuries ended his 2024 season after just two games. He finally returned four weeks ago. After a slow start in the first two games, he seems to have found some juice with a sack and two QB hits in the last two.

The Chicago Bears would control Johnson through 2026.

New York exercised its 5th-year option, which will cost around $13 million next year. Finding the money for that shouldn’t be too difficult for the Chicago Bears. Everything depends on whether they believe a trade is worth it. Johnson could absolutely impact games when he was healthy, but he hasn’t been that for over a year. It is uncertain whether he’ll rediscover his old form. If the Bears can get that version of him, he’d be an immediate boost to their pass rush, easing the burden on Montez Sweat and Dayo Odeyingbo.

It all depends on what the Jets want for him. The likely asking price will be a day two pick. Chicago should not go above a 4th, considering the contract and injury concerns. New York needs to rebuild. Stockpiling picks feels like their only course from here. Moving Johnson would enable them to free up money to pay Will McDonald. Chicago would no longer have to depend on Austin Booker finally giving the rush some help.