Thanks in large part to the struggles of the Minnesota Vikings offense, the Chicago Bears have moved into first place in the highly competitive NFC North.
The lead is a tenuous one for the Monsters of the Midway, as they head into their bye week with a 7-2 record. That puts them one-half game ahead of both the Detroit Lions and the Vikings and a full game ahead of the Green Bay Packers. The Bears, Lions and Packers are all surging right now, while the Vikings have lost their last two games because their offense has failed.
The Vikings took a major step up at the trade deadline by reacquiring Kirk Cousins to play quarterback and rescue their moribund offense. That move means the Vikings will have a fighting chance the rest of the season. It also means the Bears will be in a fight for their lives through the rest of the regular season with the hope that they will be in a position to win key games and go deep in the playoffs once the postseason gets underway.
The Bears have demonstrated the ability to play an explosive offensive game when Caleb Williams is hot and in full control. The addition of Jeffery Simmons to the defensive line makes the defense far more dangerous than it had been. The Bears showed exactly what kind of team they could be when they defeated the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks 34-17 on the road in Week 8.
The Bears looked like a Super Bowl team in that game, but they were not quite as sharp in Week 9 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Chicago survived a Tampa Bay comeback and won the game 27-24, but Williams threw four interceptions. He has to make corrections to avoid those mistakes going forward.
Head coach Ben Johnson has to diagnose the Williams errors
Williams has shown off his talent in both of the last two seasons under head coach Ben Johnson's leadership. He can make every throw that is required, and his ability to escape pressure may be better than any quarterback in the NFL. Perhaps Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills can make an argument that he is No. 1 in that area, but Williams can get away from the pass rush.
When Williams is at his best, he is a championship level quarterback. The numbers are good but not great through the six games he has played this season. He missed three games with a hamstring injury, but there appears to be no lingering impact.
Williams has completed 134 of 195 passes for 1,546 yards with 8 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. He has also run for 145 yards and 2 TDs with a 4.7 yards per carry average.
Johnson knows he has a quarterback who has elite skills in all areas, but that's not good enough. Williams needs to learn how to read the game and discern what the defense is going to do next. He could not do that against the Bucs and that's why they came up with four interceptions and a fumble recovery that led to Tampa Bay's tying touchdown late in the fourth quarter.
Williams may be overconfident
This will not be easy for Johnson to correct because Williams is so confident in his own ability. Instead of being shaken by his four picks, Williams said he has not about to tone down his approach.
“I’m going to throw until I can’t throw anymore,” Williams said after the win over the Bucs, per Mike Jones of The Athletic. “That’s how I live. I work my tail off to be in this position. I’ll never not throw the ball. I could throw 100 picks in one game, and if it comes down to it, I’m gonna throw that pass that I threw to Colston (Loveland). (Even) if it’s a tighter window, I’m going to rip it in there. That’s how I grew up; that’s what I am. I don’t get gun-shy. That’s not me. That’s not my identity, not who I am. I’m going to keep ripping it.”
Johnson is capable of breaking down Williams during the bye week. He needs to get the quarterback to understand that he can't always “rip it” when he wants to. He has to understand that it's not good for the Bears to play with the kind of attitude he expressed after the game.
Defense has the juice with Simmons to step up
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The Bears defense stood up brilliantly against Seattle in Week 8 and may have come through with an even better effort against the Bucs.
The four Williams interceptions and the late-game fumble by Luther Burden put the Bears in a position to crumble, but they did not. The Bears stopped Tampa Bay on 10 of 12 third-down opportunities, and they sacked QB Baker Mayfield four times. Simmons had one of those sacks, as he did in the victory over the Seahawks.
In most cases, great defensive teams have a superstar defensive player who can dominate on an every-game basis. Simmons is that player, and the Bears must make sure that the former Tennessee Titan is always in a position to show off his skill set on an every-week basis.