Bears Look Like a Playoff Team, but Tough Second-Half Schedule Looms
By Kyle Wood,
9 hours ago
The Chicago Bears should be pleased with their play through six weeks. Caleb Williams looks like the player they hoped he would be, and their defense has been one of the best in the NFL.
Williams’ greatness and the strength of the Bears’ defense were on display for an international audience Sunday morning at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. That was the site of Chicago's 35-16 dismantling of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Winners of three in a row for the first time in four years, the Bears are now 4–2. This is Chicago’s best start since 2020, the last time it made the playoffs. Williams and Co. are currently on track to end the postseason drought in the Windy City, though their schedule on the other side of a Week 7 bye could complicate matters.
A huge part of the preseason case for the Bears to make the playoffs was the ease of their schedule , which has played out so far. Chicago has already scored victories over some of its easiest opponents, like the Tennessee Titans (1–4) and Carolina Panthers (1–4). However, the Bears’ remaining strength of schedule is the toughest in the NFL, according to Tankathon .
Only two of Chicago’s 11 remaining games are against teams with losing records: The Arizona Cardinals (2–4) and New England Patriots (1–5). The Bears have also yet to play a division game, and the NFC North has been the best division in the NFL, led by the undefeated Minnesota Vikings (5–0). But just like the Vikings and Chicago’s Week 8 opponent, the Washington Commanders (4–2), have been better than expected, the Bears have also exceeded expectations.
After throwing four touchdown passes in Sunday’s win over the Jaguars in London, Caleb Williams has nine TD passes in his last four games.
Kirby Lee&solImagn Images
Williams threw for 226 yards and four touchdowns Sunday against the Jaguars and had just six incompletions on 29 attempts. He set new season-highs in completion percentage, quarterback rating and rushing yards and hit Cole Kmet and Keenan Allen for two touchdowns each. D’Andre Swift also recorded his third straight game with a rushing touchdown and the Bears set a new season-high with 151 rushing yards.
Defensively, Chicago added two more takeaways to bring its tally to 13 after intercepting Trevor Lawrence and recovering an Evan Engram fumble. The Bears scored touchdowns immediately after both second-half turnovers to put the game out of reach. Run defense was one of Chicago’s biggest weaknesses heading into the London game, but it held Jacksonville to just 68 yards on the ground.
The defenses the Bears have beat up on over the last few weeks are some of the worst in the NFL, but this is also their first time scoring 35-plus points in back-to-back games since 2013. The offense is humming with Williams looking more and more comfortable each week while the defense continues to perform at a high level.
Chicago certainly looks like a playoff team. The back half of the Bears' schedule offers plenty of opportunities to prove it.
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