The Chicago Bears are much improved under first-year head coach Ben Johnson and now have an 8-3 record to show for it.
Chicago took a two-possession lead against Pittsburgh on Sunday, then held on for a 31-28 win over a Steelers team playing without injured starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers. And it maintains its position atop a tough NFC North ahead of the 7-3-1 Packers and 7-4 Lions.
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With Mason Rudolph at quarterback, the Steelers moved the ball against a Bears defense playing without all three starting linebackers — Tremaine Edmonds, Noah Sewell and T.J. Edwards. But Caleb Williams kept Chicago’s offense humming just enough for its eighth win in nine games.
Can Bears keep this up as schedule gets tough?
Now comes the hard part. The Bears have proven capable of beating up on lesser opponents. Their previous seven wins came against the Cowboys, Raiders, Commanders, Saints, Bengals, Giants and Vikings, teams that are not in the playoff picture. Sunday’s win came against a Steelers team with plenty of questions about its own playoff viability and playing without its starting quarterback.
Caleb Williams threw three touchdowns and no interceptions to lead the Bears to another win on Sunday.
(Kevin Sabitus via Getty Images)
The rest of the season will tell the story of the Bears’ season and just how much they’ve improved in 2025. Up next in Week 13 is a road game against the reigning champion Eagles on Black Friday. From there, they’ll face the rival Packers twice, the 49ers and close their season against the reigning NFC North champion Lions.
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Each of those teams has a winning record and is a contender for the postseason. The only remaining game against a non-playoff contender comes in Week 15 against the Cleveland Browns.
Bears continue to do the job that’s in front of them
You can’t fault Chicago here. A team can beat only the opponents on its schedule. And thus far, the Bears have largely done just that while Williams, in his second season, has demonstrated significant improvement under Johnson’s tutelage.
He got the job done again Sunday while throwing for 239 yards (19 of 35 passing) with three touchdowns and no interceptions. And in continuing perhaps his biggest second-year leap, Williams took just one sack on Sunday.
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Williams took a league-high 68 sacks for a league-worst 466 lost yards as a rookie. Through Sunday, Williams has now taken just 17 in 11 games.
His sack Sunday was costly. He lost a fumble on the play near the end zone that the Steelers recovered for a touchdown in the first quarter. But as he’s done throughout the season, he remained poised throughout the game to lead Chicago to victory.
Chicago entered Sunday with the league’s fourth-ranked offense (378.7 yards per game). It fell short of that mark with 325 yards thanks in part to a pair of turnovers against a ballhawking Pittsburgh defense.
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But the Bears ended four drives with touchdowns en route to 31 points and added two takeaways of their own to add to their league-high tally of 24. It’s the kind of play they’ll need to keep up as their schedule gets harder and they look to secure their first postseason berth since the 2020 season.
Can Chicago’s defense hold up against tougher opponents?
Sunday’s game raised concerns. After throwing a downfield interception on Pittsburgh’s first drive, Rudolph was largely limited to short looks and screen passes as the Steelers played conservative. It was effective against Chicago’s shorthanded defense as Pittsburgh repeatedly dinked and dunked its way down the field.
Pittsburgh piled up 186 rushing yards on 5.2 yards per carry and repeatedly moved the chains with a 20-18 edge in first downs gained. But Rudolph averaged just 5.5 yards per attempt while completing 24 of 31 passes for 171 yards. It was enough to keep the Steelers in the game until a late drive came up short of game-tying field-goal range.
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Even if Chicago gets healthier, its 27th-ranked defense (364.4 yards per game) will have its hands full down the stretch run of the season.
And things will come considerably tougher for Williams and Chicago’s offense starting against Philadelphia on Friday. How the Bears respond on both sides of the ball will be telling of just how viable they are as a contender in the NFC.
