Caleb Williams has always been his own harshest critic.
The Chicago Bears quarterback was very matter-of-fact after beating the Saints 26-14. What happened wasn’t good enough.
“The QB takes off and gets positive yards, I think I’ve done a good job with that so far this year,” Williams said. “Today, I did not.”
For the Bears, Sunday was good enough. An ugly win over a 1-5 team isn’t something that proclaims the Bears are back. But, it’s a necessary development. Last year’s Bears couldn’t beat a similar Patriots team.
This week, the Bears took care of business. There’s something to be said for that in general. What matters most is how the Bears took care of business,
The Bears won with their defense and running game on Sunday. The reason they want to win, quarterback Caleb Williams and the passing attack, just isn’t there yet. In fact, it regressed a bit vs. the Saints. The good news is the Bears didn’t need to rely on the passing game in the last two weeks.
As it stands, the Bears’ identity has been to run the ball and to take the ball away. That identity will be what the Bears carry across the next stretch of pivotal games that will decide whether they’ll be in the hunt for the playoffs.
“We haven’t hit our stride yet offensively,” Bears head coach Ben Johnson said. “We’re capable of a lot more. We have very talented individuals. I feel strongly in our coaching staff. But we’re just not complementing our defense on a regular basis with the number of turnovers we’ve had over the last four games. We should be able to turn those into more points.”
What we know:
On Sunday, the Bears got plenty of those. They turned the Saints over four times. They lead the NFL with 16 turnovers.
The Bears have gotten elite at forcing turnovers. The Bears next four opponents – Baltimore, Cincinnati, New York Giants and Minnesota – all have negative turnover differentials. That means they lose the ball more than they take it away.
The Bears’ offense has taken care of the ball. It’s just been a point of emphasis for the Bears to take the ball from opposing offenses.
“We pride ourselves on taking the ball away” Bears pass rusher Montez Sweat said. “We’ve been doing a good job at doing that.”
Once they have the ball, the Bears can turn to their running game.
D’Andre Swift has emerged as a lead back with back-to-back 100-yard rushing performances, specifically 124 rushing yards, a score and a 6.5 yards per carry average. Rookie Kyle Monongai had a breakout game with 81 yards and his first rushing touchdown.
That tandem showed its potential against the Saints. This is especially true for Monongai, who has earned more trust from the offensive coaching staff.
“He’s a Jersey cat, so he got some piss and vinegar in there,” Bears right guard Jonah Jackson said of Monongai. “It was awesome to see him and ‘Dre in tandem. It was beautiful.”
Swift has also earned some props from the coaching staff.
He hasn’t been 100 percent after popping up on the injury report with a groin injury. Swift still led the offensive charge when the Bears needed an offensive leader the most on Sunday. Swift leads the running back room that Johnson carries so much pride.
“Swift has done a great job here these last two weeks,” Johnson said. “We’re at the point of the season now where no one feels 100 percent anymore, and that’s what it’s going to be the rest of the way. None of those guys feel great. Their bodies don’t feel good. Yet you still show up and you find a way to be there for your teammate next to you, and Swift certainly exemplifies that.”
What’s next:
Swift is also a realist. He understands the offense needs to be better than what it’s been through six weeks. The potential of the Bears’ offense is something the entire unit wants to keep working to see.
“I can’t wait to see what that looks like,” Swift said. “Especially when our defense is playing how they have been. We have been shooting ourselves in the foot, making games closer than they need to be.”
Swift wasn’t the only one to say the Bears were shooting themselves in the foot. Jackson noted that too. The Bears had 10 penalties for 92 yards. Of those 10 penalties, six were on the offense and five of those six were pre-snap flags.
“We just got to stop shooting ourselves in the foot,” Jackson said. “Dumb ass penalties. We say it each week, but it’s got to get cleaned up and we’ll get cleaned up. We have the guys that’ll do it. The sky’s the limit once we do all that.”
The Bears have to get that corrected. The good news is the running game and defense have bought them time to get it right.
The next four games are winnable. The Ravens, Bengals and Vikings are nursing injuries, although NFL MVP Lamar Jackson might be back next week. The Bears almost beat the Vikings early in the season; the benefit of experience will serve them well in Round 2.
Winning those games, even a 2-2 record in that four-game stretch, puts the Bears in the hunt.
If the passing game can calibrate during that time, the Bears will have a chance to make some noise in the NFC North, too.
That’s why the Bears don’t sweat ugly wins. They know they ultimately take a step further in more ways than one.
“A win’s a win, you know,” Jackson said. “You’re one step closer to the dance.”