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Bears’ gut-check win sparks playoff talk | Toyota Talks
In this week’s Toyota Talks, Lou Canellis is joined by Danny Parkins of FS1’s First Things First. They look back at a gut-check win for the Bears and discuss how the team can survive a tough home stretch of the schedule and where it stacks up in the NFC. #sponsored
The Bears have now won six games by a total of 16 points. That’s an average victory of 2.67 points, less than a field goal.
That’s how this 2025 season is going to be, folks.
Strap yourself in.
With an 8-3 record, sitting atop the NFC North division, everything looks sky blue for the Bears. But if a few things had not gone their way, and they hadn’t done their come-from-behind stuff or protected razor-thin leads, they could easily be 3-8.
But they’re not, and in their new custom, they hung on for a 31-28 win over the Steelers Sunday at Soldier Field.
Would they have beaten the Steelers if future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers had played instead of mediocre backup Mason Rudolph? We’ll never know. But, again, that’s how this season is going to roll.
Injuries will be overwhelming for some teams. Maybe the Bears themselves would have easily crushed the Steelers if, by my count, seven Bears starters hadn’t been out with injuries by the end of the game? Who knows.
But with a 17-game schedule, it’s pretty much guaranteed that almost every player on every NFL team will get injured. Even if they don’t go on injured reserve, some will be playing with wounds so bad that they are shells of the players they were on Opening Day.
Takeaways as the Chicago Bears improve to 8-3 with a gut-check win over Pittsburgh
Here are our takeaways from the Bears' gut-check win over the Steelers, where Pittsburgh played a replacement-player game and the Bears did not.
Bears quarterback Caleb Williams has now started every game since he came into the league as the No. 1 pick in the 2024 draft. His next start against the Eagles on Friday in Philadelphia will be his 29th straight.
That is a fantastic stat. It has enabled him to learn, to see action under fire, to become the leader of the offense and, little by little, the leader of the entire team.
Pulling out these close games may seem like pure luck. But at some point, it declares a team ready to win, one that knows how to come back, that doesn’t panic, that has the intuitive skills needed for closing out games, and one that has confidence in, above all, its quarterback.
Caleb Williams did not have a great game against the Steelers, even though he threw for three touchdowns. His accuracy was off and he made at least two critical leadership mistakes: getting sacked with the ball held out like a lunch bag and fumbling in the end zone for a second-quarter Steelers touchdown, and getting called for delay of game in the fourth quarter, killing a Bears drive, while looking at the big, bright play clock in the end zone.
Still, Williams was there with his team, through it all, and this means a lot.
"It’s nice when you learn from wins," Williams said of his mistakes. This is true. Cohesion is so hard for an NFL team to achieve. Injuries to the starting quarterback, even when he’s going up and down in performance, can destroy all.
Do you think Mason Rudolph would be playing if all were right with the Steelers? How well have the 3-8 Bengals been playing without injured Joe Burrow? Losing your quarterback can be like having somebody steal the fluid from your car’s power steering.
Final Word: How the Chicago Bears' linebacker play vs. Pittsburgh embody the entire 2025 season
Whenever the Bears needed a player to step up, they found it. The continuous cycle of belief has helped a number of players find success in 2025. This is the rock on how the Ben Johnson era will begin building itself.
Check out some of the younger quarterbacks and their dependability.
Number two draft pick in 2024, Jayden Daniels of the Commanders, is out with a dislocated elbow and has missed five games this season with a variety of injuries. The number eight draft pick in 2024, Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr., is out for the season with a knee injury. Penix has started a total of 12 games in his career.
The No. 10 pick, the Vikings' J.J. McCarthy, missed all of last season with a knee injury, has started a total of six games this season and is currently in concussion protocol. Rookie Jaxson Dart, the Giants first round pick in 2025, has started only seven games in his career and is also in concussion protocol.
On the other side of the coin, we have quarterback Bo Nix, the Broncos No. 12 pick in 2024, who has started every game since being drafted. Denver is 19-9 in that time largely because of it.
Likewise, number three pick in 2024, quarterback Drake Maye of the Patriots, has not missed a game this year and the Pats are 10-2 and have won their last nine games behind him. For further reference, consider that Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, the three-time Super Bowl winner, has started 122 games since he became a full-time starter in 2018, missing just five games in that time.
So enjoy your own (currently) dependable, ultra-reliable quarterback, Bear fans. Watch Caleb Williams learn and grow. And pray the gods of disaster fly past.
Dig deeper:
Want more? Read some of Rick Telander’s recent columns for Fox 32:
- Why the Chicago Bears’ wild wins are exactly what Paul Tagliabue envisioned for the NFL | Telander
- Welcome back, college basketball. You're a completely different sport now than before | Telander
- Ben Johnson’s ‘clean it up’ promise gives Bears fans déjà vu: Telander
- The Bears keep winning, but Caleb Williams still raises questions: Telander
- Don't downplay how the Chicago Bears win, but enjoy they're winning | Telander
The Source: This article was written by Rick Telander, a contributing sports columnist for FOX 32 Chicago.