Ben Johnson walked into the bye week with a clear to-do list for the Bears’ offense.
Chicago’s Week 9 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers wasn’t clean, and that was part of the point. It gave Johnson and his staff a full week to sort through the problems that have shown up even as the Bears’ offense has remained one of the league’s better units. Entering Week 10, Chicago ranked seventh in scoring offense, but the details around it have been messy enough to demand attention.
The penalties are a big part of that mess. According to Football Database, the Bears’ 14 accepted holding penalties are tied for most in the league, while their six delay of game penalties are tied for third-most. Clean that up, and an already productive offense has a chance to look a lot sharper.
The biggest fix is the run game. D’Andre Swift has steadied things after the early fumbling issue, but the Bears have clearly missed Kyle Monangai, who sat out five straight games before the bye.
With Monangai available from Weeks 1-4, Chicago averaged 196 rushing yards per game and topped 230 yards twice. Over Weeks 5-9, that number dropped to 98.6 rushing yards per game, and the Bears finished under 100 yards three times.
That dip showed up in the way the backfield was handled, too. In those five games without Monangai, Roschon Johnson topped five carries only once, and he had none in Week 9.
That’s not the kind of split Ben Johnson wants, and it hasn’t been enough to keep Swift as effective as he can be. Monangai is expected back after the bye, and the timing lines up well: the Bears face the New Orleans Saints in Week 11, and New Orleans enters Week 10 with the league’s fourth-worst run defense.
The other issue is getting Luther Burden on the field more often. Burden has posted at least 95 yards or a touchdown in four straight games heading into the bye, but his snap count has still been uneven. In three of those four games, he played less than 60 percent of the offensive snaps.
A lot of that has come down to personnel. When the Bears lean into 12 and 13 personnel, Kalif Raymond often takes work away from Burden.
Raymond matters, but there’s a real question about whether Chicago is limiting its own offense by choosing who’s on the field. However the balance gets sorted out, Burden’s production makes one thing hard to ignore: what happens if he simply gets more snaps?
Then there’s the red zone, where the Bears have been good enough to get there often and not good enough to finish. Entering Week 10, Chicago was averaging the second-most red zone trips per game in the league at 4.2, according to Team Rankings, but it ranked just 20th in red zone touchdown rate.
The clearest example came in Week 4 against the New York Jets. The Bears controlled the game for nearly 43 minutes of possession and still went just 2-for-7 in the red zone in a 23-12 win.
One of those failures came on the final drive, which ended in kneel-downs, but all three of Cairo Santos’ field goals were from 30 yards out or less. A stronger opponent could have made Chicago pay for leaving points behind.
There has been some better work there, though. Before the Buccaneers game, the Bears were 11-for-13 in the red zone over the first three games after Caleb Williams returned from his hamstring injury. That’s a sign the unit can be more efficient, but the consistency still has to improve.
That matters even more with what’s coming next. From Week 12 through Week 18, the Bears face four division games, including both matchups with the Detroit Lions, plus games against the Jacksonville Jaguars and Buffalo Bills. If Chicago wants the offense to hold up through that stretch, Johnson’s fixes can’t wait.
In Other News...
Dennis Allen Faces Three Big Bears Decisions During The Bye
The bye week has arrived with Dennis Allen carrying a familiar kind of midseason homework: sorting out a defense that has shown enough promise to justify a closer look, but not enough consistency to leave alone. For the Bears, the pause offers a chance to rethink some of the personnel and pressure packages that have defined the first stretch of the season, especially on the back end and off the edge.
One of the biggest questions is whether Malik Muhammad has done enough to claim a full-time starting role at outside cornerback over Tyrique Stevenson, a move that would signal a meaningful shift in how Allen wants to line up his secondary. There is also a case for getting Daniel Hardy on the field more often as a pass rusher, while the larger philosophical debate may be whether Allen is ready to lean harder into blitzing after spending much of his time in the league preferring a more measured approach. [Read more 🡒]
Bears Bye Week Could Quietly Fix A Few Trouble Spots
The bye week comes at a good time for a Bears roster that has been dealing with a few nagging issues and a few moving parts. Garrett Bradbury gets a chance to reset physically, while the extra time also gives Chicago a window to get healthier and sort through some of the depth-chart churn that has been forced on the lineup.
Kyle Monangai is expected back from injured reserve, Ozzy Trapilo may be ready to rejoin the lineup, and Malik Muhammad could be on track to return from injury as well. Sam Roush, meanwhile, can use the break to settle in after seeing more playing time than expected, which makes this stretch feel less like dead time and more like a quiet chance to clean up a few trouble spots before the next run of games. [Read more 🡒]
Bears May Have Found A Trade Bonus They Barely Can Use
The Bears trade for Clark Phillips III looked like a savvy little add-on when they sent Gervon Dexter Sr. to Atlanta for a fifth-round pick and the young cornerback. Phillips has flashed enough in limited snaps to make the move feel worthwhile, especially with his ability to hold up in coverage and contribute in pass-rush situations. For a defense that always values depth in the secondary, he has at least given Chicago something to think about.
The catch is that the Bears may not have an easy path to using him much more than they already have. Jaylon Johnson has been trending in the right direction, and Malik Muhammad is back from injury, which tightens the rotation at corner just as Phillips was starting to make a case for more work. It leaves Chicago in a familiar spot with a useful player who may simply be stuck behind healthier, more established options. [Read more 🡒]