Week 9 didn’t exactly deliver a fireworks show around the NFL, but it did produce a few notable updates for former Bears. Chicago’s own messy win over Tampa Bay ended up standing out as the week’s most entertaining game, and the rest of the league mostly spent the weekend grinding through backup quarterbacks and low-scoring slogs.
One of the more frustrating snapshots came from Justin Fields, who barely has a footprint on the season so far with the Kansas City Chiefs. He has played only six snaps, and four of them came in victory formation against the New York Jets in Week 9.
His other play in that game was a quarterback sneak in the first quarter, and he fumbled. If Patrick Mahomes had been slower to recover from the major knee injury he suffered late last season, Fields may have started some games for Kansas City early this year.
Instead, he has been waiting for a chance that has mostly never arrived. Bears fans can still hope he finds a way to stick around in the league, even if it’s as a journeyman backup.
And if Mahomes’ elbow injury from the Jets game keeps him out, the Georgia native may get another shot against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 10.
Keenan Allen also found himself on the move, with the deadline sending him from the Indianapolis Colts to the San Francisco 49ers. Allen led the Bears in receiving touchdowns with seven during his lone season in Chicago in 2024, then spent last season back with the Los Angeles Chargers before landing in Indianapolis for this year.
That fit always felt odd, and now he gets a fresh chance with a contender. The Colts, after firing general manager Chris Ballard, still didn’t fully lean into sell mode, but the 34-year-old was an obvious trade piece.
San Francisco needed help at receiver, and Allen now has a path to chase a ring. If the Bears don’t win the Super Bowl, there’s at least a case for Chicago fans to pull for Allen the rest of the way.
Declan Doyle’s situation in Baltimore took a turn too. After the Ravens lost Lamar Jackson and Tyler Huntley to significant injuries, they were left to start undrafted rookie Joe Fagnano in Week 9 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, with the former Bears offensive coordinator calling plays.
The easy connection was Tyson Bagent, but Baltimore went a different direction and traded for Jacoby Brissett from the Arizona Cardinals instead. The Ravens needed someone who could keep the offense afloat until Jackson can return, if he can return this season, and Brissett fits that job.
Still, the move says something about how the Bagent idea played out, especially if Chicago’s asking price stayed high.
Jacob Martin is making some noise in Tennessee, and not quietly. After the Bears acquired Jeffery Simmons from the Titans, Martin’s three-sack game in Week 8 matched the total he had in his lone season with Chicago.
Since then, the numbers have only gotten better. As Tennessee came out of its bye in Week 9, Martin sat top-10 in the league with 6.5 sacks and 14 quarterback hits, and he also has seven tackles for loss.
Pro Football Focus hasn’t loved his work, but the production is real, and with Simmons gone, Martin looks like a player taking full advantage of the opportunity in front of him.
Khalil Mack, meanwhile, did not get the trade-deadline escape route many expected. The 0-8 Chargers had been stubborn about moving players, though deadline pressure seemed to change that late.
NFL insider Jordan Schultz reported they had become more open to trading players as the clock wound down, but Mack remained in place. He said the right things about staying with a lost team, yet a contender would have made far more sense, and the Chargers have never looked close to being one on a serious level.
A reunion with the Bears made sense, but Jim Harbaugh and general manager Joe Hortiz appeared determined to keep the veteran pass rusher. Mack will probably land somewhere else in the offseason, but for now the Chargers are sitting on a trade asset they never cashed in.
Maybe Chicago gets another shot at him in March on a reasonable free-agent deal.
In Other News...
Ben Johnson Sees A Bears Problem Wins Cant Keep Hiding
The Bears head into their bye week at 7-2, but Ben Johnson is using the break to focus on issues that have been easy to overlook while the wins keep piling up. He pointed to penalties across all phases as one problem the team has to tighten up, along with an offense that has not been consistent enough on the ground to fully support Caleb Williams.
Johnson said the rushing attack has shown improvement in the second half compared with the first, but not at a level that lets Chicago feel settled. For a team trying to keep its momentum going into the stretch run, the bye offers a chance to clean up mistakes and build a more reliable foundation before the games get tougher. [Read more 🡒]
Bears Missed A Khalil Mack Reunion For One Frustrating Reason
The Bears spent the run-up to the trade deadline looking for ways to strengthen their pass rush, and Khalil Mack briefly surfaced as a name worth watching. A reunion with the former Chicago star would have made plenty of sense on paper, especially with the Bears still trying to add impact talent up front, but the window to make it happen never really opened.
According to Ian Rapoport, timing issues and earlier moves kept the deal from getting off the ground, with Chicago already having gone in another direction before the Chargers were prepared to consider moving Mack. Los Angeles also had its own reasons to hold firm, valuing Macks presence in the locker room and his role with younger players, even with free agency potentially looming. [Read more 🡒]
Bears Trade Deadline Left One Big Question For A Playoff Push
The Bears trade deadline move for Jeffery Simmons gave their defense a jolt and signaled that the front office is serious about pushing for the postseason. Simmons has already changed the feel of that unit, and the deal also reshaped Chicagos draft-pick picture as the team weighed present-day help against future flexibility. With the defensive line depth chart now altered, the Bears are leaning into a roster built to handle a stretch run.
What the deadline did not change, though, is the shape of the secondary, where Chicago is still counting on Jaylon Johnson, Tyrique Stevenson and Malik Muhammad to carry the load. The schedule ahead will keep testing that group, and the Bears left the deadline with one lingering question hanging over the playoff chase: whether the existing defensive backs are enough if the pass rush does not solve everything on its own. [Read more 🡒]