Three Takeaways from Bears' win over Steelers

Mike Dinovo - USA Today Sports

Dustin Riese · Senior Writer · 5 hours ago

Well, would you look at that.

Another week of NFL action and another Bears win as Chicago continues to lead the NFC North with an 8-3 record. With that comes a mark Matt Eberflus never reached as a head coach: Ben Johnson's eight wins in his first season top the number of wins Eberflus had in any season with this team.

It's amazing what a competent head coach can do for an organization, as Johnson has gotten rid of the hope factor with the team hoping to win games, and instead has the team believing they can win games. Eventually, the Bears' luck is going to run out, and this upcoming stretch could be the time that it happens, as the Bears are about to embark on one of the more challenging stretches in the NFL this season.

They are going to find out how good a team they actually are, especially over the next two weeks, as the Bears are guaranteed to be in first place for at least one more week. Here are some takeaways from the game on Sunday.

One score wins

Ideally, you would love for this team to have what you would call a blowout game to take the stress out of things, but one-score games do matter. With another one-score victory over the Steelers on Sunday, Chicago now has six victories by one score or less this season, which leads the NFL.

Winning close games is crucial in the NFL, as the Bears have found different ways to win virtually every week, and that does a lot for any team. However, you also have concerns about whether the team is for real, as it has a similar vibe to the 2022 Minnesota Vikings, who went 12-5 that season with 11 of their 12 wins coming in one-score games.

That was an NFL record for one-score wins in a season, and all it got them was a first-round playoff exit. Making the playoffs would be a massive accomplishment for the Bears this season, but at some point, you would like this team to put together a dominating performance as they continue to walk the tightrope in the late game.

What is this team going to do at linebacker?

Just when it looks like help is on the way with Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon nearing a return, the injury bug continued to rip through the Bears defense as T.J. Edwards and Tremaine Edmunds hit the injured list ahead of the game Sunday. Throw in Noah Sewall, and all three of the Bears' starting linebackers were out of action on Sunday, which is never an easy situation for anyone.

While Edwards is considered week to week, much like Sewall, it's Edmunds who suffered the big blow, as he was placed on IR ahead of Sunday's game, taking him out of action for at least 4 weeks. That is a massive loss to a defense that has already suffered tons of losses, and at some point, you have to wonder if the injuries are going to be too much for this team to overcome.

Up to this point, the Bears have done a phenomenal job of dealing with their injuries, as the overall depth of this roster has shown up in a big way this season. However, with Edwards and Sewall on a week-to-week basis and the quarterback of their defense out for at least four weeks, Chicago is going to be tested at linebacker in the coming weeks.

It will be interesting to see how they handle that situation and whether they try to make do with the bodies they have or dive back into the free-agent market to add late-season help. Whether they decide, Ryan Poles is going to do what is best for this team, as he has continued to build up a competitive roster.

Things are about to get difficult

We have talked about this for a while, but as good as the Bears' 8-3 record is, you are going to find out a whole lot more about this team in the coming weeks. Not only do the Bears get the Philadelphia Eagles this Friday at home on a short week, but they follow that up with the Green Bay Packers the week after, and will face the Packers twice over their final six weeks.

They also have the Detroit Lions and San Francisco 49ers during that stretch, as five of the Bears' final six games are against playoff-caliber teams. The lone exception is a game against the Cleveland Browns, which the Bears should win, as their schedule will be one of the toughest the rest of the way.

Looking ahead, no one expects this team to win the table, but with eight wins already, Chicago has an opportunity to reach 10 this season. As long as they beat the Browns, whom they should beat, all the Bears have to do to achieve their goal of 10 wins would be to pull out one of their other five games, and given how this team has played, pulling off a win late in the game is doable against anyone.