Commentary: Don't hate on the Bears' 7-3 record |
Anthony Pasquale
· · 48 minutes ago
After another late-second win, the Chicago Bears are 7-3. Caleb Williams tallied his fifth 4th quarter comeback win of the season, this time a road, divisional win over the Minnesota Vikings. For Ben Johnson and the Bears, they have proven their growth — not allowing week one’s outcome to influence their future, refusing to let history repeat itself.
Sunday’s win looked very familiar to week one’s contest, besides the outcome. The Bears got out to a nice lead but struggled to put the Vikings away fully. As a result, the Vikings built some late momentum and used it to surge ahead against a weak Bears pass defense. This time around, Chicago used a big kick return and some hard running from D’Andre Swift to get into field goal range for Cairo Santos. The Bears' kicker nailed a 48-yard field goal for the win as time expired, redeeming himself from a missed 45-yarder earlier in the quarter that gave Minnesota life. After a Detroit Lions loss on Sunday Night Football, the Bears now own sole possession of first place in a competitive NFC North. This, of course, has led to discussion of the Bears as a “weak” division leader. Some talking heads have leaned into the Bears being contender,s while others believe the Bears to be frauds. Beyond that, Cam Newton is one of the many who have discredited the Bears’ success because they have played a relatively weak schedule. Here’s the rebuttal. The Bears opened the season with the 3rd toughest schedule, based on last season’s records. None of the Bears’ wins this season have come over teams over .500, but their win over the Washington Commanders did come while the Commanders were 3-2 — they just haven’t won since. The Bears played Baltimore and Cincinnati without their star quarterbacks. Their other wins came over the Raiders, Cowboys, Saints, and Giants. Take the Giants, for example. Many downplayed the Bears' win, saying they would have lost had Jaxson Dart not gotten hurt. But the Dartless Giants gave Green Bay all it could handle on Sunday, and far fewer in the media are doubting the validity of the Packers’ 6-3-1 record. Sure, the Bears might be winning ugly — but are there really any teams winning perfectly? The Eagles currently have the No. 1 seed in the NFC, and their last two wins have come in primetime: 10-7 and 16-9. Plus, that Eagles team lost to the Giants by 17 points. What about the Rams? The NFC West leaders picked off Sam Darnold four times on Sunday and still needed a missed kick from Jason Myers as time expired to secure a 21-19 win. Denver and New England own the league’s best record at 9-2. The Broncos, like the Bears, have needed to stage fourth-quarter comebacks against weaker opponents. Among those include a comeback over the New York Giants, plus narrow victories over the Raiders and Jets, two last-place teams in the AFC. As for New England, wins over Buffalo and Tampa Bay highlight a schedule that does not feature any other teams currently holding playoff spots. The Patriots carry a Week 1 loss to a Raiders team the Bears beat as well. However, those notions about Denver and New England, respectively, have not hampered the hype surrounding their seasons. Only Chicago. Why are the talking heads so quick to dismiss the Bears’ success? Why cant Bears fans be happy of their team’s success midway through the season. As Bears fans know, it’s difficult to win in the NFL. The Bears understand their caliber of play needs to be heightened, but at the same time they’re not going to apologize for winning games. After all, they can only play who is on their schedule. For Chicago, they’ve secured victories in seven of their last eight. You don’t have to love the Bears, but it’s certainly time to respect them.
