Windy City Gridiron
With six wins and three losses after nine games, the Chicago Bears are currently sitting in the sixth playoff seed in the NFC, while *tied for first place in the NFC North. What an incredible difference coaching has made for this franchise.
Sure, the defense has some issues, but it’s a professionally coached unit that is battling through several injuries. They are also sixth-best in third-down conversions against and number one in defensive takeaways, which are two critical components of any defense. That side of the ball may struggle the rest of the way, but if they can come up with a few key stops here and there, that might be enough for the offense to power this team to victory.
Caleb Williams and the offense have had some hiccups, but it’s also a top ten unit.
Think about that for a moment.
Considering where the offense was a season ago, to now being ranked eighth in yards per play, third in total yards per game, second in rushing yards per game, and 11th in passing yards per game, this has been one of the biggest offensive turnarounds in franchise history.
The most significant improvement has been in explosive play rate, where Chicago has 10 more than the number two team on the list.
The above chart only accounts for rushing and passing, whereas Jeff Berckes’ STEP Differential factors in all the big plays a team makes or allows, and the Bears are currently third in the NFL at +32.
Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams have this offense reaching heights not seen in decades, and Caleb’s message to Ben is, “We gotta get better.”
That’s why my confidence in this franchise hasn’t wavered since the day Johnson was hired.
But what about you?
Vote in this week’s confidence survey and also for the player (of those listed) that you think will be most important for the Bears to get a win this Sunday in Minnesota.
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*I know, the Lions have the tiebreaker due to head-to-head, but that was still fun to type.
