Windy City Gridiron
We are fast approaching the midpoint of the NFL season. I don’t know about you, but the season is moving by a lot faster than the weeks that led up to it.
Many people leading up to the season viewed this as about the point where we can fairly evaluate where a Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams led Bears team stacks up. What’s the verdict? Better than last year, but still a ways to go.
In fact, depending on how you feel about the franchise generally, you could probably make an argument for the Bears being playoff contenders or the same bottom feeders they have been since 2018. 4-3 looks great! But the injuries, penalties, and turnover dependence do not.
On the horizon lie three very winnable games that the Bears must capitalize on if they have any chance of making the playoffs. In weeks 13-18, the Bears play five games against the Eagles, Packers, Lions, and Niners, who have a combined record of 21-6.
This week the Bears visit the 3-5 Bengals who are one of the more trivial teams in the league this season. Since starting 2-0, they lost Joe Burrow to injury and have gone 1-5 since. However, since acquiring Joe Flacco in an interstate-interdivision trade, they are 1-1 and are scoring an average of 35.5 points per game.
So it’s difficult to write them off entirely.
What matchup has my attention going into this week?
With Joe Flacco’s availability up in the air, it’s hard to predict how the Bengals’ offense will look on Sunday. The same could be said as we approach the 11/4 trade deadline with Trey Hendrickson.
But as of this moment, Hendrickson remains a Cincinnati Bengal and poses as the most significant threat to the Bears’ offensive success on Sunday.
Editor: Hendrickson was on Wednesday’s injury report as a DNP with a hip issue, and head coach Zac Taylor called him day-to-day earlier this week. Our sister site Cincy Jungle wrote that if Hendrickson can’t play, the Bengals’ “focus will be even more on first-rounders Shemar Stewart and Myles Murphy.” Whether it’s Hendrickson or not, and obviously ‘or not’ would be preferable for the Bears, Benedet will need to step up his game.
Through 7 games, Hendrickson has 4 sacks, 1 FF, and 3 TFL. Perhaps not the torrid pace he was on in 2024, but still the most imposing player on the Bengals’ defense. He has lined up 80%+ of his snaps at RDE so far this season, meaning he will get plenty of play against the Bears’ LT Theo Benedet.
Since taking over for Braxton Jones on the left side, Benedet has been uneven. Many have cited the Bears’ improvement in the running game since his installation, which has been massive in wins against the Saints and Commanders. However, Benedet has allowed a significant 10 pressures on Williams, resulting in a sack. He has also been called for 4 penalties despite only...
