Windy City Gridiron
The Chicago Bears earned another victory on Sunday, bringing their win total to eight for the first time since 2020. This time, it was a 31-28 victory at home against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
It was more of the same for the Steelers, a team that has only walked away with a victory in Chicago once (1995). And it was also more of the same for the 2025 Chicago Bears, who again found a way to win a close game that came down to the final moments.
This one required a solid outing from nearly everyone. Sure, the Steelers were without starting QB Aaron Rodgers, but the Bears were also without the majority of their starting defense. So I’m not apologizing for this win.
Would the game have turned out differently with Rodgers in there? Perhaps. Would the game also have turned out differently if Rodgers was in there but throwing against Jaylon Johnson, Kyler Gordon, Tremaine Edmunds, T.J. Edwards, etc.? I’d argue yes (in the Bears’ favor).
Missing all three starting linebackers and taking on a team that likes to run 12 and 13 personnel, many fans were sounding the alarm bells heading into the game. I’m not going to lie to you, I was pretty worried as well. But in the end, the defense was able to band together and get stops (and turnovers) when they needed them the most. And the offense put points on the board.
Let’s get to the game balls.
Sweat continued his great streak of games that started after the bye week and came up with some huge moments against the Steelers. Perhaps none bigger than his strip sack and fumble recovery in the third quarter:
At the time of the fumble, Pittsburgh was driving in Bears’ territory and only down by three points. It was a clear momentum shift in the game, followed up by a Bears touchdown that extended the lead to double digits (31-21).
Sweat had three tackles (all solo), two sacks, three tackles for loss, the aforementioned forced fumble (and recovery), and two QB hits. The Bears needed a big game from the D-Line given the injuries to the other levels of the defense, and Sweat came through in a big way.
I’m going to skip the special teams game ball this week in lieu of giving out a second to the defense. This one goes to D’Marco Jackson, who did an admirable job filling in this week at MLB. Not only that, but he had to call the defensive plays. It was only the second time in his career he’s done so.
Jackson ended the day with a monstrous 15 tackles (five solo) and one tackle for loss. Jackson told ESPN that he woke up early all week and stood in front his mirror practicing the play calls so that he could memorize them ahead of Sunday’s game.
Jackson’s familiarity with Dennis Allen, having spent...
