Chicago Bears Week 12 Notes: It Takes a Village

Despite several starters out due to injury on defense in this one, the Chicago Bears gutted out a hard-fought win against the AFC North-leading Pittsburgh Steelers.

Let’s get right to my notes.

Offense:

• Caleb Williams was just a bit off on his throws. Again. This seems to be a theme of the season, and while he bounced back and had himself a nice day, it’s hard not to imagine how lethal this offense can be once his accuracy is dialed in from the opening whistle.
• The run game did the Bears no favors in this one. Yes, Kyle Monangai had himself a few nice runs, but 63 total yards by the running backs is not going to cut it most weeks. Credit to the stout Steelers DL for slowing the Bears’ run game down.
• Darnell Wright seemed out of his element with T.J. Watt in this one. From a holding penalty early to the sack fumble TD a bit later, Wright had his hands full and hopefully learned a thing or two this week against one of the all-time greats. Speaking of all-time greats, he figures to see a fair amount of Myles Garrett in two weeks, who has a chance to break the all-time single-season sack record in that one.
• Ozzy Trapilo got the start and looked the part this week. The next three weeks feature some more elite talent at Edge, but you have to be encouraged by what you saw from the rookie in this one.
• I liked what I saw from Luther Burden II today. Both as a blocker and as a pass-catcher, and even as a runner. His explosiveness is field-altering, and we should continue to see him grow as the season rolls on.
• Speaking of rookies, Colston Loveland with another great game. Clutch catches, vice-grip hands, and routing up a safety in the red zone for a TD is exactly what you would expect to see from a first-round pick at TE. His chemistry with Caleb is improving each week, and it is clear Caleb trusts him when the game is on the line.
• Perhaps my favorite play of the game was when Caleb got emphatically pushed out of bounds by Jalen Ramsey, and C.J. Gardner-Johnson got in Ramsey’s face on the sideline. Was it illegal? No, technically Caleb was still in bounds. But did he need to push the QB like that? Also, no, he was well on his way out of bounds. However, that is exactly what you would expect from the player, and I was stoked to see C.J. stick up for his QB. I thought that play gave the offense a little life.
• I really liked a few screens in this one. Caleb is getting it out extremely quick and giving his weapons time to make something happen and the team is blocking their tails off. I thought Luther was going to score on his.
• After a first half of...