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Bear Digest

Lessons for the Bears After LA's 'Aussie, Aussie, Aussie' Defeat

The start to the NFL season had startling results in two different games and served as a reminder to Ben Johnson and the Bears heading into their opener.
Gene Chamberlain|
49ers quarterback Brock Purdy gets a first down rushing against the Rams in Thursday's game at Melbourne.
49ers quarterback Brock Purdy gets a first down rushing against the Rams in Thursday's game at Melbourne. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

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Chicago Bears

If you're one of those who quit their subscription to Netflix because there isn't anything worth watching on it anymore, it turns out you were right.

Even the Rams weren't worth watching. The 27-7 defeat of the greatest team ever assembled by San Francisco in Australia on Thursday means something more than the fact Aaron Donald better be Bruce Banner as he comes out of retirement in Week 3 if L.A. is to live up to its reputation. And by the way, whatever happened to Myles Garrett?

Other than shrugging your shoulders and simply saying "Forget it Jake, it's the NFC West," there is a message to be derived. It means something in Chicago to Ben Johnson, Caleb Williams and the Bears, and in most cases any NFL team.

Actually, the first two midweek games snuck in by the NFL to start its season carry meaning for the Bears, the first being the opener on Wednesday night when Drake Maye showed he wasn't an Iceman.

Here are three things to know after the 49ers showed that maybe the real force on the defensive line who has returned is Nick Bosa and not Donald. Bosa is simply returning from injury and not a life of leisure.

1. The road is never friendly

OK, technically both teams were on the road but the 49ers had squatters' rights. They stayed in the land down under about a week while the Rams, being the super team for all time, felt it easier to just fly in on Tuesday and then fly out after they played the game, just like a normal road game.

The only problem was flying in on Tuesday from L.A. meant they arrived on Thursday morning in Australia. Hey, whatever happened to Wednesday? Talk about fouled up. The Rams' heads had to be spinning, so no wonder Matthew Stafford had problems finding receivers.

The Bears are going to see this when they go to Carolina, as if they needed a reminder. Not that they're going to have to cope with massive time changes but they will be going on the road and it's a cruel place in the NFL whether the stands are filled with Carolinians or kangaroos. It's why the oddsmakers spot the home team a field goal when setting the line.

In Carolina, the Bears are going to run straight into high heat and humidity to go with the unfriendly atmosphere. As Zack Pearson of Bear Report points out, their bench will be in the sun all game long. Sure, the summer heat and humidity was bad here as they practiced, but it's abated somewhat recently.

Remember, as good as Williams was in much of 2025, his passer rating in road games was only 84.1, and it was 97.6 at home.

2. Turnovers rule

The team that lost the turnover battle lost both of those first two games. Johnson can talk all he wants about the post mortem analytical stat EPA (expected points added) as the determiner in wins and losses, but in terms of actually playing a game in real time on a 120-yard football field, the turnovers determine the winner.

That dumb interception Maye threw in the end zone is a warning for Williams to be smart with the football, as if he needed this reinforced considering how last year ended.

3. Run the skin of the pig


The 49ers ran the ball for 174 yards and 5.8 per carry. No one usually needs to drill this in Johnson's head, but just in case he gets too enamored with all of those explosive receivers and Williams' arm, it's right there on paper. It's never easy to beat a team averaging 5.8 yards a carry and it's never easy for a defense to overcome giving up 5.8 per carry. The Bears should know that last part very well from last year.

4. It's wide open

New England isn't a world beater. The Patriots played the easiest schedule in the league, and one of the easiest of all time, then had an easy route to the Super Bowl. They've still got plenty of holes. But they went into Seattle and should have won the game, or at least had over time against the defending world champions.

The Rams already won the offseason Lombardi Trophy. Everyone called it a formality they would win the Super Bowl, yet they lose badly to start the regular season.

It's still the NFL and on any given Sunday, or Wednesday, or Thursday, or whatever day that was in Australia, anything can happen.

The one lesson Johnson tried drilling into the Bears' heads throughout training camp and the offseason is that last year is over. It's a new year. And in this new year, anything can happen.

The Bears could be a tremendous success this year and there is no prominent super team waiting to destroy everyone every week like the Rams or even the Seahawks.

The NFC is every bit an open book and the Bears could just as easily be the team to wind up in L.A. representing the NFC in the Super Bowl as the home team Rams or the Seahawks or 49ers — or the Packers, Lions and Vikings for that matter.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.