Bear Digest

Prevailing message for Caleb Williams and Bears from Week 6 NFL games

Analysis: There should be one main thought in the Bears' minds no matter what happens in the Hail Mary rematch, but it seems it's one they should already know.
Gene Chamberlain|
Caleb Williams attempts to scramble away last year in the Hail Mary game with Washington.
Caleb Williams attempts to scramble away last year in the Hail Mary game with Washington. | Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

There were many messages sent about the Bears from Sunday's NFL games but one above all else.

The main message had nothing to do with the fact two other teams who had byes last week besides the Bears won on Sunday, as both the Steelers and Packers won and Atlanta plays on Monday night prior to the Bears-Commanders kickoff.

The message wasn't necessarily how they made the right choice bringing in an offensive-minded head coach in Ben Johnson rather than a defensive guy, although this was true and never more apparent than Sunday.

If you saw Aaron Glenn faking a punt to keep the ball near midfield only to let time expire at midfield just before halftime in a tight game, you'd swear Matt Eberflus had gone to be the Jets head coach. However, all the Cowboys fans screaming for Eberflus’ head now after giving up 30 points in a loss to Carolina made it quite clear where the former Bears coach really is ... for now.

It did become more apparent, also, how the next four Bears games after Monday night's showdown with the Commanders in the Hail Mary revenge game shape up as the crucial ones to get them into position to make a playoff run.

That's because in the next four weeks ...

  • The Saints look only a tiny better than the hapless team they were earlier this year.
  • The Ravens are 1-5. Repeat, the Ravens are 1-5.
  • The Bengals are so desperate they gave up draft picks for a 40-year-old quarterback who was not going to start anymore for QB-starved Cleveland.
  • Then they have the Giants and it's at Soldier Field. By then rookies Jaxson Dart and Cam Skattebo will have realized that they don't know what they don't know.

After that the Bears go for the rematch against Minnesota of a game they literally tossed away in Chicago during the fourth quarter to start the season. And the Vikings are still busy lamenting how Sam Darnold continues to tear up the league in Seattle while they're hoping J.J. McCarthy eventually figures things out.

None of this says the most important thing learned from games Sunday and even last week during the bye.

Caleb Williams knew what it was this past week. Johnson says it all the time.

"There are teams that may have lost to a team that another team beat the week before where you feel and thought that they shouldn't," Williams said. "So, it's a week-to-week thing."

After this week's NFL games, if the Bears lose to the Commanders Monday night it doesn't look quite so devastating despite the Armageddon buildup to this rematch. It could help to win, but it's not life and death in the league. And that's because there will be games next week, it's still a time of year when everything is relatively tight in the NFC North and anything can still happen week to week.

Sure, it's a boring message, but what else can you take from a league where the Giants can beat the Eagles?

The Bears could be even in the win column with the NFC North's first-place team after tonight, half a game behind the Lions after losing to them by 31 points, and tied with the Vikings even after losing that 11-point lead in the opener to them.

Or they could still be in last place but only a game behind the leaders in the win column with 12 games still to play.

It's way too early to make any judgments about how this season will ultimately play out based on one week or even the first six weeks in the NFL because it's a week-to-week league, anyway.

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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.