Bears take care of business in Week 15 and put themselves back where they want to be going into a defining final stretch of the season
The Bears are closing in on a playoff spot.
The Chicago Bears were coming off a tough loss in Week 14 to the Green Bay Packers, and many expected the team to overlook the three-win Cleveland Browns coming to town on Sunday, viewing the Week 15 game as a potential trap game.
That’s not a phrase the Bears believe in, and that was the message being sent to the team the entire week of practice. It was a strong and well-received message based on the performance on Sunday.
“You come off a very highly emotional game the week before, and we ended up on the loss side of that one, the easy thing to do is allow that to spiral out of control,” Bears head coach Ben Johnson said after the game. “The guys didn’t allow that to happen. They came back to work and handled the process really well. They took care of business here this week.”
The Bears walked off the field with a defining 31-3 win over the Browns and improved to 10-4 on the season, marking Chicago’s first double-digit-win season since 2018. Yet the Bears still aren’t satisfied with the result for more than one reason.
More things to clean up on both sides of the ball
For the sixth consecutive week, the Bears came out flat on offense. Starting quickly was a big area of emphasis at Halas Hall this week, but the opening drive for the offense ended after three plays and included a mental mistake with a false start by wide receiver D.J. Moore.
The Bears cleaned things up after that first drive and started getting into a roll, but head-shaking plays continued on both sides of the ball. On offense, Chicago had a few bad drops, a handful of issues with the snap exchange, some route-running issues, and more pre-snap penalties. On defense, the unit had a few plays it’d like to have back, but finished with 5.0 sacks and three takeaways.
“There’s a number of areas,” Johnson explained. “You win a game 31-3, and yet there are still a number of areas where we need to address, and we need to continue to get better as a team.”
It’s a great spot to be in, and it’s been a familiar spot for this team. They still haven’t played a complete game yet, something that’s equally exciting and frustrating. Now, let’s look big picture.
Job is not finished when it comes to punching a playoff ticket
While it’s great to see the Bears improve to 10 wins, the job’s not done yet. Earlier in the week, Johnson and veteran safety Kevin Byard relayed the message that at least two more wins are required to punch a ticket to the playoffs, given how the NFC has shaped out this season.
The Bears got one of those two and are getting closer to securing that opportunity, but 11 still seems like the magic number. Chicago has three games left against the Packers, San Francisco 49ers, and Detroit Lions, with two of those games at home to hopefully secure at least one more win.
“I know we’re a good football team and I’m looking forward to seeing this competition over the next three weeks,” Johnson added. “I think our players are excited to be in this spot. We’re 10-4, and we’ve got a lot to play for here over the next three weeks. And really, in this league, you can’t ask for a lot more than that.”
After this win, it’s time to finally turn the attention back toward the highly anticipated rematch against the Packers on Saturday night.
“Really excited, it’s a very big opportunity for us,” Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson said in the locker room. “We got a lot to show and a lot to prove, and we gotta go get our get back.”
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