🏈 Week 12 Official Game Thread 🏈 PIT @ CHI, Nov 23rd, 12PM CST, CBS, CHI -2.5

[AZ54]

4 minutes ago, jason said:

1. Didn’t watch.

2. Was Caleb inaccurate again on simple passes?

3. Who all had drops?

4. Winning like this is not normally a sustainable plan. But is it just good enough? Or are the Bears getting breaks? It seems the breaks are even, if not against the Bears slightly. So, is it actually sustainable this year? Are the Bears actually better than we realize considering the injuries, officiating imbalance, and self-inflicted mistakes?

5. This feels like the Lovie era. This team will win just enough to threaten or make the playoffs, get thumped, and have a draft pick in the teens. Unless you hit a home run on that teen draft pick, it’s a sure fire recipe for perpetual 10-7 or 9-8 seasons with the same ending.

I don’t really know the answer but I don’t recall many games where Lovies offense scored 31 pts. 

[Stinger226]

5 minutes ago, AZ54 said:

I don’t really know the answer but I don’t recall many games where Lovies offense scored 31 pts. 

Can we all get together and do a go fund me for Jason so he can buy a TV?

[Stinger226]

6 minutes ago, Bears4Ever_34 said:

It's another win, but the quarterback continues to be awful. They are going to get killed in the rest of these games if Caleb continues to throw it like Tim Tebow.

I think its time to sit back and enjoy the season. We can play bad and do enough to win the game. I have no problem with that. The defense has 5 starters missing and did enough to win. I applaud that. Caleb can play better and that will be dangerous when we get there. 

[Mongo3451]

Pretending I didn't keep tabs on the game and a buddy called me to recap.  If anyone would have told me we lost the TOP, plays, yardage and penalty stats, I would say we lost.  If they also told me, we didn't win the turnover battle and our opponent scored a defensive touchdown, I would say we got beat by double digits.

Instead we beat our first team with a winning record.  And y'all know the injury list.  Great win, Jason!  Not your Lovie Bears...

[jason]

16 minutes ago, Stinger226 said:

Can we all get together and do a go fund me for Jason so he can buy a TV?

😄😄

I refuse to buy the combination of Sunday ticket, paramount, Disney, Jimmy Joe’s Game of the Week, and YouTube TV. Just local games for me.

[adam]

In the GB - MIN game, these were the stats for the starting QBs:

Love 14-21, 139 yds, 1 sacks
McCarthy 12-19, 87 yds, 0 TD, 2 INT, 5 sacks

Combined 26-40, 226 yds, 0 TD, 2 INT, 6 sacks. I think most want perfection and it's just not there yet, buf if Caleb had a game like either of these guys, then I would have some concerns. Not when he puts up over 250 yards and 3 TDs in a win.

[adam]

The Bears are 8-1 in their last 9 weeks. 

[AZ54]

1 hour ago, Stinger226 said:

Can we all get together and do a go fund me for Jason so he can buy a TV?

For all we know Jasón is enjoying life on a beach in the Caribbean.  He might have better things to watch.  

[adam]

Caleb Williams is the only QB this week with 3 TD passes (so far), out of 24 QBs, and has the 2nd highest QB Rating out of those 24 QBs. 

[adam]

PIT came into the game 3rd in the NFL in Sacks, they had one today. 

[Alaskan Grizzly]

As much as I am not a fan of Allen’s, he’s done pretty good with what he’s got to work with.  Rarely do you see teams play well when pretty much all your defensive back 7 are 2nd stringers or worse.  
 

Jackson came in and played a solid game as did Deshon Wright.  He’s playing himself into a permanent spot if he keeps ups the pace.  I dare say he might even find a way to supplant Stevenson ?  
 

Caleb looked a little sloppy throughout but had a pretty solid 3rd quarter - when they pretty much sealed up the game.  He’s still having issues with consistency and playing outside the scripted plays.  But yes, getting better(?).  

[adam]

10 minutes ago, Alaskan Grizzly said:

As much as I am not a fan of Allen’s, he’s done pretty good with what he’s got to work with.  Rarely do you see teams play well when pretty much all your defensive back 7 are 2nd stringers or worse.  
 

Jackson came in and played a solid game as did Deshon Wright.  He’s playing himself into a permanent spot if he keeps ups the pace.  I dare say he might even find a way to supplant Stevenson ?  
 

Caleb looked a little sloppy throughout but had a pretty solid 3rd quarter - when they pretty much sealed up the game.  He’s still having issues with consistency and playing outside the scripted plays.  But yes, getting better(?).  

It is even worse when you consider their Edge2 and early round draft pick at DT was lost for the season.

Then no Johnson, Gordon, Smith, Frazier, and Stevenson was hurt in the game. No Edmunds, Edwards, or Sewell, and Hyppolite left the game. No Odeyingbo or Turner, and Robinson left the game.

Honestly, the fact they didn't allow 35 plus is a miracle. The defense only allowed 21 pts.

[Stinger226]

 

[Stinger226]

Poles has made a lot of bad decisions over his term, but he deserves kudos for adding some talent in back up roles. Stevenson went out early, no JJ or Gordon, the top 4 LBers were out once Hyppolite went down. Dybo and Turner are out for the year. They made enough plays for us to win this game. Trapillo played well. 

If you look at the overall picture I would not think we are a winning team but yet we are 8-3. Caleb still has a long way to go yet we are in the top 5 offenses in the league. Once he arrives this offense is going to be dangerous. 

[Stinger226]

3 hours ago, Alaskan Grizzly said:

As much as I am not a fan of Allen’s, he’s done pretty good with what he’s got to work with.  Rarely do you see teams play well when pretty much all your defensive back 7 are 2nd stringers or worse.  
 

Jackson came in and played a solid game as did Deshon Wright.  He’s playing himself into a permanent spot if he keeps ups the pace.  I dare say he might even find a way to supplant Stevenson ?  
 

Caleb looked a little sloppy throughout but had a pretty solid 3rd quarter - when they pretty much sealed up the game.  He’s still having issues with consistency and playing outside the scripted plays.  But yes, getting better(?).  

I think it would be wise to sign Wright and DJ G-Johnson to contracts. Also Sweat has 7.5 sacks today and should easily go over 10. Imagine if we had one other strong pass rusher to help him out. 

[DABEARSDABOMB]

8 hours ago, AZ54 said:

We had no business winning that game.  There were players on the field who I’ve never heard of in a bears uniform.  Very  impressed by this coaching staff.  
 

i also like the fact I never heard Ozzy name alll game.  

Ozzy might have just won the LT job which would be pretty awesome. Caleb had a nice run in middle of the game. If you watch - his reads are getting better and better. His timing and footwork is still off - the change in offseason and just not yet being all the way there are impacting him - but I see him throwing more and more guys open and I truly believe as he keeps getting more comfortable we are going to see a huge step forward in terms of accuracy. When that happens - top 5 qb!!! 

[AZ54]

I'm still processing what I saw in today's game.  There is far more good than bad.  

We scored 31pts and we're still complaining.  At least I'm complaining about the missed plays.  I can't tell you how refreshing that is.  Offensive pre-snap penalties are way down and that is not just this home game but the trend has been favorable the last few games.  We did that today with Ozzy making his first start at LT and Luke Newman taking some snaps both as 6th Olineman and subbing in at RG until Jonah was able to return.   

Oline struggled all day in the run game.  Pass pro was better for the most part.  I found it interesting that TJ Watt looked awesome until he rag dolled Darnell Wright.   Then, just as quick as we gave up a TD on a sack fumble, TJ seemed to disappear from the game.  Then the run game got better, not great but effective enough, and the passing game got better.  TJ stats ended the game with 5 tot tkl, 2 solo, 1 sack, 1 QB pressure, 1 TFL.  Most of that I believe I saw in the first quarter.  I'll wait for the film studies to see if we schemed differently after that or did Darnell wake up and control him on his own?  

Did I notice Luke Newman on the field?  No.  Doesn't mean he played well just means he didn't play like a 5th round rookie.  That alone makes me smile.  

Ozzy, Ozzy, Ozzy....I was concerned coming into this game how our LT would hold up because Pitt has two really good edge rushers, and some good LBs.  The game ended with me still wondering how our LT held up.  I don't recall seeing the usual left edge pressure Theo gives up.   It did feel like we ran to the right side more than the left side.  If true, was that by design to make it easier for Ozzy to focus on pass pro in his first NFL start?   I'm not sure Theo gets his job back.  

Caleb just keeps getting better.  No big leaps but each week is better.  I know it was ugly early on but these chunk plays are seemingly on repeat week after week under Ben Johnson.   

Defense... in the Pitt first offensive series, maybe two, our LBs were largely static until the play was well underway.  Dennis Allen and the LB coach (or someone) clearly got on them because you could see and feel the shift when they started playing downhill.   After that there were still some misses but we also started getting some negative plays.  It was enough that ,despite giving up big yards in the running game, it helped stall out some Steeler's drives.  Maybe doing this meant giving up some pass plays because LBs were out of position in converage but the strategy worked against Rudolph.  Might not have worked against Rodgers but that's the type of decisions and strategy coaches are supposed to do. 

[Stinger226]

We dont have a good defense with all the injuries but we still are capable of big plays. You can see adjusting being done during the game and it led us to a win. Its kind of hard to say now we havent played any good teams. Pitt is not a juggernaut but is a winning team and leader in their division. This was a physical game and we held up. Backups weren't terrible which isnt normal for us. Clear to see we have a great coaching staff and finally have depth on this team. 

Culture has changed and we now believe we can beat anyone. That makes us a dangerous team going forward. 

[adam]

On 11/17/2025 at 9:56 AM, adam said:

Bears OFF +0.02 x PIT DEF -0.04 / -0.01 x 66.7 plays= (-0.67 DIFF)   
25.8 Bears O x 23.2 PIT D + DIFF = 23.8 (24 pts)

PIT OFF -0.04 x Bears DEF -0.05 / -0.045 x 57.1 plays= (-2.57 DIFF)    
24.6 PIT O x 26.4 Bears D + DIFF = 22.9 (23 pts)

Congunkulator shows a close game 24-23, but that is with Rodgers at QB. If it is Rudolph, you have to believe that is at least 3 pts less for PIT, making it a 24-20 game. 

The Congunkulator has predicted 3 wins with pretty close margins of victory (scores have been a little off).