Thru 7 games, the Bears are a game ahead of last year's pace at 5-2. They lost to BAL to fall to 4-3 last year before rattling off 5 straight and 7 of 8.

The offense is averaging 1.7 extra pts per game, 3.4 extra first downs, 40 more yards on offense with +0.7 extra turnovers per game. The only flaw being the extra turnovers. Honestly, I am surprised how close the numbers are. They would probably be a little better if Caleb didn't miss time, but it feels like the Bears offense has a floor, and 24 pts a game is the new 17 (in the Fields era).

The defense is pretty shocking. They are allowing 6 fewer pts, 4.9 first downs, 37 fewer yards, and are averaging 0.86 fewer takeaways per game. The run defense is the biggest change from last year for either unit, averaging 55.7 fewer yards per game.

The reason for the change is that the Bears are playing with the lead this year. They had 180 pass attempts with the lead for the entire year in 2025. They already have 121 thru 7 games.

What is the TOP and total offensive plays difference? I think that is huge...

41 minutes ago, Mongo3451 said:

What is the TOP and total offensive plays difference? I think that is huge...

It's pretty insane. Last year thru 7 games, the average TOP was 29:34 with only two games over 30 mins out of 7.

This year, the average TOP is 35:30 with 2 games over 40 mins, 6 over 30, and the lowest game of 29:36.

So there is essentially a 6-minute gain in TOP from last year.

The Bears current TOP is the highest I could find dating back to 2000. No other team was over 35 mins, and only 3 teams were over 34, the 2018 Ravens, 2001 Steelers, and 2000 Titans.