Bear Digest

What the Bears Still Have to Prove After Respectable Start

Analysis: The Bears might like where they are but there is still plenty to show they can do before they can be taken seriously.

Gene Chamberlain

Keenan Allen leans for extra yardage after a catch in Sunday's 35-16 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Keenan Allen leans for extra yardage after a catch in Sunday's 35-16 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
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The excitement of three straight wins and a 4-2 record after only 10 wins in Matt Eberflus' first two seasons as coach hides a great deal.

Having a quarterback who is young, sharp passer riding a hot streak and seemingly learning about the league and his offense exponentially is something new in Chicago. Caleb Williams has three straight games with a passer rating over 100. Justin Fields didn't have any in his first season.

It's true the Bears have played three straight weaker teams and all four wins came over losing teams, but to be successful a team must beat the weaker teams on the schedule, just like they need to win at home and eventually beat some good teams.

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Here's what the Bears have yet to prove as they move into what could be termed as the meat of the schedule. They've got a lot of proving to do.

Win a Road Game

The London game definitely wasn't on the lakefront but did count as a home game.

The Bears need to show they can go into an opposing team's stadium, withstand the noise factor and bad things happening before emerging with a win. They didn't hold up well to the noise or being away from home in either Houston or Indianapolis. Both sides of the football had their difficulties in those games, particularly the offense.

Become Closers

The defense proved it could close out a game at home by picking off Matthew Stafford and had proven they could win over a weak team without even getting assistance from the offense in the opener.

They need to see Caleb Williams author a late drive to a game-winning score, or tying score before winning it in overtime. The confidence booster for the offense would be tremendous if something like this happened.

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They also could stand to see the defense close one out against a good team, home or road. To their credit, they did stop the Texans when they needed to in order to get Williams the ball at the end but he could only take it 27 yards on a pass to Rome Odunze and then a sack and penalty ended the last-minute march.

When the defense had a chance against the Colts to get the ball to Williams for a last drive with a stop, they faced second-and-6 but let Jonathan Taylor break a run off 13 yards. Game, set and match.

Consistently Stop the Run

Andrew Billings, Gervon Dexter and Co. showed they can stop a good running attack last week. The Jaguars had been getting good rushing yardage from two backs. But it was the only time this year they could say they completely silenced the opposition's running attack. They're playing possibly the best pass defense in the league, the pass rush is drastically improved. A consistent run defense like they showed the second half of last season will be the next step toward that top-five defensive goal.

Win a Shootout

It happens. The defense can't be perfect all of the time. As good as the Ravens defense is, they had to win a 30-23 game over the Commanders and Jayden Daniels. They also had to win 41-38 over the Bengals. The 49ers last week faced the league's top passing attack and had to outpoint Seattle, 36-24. Who thinks of the Buccaneers as a team capable of beating the Saints by scoring 51 points? The Texans had the third-ranked defense in the league but the Patriots scored 21 against them. It helped to be able to score 41 in a wild game.

Things happen in the NFL. Having an offense that can reciprocate when the defense needs to be picked up is what complementary football is all about.

Win in the NFC North

There's nothing they can do about this until Nov. 17 when the divisional games begin. Last year they did beat the Vikings and Lions once each, and should have beaten the Lions twice but gave one away at Ford Field. This team is different because of the makeup of the offense and needs to prove it can win games in a tough division.

Beat a Winning Team

Since Eberflus became coach, the only wins they've had over teams that finished over .500 were the very first game when the 49ers started Trey Lance at quarterback, and the game at Soldier Field last year against the Lions. This year, their four victims are all under .500. The teams they lost to were .500 or better.

Eberflus' team needed to show it could beat the bums first. They've done this.

It's time to take the next step and beat some of the big boys.

Whether Washington eventually is a winning team is up for debate but right now it would be a good place to start because the Commanders have the same record as the Bears.

Twitter: BearsOnSI

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher 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.