Bear Digest

What to Watch in the NFL on a Weekend Without the Bears

The Bears are not playing but there will be plenty to watch for Chicago fans considering how other games can impact them, including one NFC North showdown.

Gene Chamberlain

How much will the Lions miss Aidan Hutchinson? It should become very apparent in Sunday's NFC North showdown.
How much will the Lions miss Aidan Hutchinson? It should become very apparent in Sunday's NFC North showdown. / David Rodriguez Munoz / USA TODAY NETWORK
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A weekend without the Bears doesn't mean Chicago fans are left with no football to watch.
There is plenty of Bears-related content in the NFL this weekend and, of course, it starts with the next Bears opponent, includes the other NFC North teams and also has one or two other points of interest.

Panthers at Commanders, noon Sunday

The Bears' next opponents host everyone's favorite punching bag, the Panthers defense that has allowed the most points in the NFL. Perhaps things will come so easily for Jayden Daniels and Co. in this 3:05 p.m. game that they'll be in shock next week when they have to face the Bears' fifth-ranked scoring defense. Carolina's big problem was stopping the run and they're still 30th at this but their pass defense isn't much better. It's a chance for Daniels to fatten up the statistics before facing the Bears. And the Panthers have said they'll stick on offense with Andy Dalton another week. They must really not like Bryce Young. Fans should look and judge for themselves how Daniels looks against this woeful Panthers defense compared to how Caleb Williams did. Against Carolina, Williams was 20 for 29 with 304 yards and two touchdowns, a 126.2 passer rating.
The other note of interest to watch for with the Commanders is their own struggling defense. They're having such a tough time at cornerback that they brought in former Bears cornerback Kyle Fuller this week for a tryout. If Mike Sainristil, Noah Igbinoghene and Benjamin St-Juste need help from Fuller, who has been out of football for two years, then Williams could find completions easy to come by against the Commanders defense.

Lions at Vikings, noon Sunday

The second NFC North game of the year, but for the Lions it's a tougher task because of Aidan Hutchinson's season-ending broken leg. This will be a good test to see if the Lions can account for losing their best pass rusher as they try to stop Sam Darnold and Justin Jefferson. Hutchinson also was a force against the run. Jared Goff and the offense will be challenged by the blitzing Vikings defense.
Whether the Lions make a trade to fortify their pass rush could be determined by how they look against the Vikings.

Jets at Steelers, 7:20 p.m. Sunday

The Justin Fields angle here is too great for Bears fans to resist, but not because he's playing. What's more important to the Bears is how Russell Wilson plays.

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Field has been benched in favor of Russell Wilson this week. Fields was classy about the whole thing, admitting to reporters he probably didn't play well enough to expect he should keep the job. Six fumbles had something to do with this. His passer rating was up at 93.9 from what it was with the Bears but he ws stuck in the same old 6.9 yards per attempt rut he was in Chicago and missed seeing open receivers. And the longer he played, the higher his sack percentage grew. He was at 10.5%, 10.0% and 11.11% his last three games because of how long he holds the ball. Only three QBs held it longer (3.04 seconds) this season according to Next Gen Stats.
Without him playing, the reason this game is important to Bears fans is they can watch to see if Wilson still can play. He'll be 36 soon and if he's done, and the Steelers have to go back to Fields. The Bears stand to get as much as a fourth-round draft pick back from Pittsburgh provided Fields plays 51% of the plays this year.

Texans at Packers, noon Sunday

Worth watching just because it's the Packers and it's fun for Bears fans to see them lose. Also, if Green Bay does lose to C.J. Stroud and Co., the Bears are finally ahead of someone in the NFC North. It's the first step toward taking the North and not giving it back.

Chargers at Cardinals, 3 p.m. Sunday

It's never too soon to think ahead to the week after the Bears play Washington. They're at Arizona. A good game to scout out because the Cardinals have seemed an enigma this year. They play a great game to slaughter the Rams, turn around and play horrible to get beat up by the Commanders. They play a great game to upset San Francisco, then play a terrible game and lose badly to Green Bay.
Who are they? If they keep up this trend, they would be due for a great game against the Bears. Their next good game would be the Chargers this week, followed by a dud in Week 8 against the Dolphins.

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.