The Morning After…the Bears' comeback win vs. Giants in Week 10

Alyssa Barbieri

Eventually, I’m going to go into these games believing, even when the Bears are trailing, that they’re going to win the game. But, right now, I’m still warring with the voice inside my head whispering that they’re going to find a way to lose. When everything is going wrong, believe it’s going to end badly. But you can’t cure decades worth of Bears PTSD, especially after the previous regime, in just nine games. Yet, Ben Johnson is starting to make a believer out of me.

The game got off to an encouraging start, even after Chicago’s offense stalled on their opening possession. But it still felt like they were leaving valuable points on the field. If you let a bad team like the Giants hang with you, they’re going to think they can win. And they were very much in command heading into the fourth quarter. But they don’t have what the Bears have — the clutch kid himself, quarterback Caleb Williams, who continues to step up in the biggest moments. While his stat line won’t show it — thanks in large part to six brutal drops — Williams had a dominant outing, and he led two fourth-quarter touchdown drives (including a 91-yard series) to drive his team to victory. Williams still has a long way to go developmentally, but there’s no doubt that he has the clutch gene that so many great quarterbacks in this league possess.

With that said, there are still some legitimate concerns about this defense, which was gashed by rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart. While there was some encouraging things early against the run game and even the pass rush with Montez Sweat recording 4.5 sacks in the last four games, it was the passing defense that continues to struggle down their top cornerbacks in Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon. Tyrique Stevenson and Nahshon Wright were targeted often, and Stevenson hasn’t looked the same since returning from his shoulder injury. Meanwhile, T.J. Edwards’ loss was felt in a big way as Noah Sewell proved to be a liability. It’s going to be difficult for this defense, down three key starters, to help pull their weight with some difficult offenses on deck.

For what it’s worth, the Bears seem to play down to these “bad” teams they’ve faced. They’ve yet to beat a team with a winning record (but the Detroit Lions were the only winning team they’ve faced so far, to be fair), but there will be opportunities for Ben Johnson’s squad to rise to the occasion with games against the Vikings, Steelers, Packers (x2), 49ers and Lions all on deck.

Brendan Sugrue

The 2025 Chicago Bears may hibernate and be asleep for solid chunks of a game every week, but they never die. And once again, we found out how hard this team can fight with their backs against the wall in the fourth quarter. Are these comeback victories compensation for the Matt Eberflus era when the Bears blew all of those leads over the last two years? Or just signs of a growing football team coming together when it matters most to get the win? All I can say is thank goodness for Ben Johnson, who even during his bad games, keeps this team in it for as long as possible.

The real story from Sunday, though, is the quarterback. Caleb Williams proved he has the clutch gene by willing two touchdown drives on his own. Even as he was let down by his pass catchers, Williams did everything to get into the end zone by evading pressure, running for first downs, and zipping passes to his targets in tight windows.

This was his fourth game-winning drive this season, tying the league lead through 10 weeks. We don’t need to belabor the point by bringing up former Bears quarterbacks, but Williams’ “it factor” has been showing up more and more in clutch situations—something found in true franchise quarterbacks. If the Bears receivers can fix their issues with catching the ball, he’s only going to look better and better.

Defensively, we saw more of the same. The Bears are getting gashed in the passing game, and it doesn’t matter who is throwing the ball. Jaxson Dart was outstanding on Sunday aside from one mistake that swung the game. If he doesn’t exit the game with a concussion, I don’t think the Bears win. Brian Daboll certainly doesn’t opt to kick a field goal by declining a penalty on the one-foot line going into the end zone. We can all thank his lack of faith in Russell Wilson for that. But this type of play from the defense continues to be volatile. Their secondary will struggle against good quarterbacks, but shoutout to CJ Gardner-Johnson for stepping up in a big way. I had my doubts about him, but he has been a godsend for this unit.

Right now, the Bears are a good football team in prime playoff contention. We haven’t seen them with a record like this in at least five years, and their six wins by Week 10 are the most since 2018. If Johnson’s desire of getting this team to play their best football in December comes true, then watch out. We could be talking about a playoff run, not just getting into the postseason. But let’s keep taking this one week at a time.

Mike Pendleton

For the first time in over a decade, the Chicago Bears are a team that gives you hope in the final minutes of a game. As often as Caleb Williams was criticized in his rookie year, no one has engineered more game-winning drives in the NFL this year, and he’s putting all of it on himself.

There is still room to grow for this team, they are escaping and barely surviving against bad teams who they’re favored to beat on paper. The offense was plagued by receivers dropping the ball time after time, but even when the Giants pass rush was getting to Williams, he found ways to escape the pressure and win the game.

Chicago’s offense has made a complete turnaround from what they were last year, but they still need to get better. The rushing attack in Chicago may have a duo to ride through the rest of the season and that should help the passing offense as well. The defense has much more to work on, although injuries have played a part of it. Their pass rush is starting to come together, at least in creating more pressure, but they can’t be a unit that thrives on just getting takeaways.

Vinnie Parise

It is the morning after another nail biter of a win for the Chicago Bears. With both much time on their side, they found a way to once again win a game that they didn’t deserve to for a lot of it. Two touchdown drives by Caleb Williams in the fourth quarter are very telling. Is he the franchise guy under center? The flashes are certainly there. It isn’t time to declare the Bears a playoff team, but they are in the mix after 10 up and down weeks. That’s all you can really ask for with a rookie head coach and a young developing team.