Week 7: Bears vs Saints, Sunday at noon on FOX

[gflore34]

Benedet had some good work again, struggled at times with PP, was a monster in run blocking, saw him bury several Saints.  There were a couple of run blocks were he pancaked multiple Saints, the initial block, then the next level.  Don't look now but, Poles may have actually stumbled on to something.

[WrigleyField 22]

1 hour ago, Geographyhater8888 said:

What would the spread be if Rush was named the starter?. 13 points in Rush’s 2 starts, 131 points in Lamar’s 4 starts. I wish we had a quarterback that could swing the point spread by 14+ points.

Obviously Caleb isn't Lamar, but that's not just Lamar pushing the spread up 14. They have a backup bad enough to help push that spread down too. 

[Geographyhater8888]

15 minutes ago, WrigleyField 22 said:

Obviously Caleb isn't Lamar, but that's not just Lamar pushing the spread up 14. They have a backup bad enough to help push that spread down too. 

Yes, but Rush isn’t exactly a scrub or a terrible backup. If their quarterback is prime Andy Dalton, the bench mark of good enough to receive a contract extension the spread still shifts by over 10 points. 

[BigSlick]

I think I’m seeing some overreaction to Caleb’s game yesterday this morning. He was bad, he wasn’t disastrously bad. I think folks have somehow memory hole’d just how bad things can get (some of the Justin Fields years seems to have left people, there were long stretches with a completely inoperable offense. Not 175 yards passing, 26 points). 
 

Hilariously, PFF grades Caleb higher for yesterday than it did against the Commanders, which is just silly. 
 

Patience. If Caleb still looks like this or worse by the time we hit our NFC North stretch, then I give you permission to panic about him. No sooner.

[Soul]

9 hours ago, BigSlick said:

I think I’m seeing some overreaction to Caleb’s game yesterday this morning. He was bad, he wasn’t disastrously bad. I think folks have somehow memory hole’d just how bad things can get (some of the Justin Fields years seems to have left people, there were long stretches with a completely inoperable offense. Not 175 yards passing, 26 points). 
 

Hilariously, PFF grades Caleb higher for yesterday than it did against the Commanders, which is just silly. 
 

Patience. If Caleb still looks like this or worse by the time we hit our NFC North stretch, then I give you permission to panic about him. No sooner.

I feel the same way.

[Geographyhater8888]

18 hours ago, BigSlick said:

I think I’m seeing some overreaction to Caleb’s game yesterday this morning. He was bad, he wasn’t disastrously bad. I think folks have somehow memory hole’d just how bad things can get (some of the Justin Fields years seems to have left people, there were long stretches with a completely inoperable offense. Not 175 yards passing, 26 points). 
 

Hilariously, PFF grades Caleb higher for yesterday than it did against the Commanders, which is just silly. 
 

Patience. If Caleb still looks like this or worse by the time we hit our NFC North stretch, then I give you permission to panic about him. No sooner.

I don’t think it’s an overreaction, no one is calling him a bust at the moment. If I told you last April after 24 starts that we drafted a game manager who struggles to complete 60% of his passes, would you be happy? I’m not throwing in the towel on him but 3 mediocre performances against 3 bad defenses and a 2:2 TD/INT ratio with all these coaching staff and roster upgrades, the bar should be higher than patience.

Edited October 21, 2025 by Geographyhater8888

[minnesotacubsfan]

I could give a horsefeathers as long as the Bears win, something is working and it looks solid enough to build off of

 

 

 

[javy knows my name]

1 hour ago, minnesotacubsfan said:

I could give a horsefeathers as long as the Bears win, something is working and it looks solid enough to build off of

 

 

 

Yes. Right now it feels like Caleb is only capable of playing well enough to give us a chance to win. Not expecting any style points

Edited October 22, 2025 by javy knows my name

[Wilson A2000]

8 hours ago, javy knows my name said:

Yes. Right now it feels like Caleb is only capable of playing well enough to give us a chance to win. Not expecting any style points

The #1 overall pick with tons of weapons and a great offensive coach needs to be better than this in year 2. We should be beyond, “He’s not hurting us.” 

[Old Style]

31 minutes ago, Wilson A2000 said:

The #1 overall pick with tons of weapons and a great offensive coach needs to be better than this in year 2. We should be beyond, “He’s not hurting us.” 

It’s always excuse after excuse. I hope he’s the QB we’ve been waiting for we for but I haven’t seen anything yet that has me confident. I think the fact that the Bears history at the position is so bad that anyone half way good looks like the answer. 

[mul21]

42 minutes ago, Wilson A2000 said:

The #1 overall pick with tons of weapons and a great offensive coach needs to be better than this in year 2. We should be beyond, “He’s not hurting us.” 

I think there needs to be some patience here.  Ben is trying to coach a ton of bad habits out of him that he's been doing since he was in college.  Between the lack of talent around him at USC and the shoddy line and poor coaching last year, Caleb has been running for his life and doing it on his own for a long time and breaking him of those tendencies and getting him to play on time and in rhythm isn't going to happen overnight.  Now, if we're not seeing marked improvement by the end of the season and he's still running around like a chicken with his head cut off, I'll definitely be concerned then.

[Derwood]

The improved offensive line is the best thing that could have happened for Caleb. Now you have to get him to stop hearing footsteps that aren't there

[gflore34]

30 minutes ago, mul21 said:

I think there needs to be some patience here.  Ben is trying to coach a ton of bad habits out of him that he's been doing since he was in college.  Between the lack of talent around him at USC and the shoddy line and poor coaching last year, Caleb has been running for his life and doing it on his own for a long time and breaking him of those tendencies and getting him to play on time and in rhythm isn't going to happen overnight.  Now, if we're not seeing marked improvement by the end of the season and he's still running around like a chicken with his head cut off, I'll definitely be concerned then.

Same here with patience, it's a long non-linear process towards a good offense.  Ben Johnson himself has said on multiple occasions he doesn't expect them to be at their best until December into January.  That's at least 6 more games of up and down.

[Brian707]

He still is only slightly off pace from 4K yards has a TD/Int ratio of 3/1 and is learning a new complex offense. Let's not get the doom boners out yet

 

 

Edited October 22, 2025 by Brian707

[BigSlick]

It’s weird to be impatient about Caleb right when like half a dozen former assumed busts are now killing it. Daniel Jones is the QB of the best team in the league!

We have to avoid the apologia that we’ve had formerly with Trubisky and Fields, but we also have to patient. 

Edited October 22, 2025 by BigSlick

[Brian707]

Daniels at least thus far seems to be having a sophmore slump

Maye looks good

Nix not so sure, haven't watch many Denver games

CJ Stroud looks very meh in year three but his oline sucks ass

Just a few off the top of my head over the last few years

Edited October 22, 2025 by Brian707

[Wilson A2000]

1 hour ago, mul21 said:

I think there needs to be some patience here.  Ben is trying to coach a ton of bad habits out of him that he's been doing since he was in college.  Between the lack of talent around him at USC and the shoddy line and poor coaching last year, Caleb has been running for his life and doing it on his own for a long time and breaking him of those tendencies and getting him to play on time and in rhythm isn't going to happen overnight.  Now, if we're not seeing marked improvement by the end of the season and he's still running around like a chicken with his head cut off, I'll definitely be concerned then.

A #1 pick by the end of year 2 has to be more accurate, has to find the best option quickly, and has to be better at throwing the deep ball. Right now, Caleb is the squeaky wheel on offense and that can’t happen. Caleb shouldn’t be the 4th best QB in the 2024 Draft. 

Edited October 22, 2025 by Wilson A2000

[mul21]

Just now, Wilson A2000 said:

A #1 pick by the end of year 2 has to be more accurate, has to find the best option quickly, and has to be better at throwing the deep ball. Right now, Caleb is the squeaky wheel on offense and that can’t happen. 

This is beyond the expectations of the guy who's coaching him so I'll go ahead and believe Ben Johnson.

[Brian707]

5 minutes ago, Wilson A2000 said:

A #1 pick by the end of year 2 has to be more accurate, has to find the best option quickly, and has to be better at throwing the deep ball. Right now, Caleb is the squeaky wheel on offense and that can’t happen. Caleb shouldn’t be the 4th best QB in the 2024 Draft. 

And we are nowhere near the end of year 2. Lets revisit this on Jan 4th 2026 at about 3:15pm

[Wilson A2000]

24 minutes ago, mul21 said:

This is beyond the expectations of the guy who's coaching him so I'll go ahead and believe Ben Johnson.

Ben Johnson might publicly say that, but he has pretty high expectations for his QB. This is basic stuff after year 2 for the #1 overall pic. 

[NorthsideAvenger]

Count me on the be patient with Caleb bandwagon. He is making steady progress, believe it or not. Like someone else mentioned and needs to be mentioned again, Ben Johnson is trying to coach Caleb out of his bad habits. That is a work in progess. 

 

[javy knows my name]

34 minutes ago, Wilson A2000 said:

Ben Johnson might publicly say that, but he has pretty high expectations for his QB. This is basic stuff after year 2 for the #1 overall pic. 

It really seems like you're trying to be miserable while watching the most exciting Bears team in 40 years

Edited October 22, 2025 by javy knows my name

[Wilson A2000]

5 minutes ago, javy knows my name said:

It really seems like you're trying to be miserable while watching the most exciting Bears team in 40 years

I’m pleasantly surprised they are 4-2, but it’s not being miserable to point out that Caleb has not been great this year and needs to be a reason the Bears win sooner than later. 2006, 2010, and 2018 were also more exciting than this team even though I definitely like this season’s overall progress. 

Edited October 22, 2025 by Wilson A2000

[CubinNY]

You have to give him time. The main issue I have with him is accuracy on short routs and timing. Those are mostly mechanical issues. 
 

He did not come into a good situation and wasted a year under incompetence. 

[BigSlick]

Here's the thing: just be honest about every performance. Cowboys game? Spectacular. Raiders game? not great. Commanders game? Pretty decent but with some painful missed opportunities. Saints game? Pretty bad in pretty gnarly weather conditions. Etc. 

But we're not even halfway through the season. I'm withholding any meaningful judgment until the end of the season. Even then, I have to imagine even if he continues up-and-down performance he's still locked into the starting role for next season. And he should be!