The Chicago Bears pulled off another miracle comeback.
They engineered a fourth-quarter rally for the fifth time this season in Sunday’s 19-17 road win over the Minnesota Vikings. This time it took Devin Duvernay’s 56-yard kickoff return with 50 seconds left to set the stage for Cairo Santos’ game-winning 48-yard goal.
Week 11 photos: Chicago Bears 19, Minnesota Vikings 17
Despite taking over first place in the NFC North, the Bears say there’s plenty to clean up. Tribune Bears writers Brad Biggs, Sean Hammond and Phil Thompson tackle this week’s pressing questions after the Week 11 victory.
1. The Bears (7-3) stand alone atop the NFC North. Are they legitimate contenders to win the division?
Biggs: No question. Leading the circuit with seven games remaining puts them squarely in what looks like a three-way race. I wouldn’t call them the favorite. They’re much better than they were in Week 2 at Detroit and it looks like some defensive reinforcements are on the way. That should help. A schedule that has been filled with some fortunate breaks is about to get more challenging. This is where it gets fun as we find out if the Bears can rise meet that challenge.
Hammond: At this point, they have to be considered legitimate contenders. If you’re in first place 10 games into the season, you’re a contender. Now, certainly the Bears have a tough schedule down the stretch, but they’ve positioned themselves well to be in contention the rest of the way, whether that’s for the division or a wild-card spot. This could come down to the Week 18 game against the Detroit Lions at Soldier Field. I think Bears fans would take that scenario.
Thompson: Enjoy it while it lasts, but certain factors are stacked against the Bears. Though the Green Bay Packers don’t resemble the juggernaut from early this season, a long track record gives them the benefit of the doubt head-to-head with the Bears — until the Bears prove otherwise. The Bears also have to play contenders such as the Pittsburgh Steelers, Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers. The season finale against the Lions at Soldier Field is shaping up to be a dogfight.
2. Caleb Williams had his lowest completion percentage (50%) and second-lowest passer rating (68.9) of the season Sunday. Is this a sign of what’s to come against tougher defenses?
Biggs: I don’t think you can link to one road game against Brian Flores and say there is necessarily going to be some kind of after-effect. Williams did a nice job of taking care of the ball and he was decisive looking for tight ends on some quick reads to avoid pressure. Those were positives. The accuracy issue has been there all season and I’m not sure that’s going away anytime soon. When the explosive plays aren’t there, it would help if he’s a little more efficient with the shorter stuff.
Hammond: The Vikings are always a particularly tough matchup, but I wouldn’t necessarily take that to mean Williams will struggle in every game from here on out. Yes, some tough defenses are coming up in the Eagles, Lions and Cleveland Browns. But the Packers and 49ers defenses aren’t as scary as they looked in Week 1, and the Steelers seem beatable. Every week is different in the NFL, and Ben Johnson will have a different plan for each matchup.
Thompson: Yes. Maxx Crosby with better supporting casts. Here come T.J. Watt, Micah Parsons (twice) and Jalen Carter. And that Eagles secondary, featuring Cooper DeJean, has left several more established quarterbacks looking stupefied. Williams will have to pull the trigger quicker on his first and second reads, but is he willing to do that? Is Johnson willing to bake in more designed runs to keep these aggressive defenses off balance? And will the receivers snap out of this rash of drops in key situations? That certainly has exacerbated the completion problem.
3. Is “find a way” becoming a winning mantra for the Bears — or is it a trap?
Bears quarterback Caleb Williams screams while exiting the field in celebration of a 24-20 win over the Giants on Nov. 9, 2025, at Soldier Field. (Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune)
Biggs: It’s not a trap until the Bears get locked into a battle where they allow an opponent to hang around and hang around and then they lack the ingredients required at closing time to pull off another rally. As safety Kevin Byard III said, he doesn’t want to find out if Sunday’s effort is good enough to beat a better team. He’s hoping the Bears don’t recreate an uneven performance that was filled with chances to put the Vikings away.
Hammond: Johnson was pretty clear after Sunday’s game that the Bears have plenty of issues to clean up. They certainly don’t want to keep putting themselves in a position where they have to claw their way out of a late deficit. But there’s something to be said for learning how to win close games. The Bears have done that against the Las Vegas Raiders, Washington Commanders, Cincinnati Bengals, New York Giants and now the Vikings. They just need to keep these games close against teams like the Eagles, and they’ll believe they have a chance to win.
Thompson: It’s a trap. Byard already said it: The Bears lack a killer instinct. As seasoned as he is, he knows there are only so many times you can tempt fate like this. Part of the reason the Bears were in position to rally in some of these games is that opponents rallied against them — they just left too much time on the clock. What’s just as concerning is some players have said these “find a way” comebacks have become normal to them. It’s good to be poised, but it’s better to normalize urgency throughout the game — before it’s too late.
4. The Bears have allowed a total of 72 points in two matchups against the AFC North. Should they be worried with the Aaron Rodgers-led Steelers coming to town?
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin and quarterback Aaron Rodgers talk with an official during a Colts challenge Nov. 2, 2025, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Biggs: No. The Steelers have been under 300 yards of offense in six games this season. Pittsburgh had 343 yards Sunday against the dreadful Cincinnati defense, which the Bears saw earlier in the month. The ground game has been pretty inconsistent for the Steelers as well. What they should be concerned about is an opportunistic defense led by coordinator Teryl Austin. Pittsburgh is tied for second with 18 takeaways (four behind the Bears). The defense is No. 2 in sacks with 33 and the duo of T.J. Watt and Nick Herbig will present problems.
Hammond: Even when Rodgers is healthy, the Steelers offense hasn’t been particularly scary the past few weeks. If backup QB Mason Rudolph is starting Sunday, the Bears defense should be itching for another couple of takeaways. Rodgers traditionally has been very good at taking care of the football, although that hasn’t necessarily been the case the last few seasons. But here’s the other thing: The Bears proved in Cincinnati that they can win a shootout. This Bears team is never out of it.
Thompson: With all due respect, this is just standard operating procedure in the AFC North, where Lamar Jackson versus Joe Burrow is a typical Sunday in the division. And where teams lack that level of firepower (i.e. the Browns), they tend to bring nightmarish defense. The Steelers are somewhere between those worlds, so they don’t have many obvious soft spots to exploit. Mike Tomlin is like the human manifestation of killer instinct, which is why his Steelers are perennial playoff contenders. We have yet to see the Bears beat that type of team, but doing so could be the next step in their evolution.
5. Are the Bears really winning or are mediocre teams beating themselves?
Vikings wide receiver Jordan Addison drops a pass in front of Bears free safety Kevin Byard III in the fourth quarter Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025, at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
Biggs: The Bears are winning because they’ve come up with the go-ahead score five times in the final two minutes of the last seven games. It’s a real heater they’ve been on in crunch time in coach Ben Johnson’s first season, even if some of the victories have come against a handful of teams that will be in the mix for a top-five draft pick come April. Let’s borrow from Bill Parcells, who said you are what your record says you are, while also acknowledging that without playing more complete games, the Bears are going to have a difficult time beating some of their upcoming opponents.
Hammond: While it’s a fact some of these wins have come against bad teams — the standings say as much — it’s also a fact the Bears are winning these games. In every one of these close wins, they’ve had to make a play. You have to give them credit there. Williams and Rome Odunze connected for a big-time touchdown against the Raiders, and that was before Josh Blackwell’s blocked field goal. D’Andre Swift’s clutch runs at Washington, Colston Loveland’s big play in Cincinnati, Williams’ rushing heroics against the Giants and now Devin Duvernay’s big return in Minnesota. The Bears are making plays and beating teams. That’s no fluke.
Thompson: It’s some of both. The victory against the Dallas Cowboys remains the Bears’ most convincing win, even when you deduct the low level of difficulty against Matt Eberflus’ feeble defense. Takeaways too often have been the Bears’ salvation in tight games (the Commanders and Giants games, for example), though they deserve credit for forcing them. The Bengals have a special gift for self-destruction. The Vikings did whatever they could to help the Bears — turnovers, overthrows, drops — and still led with less than a minute left. And if there’s any doubt about these teams’ ability to find ways to lose, just look at the standings.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/18/chicago-bears-nfc-north-pressing-questions/
