Half of the dozen games on today’s National Football League schedule are played under domes and the other six under fair skies. No weather today to interfere with the play on the field.
The Chicago Bears are alone in first place. They are leading one of the toughest divisions in football, the NFC North. They have a half-game edge over the Green Bay Packers, and one game over the Detroit Lions. The Minnesota Vikings are in last place with a 4 and 6 season record. Chicago has risen to the top of the standings after losing their first two games of the season to division opponents, the Vikings and Lions.
How has this happened?
Credit to first-year head coach Ben Johnson. He has led the Bears while taking advantage of the skillset his players offer and designing game plans that suit their second-year quarterback, Caleb Williams. When coaching comes into play, and it always does, Johnson has been stellar in recent years. Before accepting the Bears job this season he was offensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions who under his guidance were the highest scoring team in football last year, and second only to the San Francisco 49ers in all football in 2023.
Today, the Bears host the Pittsburgh Steelers at Soldier Field while looking to extend a seven-win run in the last eight weeks that include a number of nailbiters. Among their seven wins this year are last week’s last second winning field goal in Minnesota, a four-point win over the New York Giants two weeks ago, and a last second touchdown the week before to beat the Cincinnati Bengals on the road.
More close games include a one-point win over the Raiders in Las Vegas and a one-point win against the Commanders in Washington.
Is this season reminiscent of the one enjoyed by the Kansas City Chiefs last year? They too were consistently on the right side of close games while winning 15 regular season games.
Well, one could think the Bears success is going to continue like it did for the Chiefs last year all the way to the Super Bowl … where the dam burst on Andy Reid’s team in a lopsided loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
But I don’t.
I think the biggest difference between the Chiefs last year and the Bears this season is that the Chiefs success was built on a foundation of winning. In 2024, Kansas City won their ninth straight division title.
The Bears don’t have that kind of foundation. Chicago hasn’t won a division title since 2018, and the last three seasons ended the year in the NFC North Division cellar. Now they are perched alone in first place for the first time in memory and meeting a Pittsburgh squad that is looking to stay ahead of the hard-charging Baltimore Ravens in the AFC North Division.
It has been a great run for Johnson and company but today their week alone atop their division likely comes to an end. Their two closest competitors, the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions, are both favored to win today, and both probably will. By the end of today, the Bears will be in all likelihood behind the Packers and tied with the Lions.
At least that is the way the public sees it if we are right about the Steelers winning at Soldier Field today. The public’s favorite plays of the day begin with the Detroit Lions (-13) over the New York Giants followed by the Seattle Seahawks (-12) over the Tennessee Titans and Green Bay Packers (-6) over the Minnesota Vikings.
As for our Qoxhi selections, they are now posted on this site and if a Bullet Play develops in the final hour before the first kickoff of the day, that game will be added to the list of recommendations by 9:45 a.m. Pacific Time.