Chicago Bears

New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers is no longer a member of the Green Bay Packers, but he seemingly still has it out for the Chicago Bears.

During an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday, Rodgers said the NFC North has "three really good teams," and although he didn't specifically single them out, it was made quite apparent that Rodgers did not include the Bears among that group:

Despite being at .500 with a 4-4 record, the Bears are in last place in the division behind the 7-1 Detroit Lions, 6-2 Minnesota Vikings and 6-3 Packers.

When McAfee expressed his belief that the Bears are "figuring it out," Rodgers quipped that they "still gotta play the Pack twice."

Rodgers spent the first 18 seasons of his career, including 15 as a starter, with the Packers, and he was the Bears' worst nightmare for much of that time.

In 29 career starts against the Bears, Rodgers has a remarkable 24-5 record, throwing for 6,965 yards, 64 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in those games.

Rodgers wasn't shy about rubbing his dominance in the faces of the Bears and their fans either, as he famously told Bears fans, "I still own you," after rushing for a touchdown during a 2021 game in Chicago:

Rodgers has not started a game against the Bears since getting traded to the Jets prior to last season, and New York is not scheduled to face Chicago in 2024.

However, the Packers continue to be a thorn in the Bears' side, as quarterback Jordan Love led Green Bay to two wins over Chicago last season, including a Week 18 victory that helped push the Packers into the playoffs.

The Packers have yet to face the Bears this season, but their first matchup is set for Sunday in Chicago. Their second meeting will be in the final week of the regular season in Green Bay.

Green Bay is coming off a 24-14 loss to the Lions that wasn't as competitive as the score suggests, but the Packers won four games in a row before that, including three victories over teams that are .500 or better.

As for Rodgers and the Jets, they finally snapped a five-game losing streak last week, going on the road to beat the Houston Texans 21-13.

Rodgers will look to boost the Jets record to 4-6 on Sunday, but it won't be easy since they are going on the road to face a 5-4 Arizona Cardinals team that has won three in a row.

The Chicago Bears have lost two straight games amid significant offensive struggles, but the franchise that has never fired a head coach in-season and is historically known for being more reactive than proactive is not making any significant play-calling changes heading into Week 10 against the New England Patriots.

Head coach Matt Eberflus confirmed Monday that Chicago is not taking play-calling duties away from offensive coordinator Shane Waldron, per ESPN's Courtney Cronin.

"We're looking to find answers, and that's where we're at collectively as a group, offense and defense," Eberflus said. "We'll go through that process here today, tomorrow and implement that plan on Wednesday."

It has been quite the two weeks for the Bears since their Week 7 bye.

Everything seemed to be trending in the right direction after they improved to 4-2 with a blowout win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in London. No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams looked like a star in the making with four touchdown passes, and the team went into the bye with plenty of momentum.

Then, everything changed.

Jayden Daniels stunned Chicago with a game-winning Hail Mary in the final play of the Washington Commanders' 18-15 win on Oct. 27 to cap off a sequence of coaching that can only be described as brutal.

The Bears gave Washington a free 13 yards on the penultimate play by not defending anything except the end zone, which put Daniels in position to throw the Hail Mary. They also didn't call a timeout to go over their strategy in a chaotic sequence and chose to both not blitz the rookie and, for some unknown reason, keep a quarterback spy near the line of scrimmage for the Hail Mary.

The result was cornerback Tyrique Stevenson batting the ball into the air, and it fell into the waiting hands of Noah Brown. Stevenson did so after taunting the Washington fans as the play was going on, which led to his benching for the ensuing game against the Arizona Cardinals.

Rather than rallying after a shocking loss, the Bears then went out and lost 29-9 to the Cardinals.

While the Hail Mary made the headlines, Chicago could have won the Washington game well before that with better offense and play-calling. Williams went just 10-of-24 for 131 yards, and the Bears turned the ball over at the goal line in the fourth quarter when Waldron decided it was a good idea to hand the ball off to a backup offensive lineman Doug Kramer instead of a running back.

Waldron then doubled down on the play and told reporters he would perhaps call it again if the situation presented itself.

There weren't a lot of goal-line situations for the Bears against the Cardinals, as the team failed to score a touchdown, managed a grand total of 241 yards of offense and went 3-of-14 on third down.

Williams was sacked six times, while running back D'Andre Swift averaged just 3.2 yards per carry.

Some of the Bears players already met with Waldron to express their frustration in September, and it has now reached the point where multiple players have publicly called out Eberflus and the coaching staff. That was especially the case after the Hail Mary loss to the Commanders.

Yet Chicago is going to stay the course when it comes to play-calling for the game against the Patriots.

Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus has come under fire during the Chicago Bears' two-game losing streak, but it doesn't appear as though his players are abandoning ship just yet.

"I want to say no," wide receiver D.J. Moore said on the 670 The Score when asked if the head coach has lost the locker room. "The message yesterday was that we know we're 4-4 now, just like being 0-0. But you've just got to go out there and start stacking wins like we did, and that's the best thing you can do is win, and then let the chips fall how they fall after we do so."

You could break Chicago's season into three distinct parts.

The first was a 1-2 start, as the offense sputtered early on. That wasn't completely unexpected, given the Bears were starting Caleb Williams, though there were enough weapons around him that expectations had been high coming into the season.

The Bears then rattled off three straight wins, exceeding 35 points in two of them, and suddenly Chicago was feeling like a potential playoff team.

Then came the latest two-game losing streak, and it's been a painful one—the team lost to the Washington Commanders on a final-play Hail Mary, with Eberflus catching heat for how the team defended the play and final Washington drive.

And on Sunday, the Bears were smoked by the Arizona Cardinals 29-9, and Eberflus was again questioned for his decision-making, notably keeping Williams in the game late despite the contest being decided. Williams suffered an ankle injury in the final moments, though it appears it wasn't serious.

"We're just getting work," Eberflus told reporters about keeping his rookie quarterback in the game. "Getting work and getting timing, getting timing in the two-minute operation. That's what we're doing."

"It's not my decision. You fight to the end of the game if you're in the game," Williams added of remaining in the contest. "If not, that's coach's decision. We'll figure out the next steps, but not my decision."

As for the season moving forward, the Bears have a very winnable matchup next week against the 2-7 New England Patriots before the schedule becomes very tough, with games against the Green Bay Packers (twice), Minnesota Vikings (twice), Detroit Lions (twice), San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks remaining.

We will find out just how good this Bears team is during that stretch, which likely will decide Eberflus' future as well.

Chicago Bears wide receiver Keenan Allen lamented the team's inability to execute on offense following a lopsided 29-9 loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.

"Lack of execution, I guess," Allen said, per Kevin Fishbain of The Athletic. "Not converting, not being able to get points on the board. Just one of them days."

The 32-year-old was targeted a team-high 10 times against the Cardinals, but he hauled in four receptions for 36 yards.

The Bears were only able to amass 241 total yards on Sunday, averaging a mere 3.4 yards per play. They converted just three of 14 third-down opportunities and couldn't find the end zone throughout the duration of the contest.

Caleb Williams dealt with inaccuracy as he was repeatedly pressured in the pocket, getting sacked six times. Williams finished 22-of-41 for 217 yards without a touchdown or an interception.

For the Cardinals, Kyler Murray also couldn't find any rhythm in the pass game. He completed 13 throws for 154 yards, but Arizona was still able to win by rushing for 213 yards as a team.

While Allen wasn't satisfied with Chicago's execution, head coach Matt Eberflus also took responsibility for the subpar offensive performance.

"[I take] full responsibility for that," Eberflus said, per ESPN's Courtney Cronin. "We'll work with the offensive staff tomorrow morning as we watch this tape tonight and find answers. Find answers for running the ball, first. Making sure you do that and setting everything off of that. Then making sure we have good actions off of that to start. On first and second down."

After averaging 31.7 points per game during a three-game win streak from Week 4 through Week 6, the Bears have been held to just 24 total points in their past two contests.

Allen is still looking to get on the same page as Williams, with the six-time Pro Bowl wideout averaging a career-low 32.8 yards per game in six appearances this season.

Chicago will attempt to get back on track during an upcoming Week 10 matchup with the New England Patriots.

Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams appears to have avoided a major injury late in Sunday's loss against the Arizona Cardinals.

Both Williams and head coach Matt Eberflus confirmed after the game that the injury wasn't serious.

Any injury to Williams is going will be a concern for the Bears considering they made him the face of the franchise and quarterback of the present and future when they selected him with the No. 1 overall pick of the 2024 NFL draft.

They also traded Justin Fields during the same offseason, underscoring their belief in Williams' ability to lead them into the postseason.

Williams won the Heisman Trophy at USC during the 2022 campaign and remained atop draft boards while throwing for 30 touchdowns and five interceptions in 2023. He has appeared in eight games as a rookie, throwing for nine touchdowns and five interceptions.

The Bears likely need Williams back and healthy if they are going to make a run for the playoffs. Despite Sunday's disappointing loss, the team's second in a row, the Bears remain 4-4 and firmly in the NFC playoff picture.

Following the Arizona Cardinals' 29-9 victory over the Chicago Bears on Sunday, fans criticized Bears quarterback Caleb Williams for failing to find the end zone against Kyler Murray and the Cardinals.

In a game where the Cardinals rushed the football extremely effectively, Arizona improved to 5-4 on the season, extending their winning streak to three games, while Chicago dropped to 4-4.

Both quarterbacks failed to connect in the end zone, with all of Chicago's points coming from its kicker, Cairo Santos, who accounted for the team's three field goals. Meanwhile, all of Arizona's points came from rushing plays.

Williams completed 22-41 passes for 216 yards with zero touchdowns while Murray completed 13-of-20 passes for 154 yards with zero touchdowns and one fumble.

Emari Demercado, Trey Benson, and Trey McBride scored for the Cardinals on the way to the team's 29 points.

In a lackluster showing for both quarterbacks, Chicago fans really dug their heels into the lack of offensive play-making that came from Williams.

The Bears are now on a two-game losing streak after winning three straight at home and will face the 2-7 New England Patriots at Soldier Field next Sunday.

The Chicago Bears are benching cornerback Tyrique Stevenson for Sunday's game against the Arizona Cardinals, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.

Rapoport reported this is a "one-week demotion" resulting from Stevenson taunting fans and being slow to react on Jayden Daniels' Hail Mary pass to give the Washington Commanders a Week 8 win over Chicago.

The 2023 second-round pick received plenty of mockery and criticism in the aftermath of the play. He apologized on social media hours after the game ended.

Bears wide receiver DJ Moore, one of the Bears' team captains, indicated Monday the matter may not be totally closed. He said in an interview on 670 The Score's Mully & Haugh Show that "we've still got to address it as a leadership group in front of the team."

Per Rapoport, Stevenson isn't being frozen out completely in Week 9. He remains on the active roster "and is expected to rotate in with cornerback Terell Smith." The NFL insider added that "this is expected to be the last step in the process to unwind" from the Hail Mary.

Stevenson has appeared in six of the Bears' first seven games. He has 35 tackles, one interception and six pass breakups

On Sunday, Chicago will look to slow down Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray after he threw for a season-best 307 yards in a victory over the Miami Dolphins last week.

The Chicago Bears' loss to the Washington Commanders on a Hail Mary touchdown pass by rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels wasn't just one of the best highlights of the year, but it reportedly was also a teachable moment for the rest of the NFL.

During Tuesday's episode of Scoop City, The Athletic's Dianna Russini revealed that multiple coaches told her they planned on showing the Hail Mary play to their teams so they could avoid the same mistakes that the Bears made on defense.

"I was talking to some coaches this morning about what they saw from it, even yesterday after the game, just sort of the teachable moments, and I had one coach say, 'Oh, we are showing this in our team meeting on Monday. This is what not to do,'" Russini said around the 5:30 mark.

The Bears failed to box out Commanders wide receiver Noah Brown, who was alone in the end zone when he caught the ball after it was tipped up into the air for the game-winning touchdown.

Russini added that it's a common practice for coaches to use bad plays by other teams to reinforce their teachings to their own players.

"A lot of really good teams do that, where they collect all the bad plays around the league and they rip through them as a teaching mechanism to say, 'Hey! Reminder! We don't want to make this mistake,' or 'Hey! This is why we practice this, this is why we practice that.' So, it's definitely something that's gonna be used."

Legendary NFL head coach Bill Belichick became the latest to pile on Chicago Bears cornerback Tyrique Stevenson for his "ridiculous play" on the Washington Commanders' successful Hail Mary on Sunday.

Appearing on The Pat McAfee Show, Belichick said that Stevenson "has no idea what's going on" and made a "terrible play":

The second-year defensive back has been singled out for a lot of criticism in the aftermath of Chicago's 18-15 defeat.

A viral video showed him looking toward the side of the field at Commanders fans and appearing to talk trash. This continued even briefly after the ball was snapped. Then Stevenson made the fateful tip on the ball before it landed in the arms of Washington wide receiver Noah Brown.

Stevenson apologized on X and said he'll learn from his mistake:

DJ Moore, one of the Bears' captains, said Monday on 670 The Score's Mully & Haugh Show he and the other team leaders "need to really address that" in terms of the gaffe.

Bears fans have experienced plenty of heartbreak through the years, and the mere mention of a player's name can evoke so many bad memories. It still may not be safe to utter the words "Cody" and "Parkey" together in the Windy City.

Stevenson wrote his name into franchise lore for all the wrong reasons against Washington.