Chicago Bears Divisional Round Notes: We Went For It

The Chicago Bears hosted the Los Angeles Rams for the right to travel to Seattle for the NFC Championship game on the line, the final game before Super Bowl LX.

As anyone who has watched the Bears this season would expect, it came down to the wire in an overtime battle. The Bears may not have come out on top, but not only did they cover the spread (3.5pts), but they went further than nearly anyone expected this season. Here are my notes from the final game of the 2025 season.

Offense:

• Loved the first play of the game on the bootleg rollout pass to DJ in the flat that he took 30+ yards upfield. Arguably, our best opening play of the entire season.
• Swift followed up with some nice running early, and I was once again flummoxed as to why he did not get more burn in this one.
• Not to sound hyperbolic, but I felt it then, and I still feel it now that the dropped TD by Rome was the biggest play of the game. An absolute backbreaker with a chance to finally score a TD on the opening drive, only to ultimately give the ball back to LA without putting up any points. Caleb’s pass was absolutely on point, and his accuracy seemed mostly great all day. Gotta have that one if you are Rome. And he dropped a couple of others, too. Big time disappointment.
• Burden III continues to make plays every game where he looks like the best athlete on the field. Though he seemed to struggle with his assignments on a couple of occasions, somewhat of an issue at this point in the season, he actually looks like our best WR in my opinion. From route-running to his ability to catch the ball away from his body and then his electricity with the ball in his hands, Burden III could become WR1 sooner rather than later.
• Not a huge fan of all the 4th down attempts in this one. At or beyond the 50 yard line? Sure. I can get it with the wind and weather conditions affecting the kicking game. But back on our side of the field? Not a fan. Furthermore, I feel like Ben called a different game in these playoffs than he had during the regular season and I am not sure that drastically switching up tendencies when it matters most is the best idea. If you aren’t going to go for it in the regular season like that, why do so in the playoffs?
• Additionally, and I know we had Thuney at LT and McFadden at LG, but we continued to struggle controlling the LOS this week, like we have the last few. I personally thought they got predictable against the Rams, almost forcing each run to the right side where Jackson and Wright lined up and wished they had run some counters to the left, but alas…
• Speaking of calls, I was not a fan of Ben’s calls for much of this divisional round game. Aside from the 4th down attempts and consistent runs to the right, I wish they had gotten Swift more involved and felt like DJ was largely avoided after the opening quarter.
• Drops man. Can’t give my notes without talking about the drops. I counted 2 for Rome, 3 for Loveland (who had his worst game of the season, IMO), and 1 for Luther. Whole different ball-game if we catch half of those.
• Not a fan of TE screens. Like ever ever.
• All in all, some positives in this one, and I would be remiss to not mention the exceptional job that Joe Thuney did at LT, but in the end, it was not enough for one more magical comeback on an otherwise spectacular season.

Defense:

• My very first note was that I was not happy seeing CJGJ in the game before Kyler Gordon. I am a huge CJGJ fan and hope we can bring him back, but he is NOT Kyler Gordon and it showed.
• Puka had a nice catch here and there, but ultimately was mostly held in check due to the schemes and/or the weather.
• Decent pressure to start, but not good enough. It is blatantly obvious where our weaknesses lie on this team and it begins and ends up front on Defense.
• Even when we blitzed, we didn’t seem to get home enough. Though I did love seeing Brisker and Kyler get home on some blitzes in against Stafford.
• Speaking of Brisker, I think that was easily his best game of the season. His durability and potential salary cap number could remove him from consideration to return, but if we could sign him to a team-friendly deal with loaded incentives for playing time and sacks/turnovers, I would love to see him back. I am not sure any player on either side of the ball enjoys being a Bear as much as him.
• Speaking of Kyler, he immediately made an impact when he finally did get in. Both in the run and passing games, and NEARLY had a pick of Stafford on a deep out-breaking route. Our defense is completely different with him on the field and I hope he can return fully healthy next season.
• Really enjoy seeing Kyler and CJ on the field at the same time and wish we had them together more. But that double blitz where they both came had Stafford scared. Just wish we didn’t have to bring extra pressure to affect the QB.
• Got some solid snaps out of Dom Rob again. Wonder if he has a future on this team.
• Felt the fans were a bit too quiet when the Rams were in the redzone and ended up scoring. I understand the Bears’ O was frustrating, but we needed it louder there.
• Also thought our defense looked different with Tyrique Stevenson on the field. I wish he was getting the playing time over Nahshon Wright, but Jaylon Johnson is clearly not 100% so they are trying to keep him healthy.
• Speaking of Nahshon, he had a fantastic run stop on a blitz and a terrible “hands to the face” penalty called on him that may have been the most bogus call against us all year. Extended the drive and ended in points after playing great D to force a 4th down. 2 such game-extending penalties that I can remember in this one.

Special Teams:

• Loved what I saw once again from Devin Duvernay. His opening return, where he bounced off a would-be tackler to gain an extra 10 yards, set the tone in this one.
• Santos was once again clutch. And I thought he should have been utilized more in this tight battle.
• Blackwell with some excellent coverage on kickoff team.
• Tory Taylor looked good in the cold. Also should have been used more.