👋 Good morning!

For a moment on Sunday afternoon, it seemed like we might be able to talk about the Bears’ path to finish Week 7 in first place in the NFC North.

Thanks for nothing, Arizona Cardinals.

They are who we thought they were — a bad football team. Ho hum.

– Patrick Norton

🏈🍺 WATCH PARTY 🍺🏈

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• CHGO Bears Pre & Post Shows
• Bears at Ravens (noon)
• Brick By Brick w/ Briggs & Azumah

Where: Joe’s on Weed St.

When: October 26th at 10:30 a.m.

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Good Things Come In Fours

It wasn’t pretty but there’s nothing wrong with winning ugly in the NFL. Now, after dispatching the Saints at Soldier Field on Sunday, the Bears are 4-2 for the first time since…2024 — last season…😬

Four — It’s A Magic Number:
- The Bears are winners of four straight for the first time since 2018, Matt Nagy’s first season in charge. The Bears had winning streaks of five games, four and three that year en route to what is still their only season with double-digit wins since firing Lovie Smith in 2012.
- The Bears took the ball away from the Saints’ offense four times on Sunday, bringing their tally over the win streak to 15. They lead the NFL with 16 takeaways and have the best turnover differential (+11) this season.
- Montez Sweat’s strip sack on the Saints’ first possession marked the fourth consecutive week that the Bears’ defense has forced a takeaway on their opponent’s first drive of the game.
  
  The Bears are the first team to do that since the Los Angeles Rams did it in 2017 — and it’s the first time the Bears have done that since 1987.
- Dennis Allen’s Bears defense sacked Saints QB Spencer Rattler four times — a season-high for the Bears’ unit. Sweat, Jaquan Brisker, Tremaine Edmunds and Kyler Gordon each tallied one sack.
- So much for worrying about Jake Moody kicking at Soldier Field for the first time with whipping wind and pouring rain. With Cairo Santos out for a second straight week, Moody went 4-for-4 on field goal tries and 2-for-2 on extra points.
Not Unscathed: TE Cole Kmet left Sunday’s game after sustaining a back injury in the second half. Kmet was quickly ruled “doubtful” and did not return.

CB Tyrique Stevenson also exited early, leaving with a shoulder injury late in the second quarter. With Stevenson sidelined, the Bears used Nahshon Wright and Nick McCloud as cornerbacks.

Wright also left briefly in the second half after a nasty collision with S Kevin Byard. In the brief set without Wright available, Kyler Gordon moved from the nickel to corner and Josh Blackwell took over for Gordon.

It’s probably worth noting that the NFL’s trade deadline is Tuesday, November 4th.

The defense, save for the closing drive in the first half and opening drive in the second, was nearly flawless.

The Bears’ offense was a different story. Caleb Williams finished 15-for-26 passing for 172 yards with no touchdowns and one bad interception in the first quarter.

He and center Drew Dalman also struggled with the snap exchange, putting the ball on the ground three different times. Dalman took responsibility after the game and said he was on the wrong cadence.

Luckily for the Bears, the rushing attack picked up the slack. D’Andre Swift ran for a season-high 124 yards on 19 carries and rookie Kyle Monangai added 81 yards on 13 attempts. Both reached the end zone.

The Bears’ 222 rushing yards were the team’s most since Week 16 of the 2023 season, when Justin Fields, Khalil Herbert, Roschon Johnson and Velus Jones Jr. combined for 250 against the Arizona Cardinals.

Swift said after the game: “When the (offensive) line is doing what they are doing and the receivers are blocking, everyone in our room should have a phenomenal day.”

Bears 26, Saints 14

CHGO Bears POSTGAME
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• CHGO Bears AFTERSHOW

• Jahns: Dennis Allen’s defense delivers again & again

• Carm’s Grades: Tremaine Edmunds leads surging D

• Norton: D’Andre Swift, run game explodes

Blackhawks 2, Ducks 1 - F/OT: Appearing in his 100th career game, Spencer Knight nearly pulled off an incredibly impressive shutout. It just wasn’t meant to be — the Ducks tied the game on the power play with 35 seconds left in the third period to force overtime.

In OT, Connor Bedard was denied by Ducks goaltender Lukas Dostal, but Bedard stuck with the play and made a slick pass through two defenders to Ryan Donato, who buried the puck in a wide-open net. It’s the third straight game Donato has scored a goal.

Frank Nazar whacked home a rebound to finally break the scoring seal in the third period. Knight was named the first star of the game, tallying 38 saves on 39 shots.

At 3-2-2, it’s the first time the Blackhawks have at least eight points through their first seven games since beginning the 2022-23 season 4-3-0.

Additionally, because the Blackhawks haven’t lost a game by more than a goal this season, they have the seventh best plus-minus (+4) in the league.

MORE: Jay Zawaski & Greg Boysen on the Blackhawks’ surprisingly decent start

Injury Update: The Bulls announced center Zach Collins underwent successful surgery on Friday to repair a non-displaced fracture in his left wrist. He will be reevaluated in four weeks.

Collins, 27, was acquired from the San Antonio Spurs last season in the deal that sent Zach LaVine to the Sacramento Kings. In 28 games down the stretch with the Bulls, Collins averaged 8.6 points and 6.7 rebounds per game.