One of the beautiful things about football is the electrifying, high-flying offense it can produce. Deep passes, beastly runs, and enough points to ensure there’s never a lull in the action.
There was nothing beautiful or sexy about this game. Just a slow-burning grind of a contest that somehow felt neck and neck, yet out of reach at the exact same time.
Over the past few weeks, head coach Ben Johnson and his Chicago Bears have shown the highs, lows, and all the ways in between that this team can play football. The name of the game this week? Squeeze every ounce of life out of the New York Jets.
THE LEADUP
The Bears themselves had plenty of life coming into this matchup. Chicago was coming off an astonishing Monday Night win at home over the Philadelphia Eagles by the arm of Case Keenum, a 38-year-old making his first start in three years.
The borderline quarterback coach got a chance to show what he can do on the field and became a fan favorite overnight.
The Jets, on the other hand, didn’t have a lot of life, but still more than they usually do.
New York was coming off a close loss to the Bears’ division rival, the Detroit Lions, where another older quarterback, Geno Smith, got to show the world that he still had something in the tank despite the poor result.
OFFENSE
Unfortunately for Smith, the Bears made sure he wouldn’t get much of a chance to show off anything else he had buried deep in there.
After a ceremonial “first pitch” from Case Keenum, quarterback Tyson Bagent, fully back from concussion protocol, led the Bears offense in grinding the Jets into dust.
Nearly 43 minutes of possession. 492 yards of offense. 89 plays. 34 first downs.
Goodness gracious, Chicago was like that little kid who grabs hold of the ball and hunches over to make sure no one else can get it. That is, if that kid was an NFL offense, that could knock the teeth out of any poor child who wanted a turn.
Bagent was a mostly efficient game manager on the day, completing 73% of his passes for 268 yards.
Chicago Bears quarterback Tyson Bagent (17) throws a pass against the New York Jets in the game on Sunday, October 4, 2026, at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois (Matt Marton / Imagn-Images).
I say mostly because the young quarterback has plenty to work on in the future. While the final stat line shows that he only threw one interception, the tape shows that he threw four, with a staggering three of them being called back because of penalties.
However, that one he threw was enough to break New York’s streak of 636 consecutive passes without an interception. That’s twenty games in a row without even accidentally getting a pick. Jets fans can rejoice, though, as the nightmare and ridicule from the rest of the league are finally over.
On another negative note, running back D’Andre Swift has secured himself a very nice setup and resting place in Ben Johnson’s doghouse.
After fumbling in the third quarter for the second time in three weeks, Swift didn’t get a snap for the rest of the game. While Swift was dealing with a knee injury for much of the week, when Johnson was asked if that’s why he stopped seeing the field, he stated, “No. Nothing like that.”
Swift will need to step up his game back to his Week 1 performance against the Panthers if he wants to live up to his new contract.
However, his benching opened the door for his running mate, Kyle Monangai, to pop off for 150 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He consistently moved the chains with his bruising style, allowing the Bears to get first down after first down and burn the clock to the point that the Jets only had the ball for 45 seconds in the fourth quarter.
He did struggle with getting the ball across the goal line, as Swift did, which was part of the reason Chicago only scored 23 points despite the absurd offensive stats mentioned earlier. Red zone offense should certainly be a point of emphasis for Chicago moving forward.
DEFENSE
While the offense will get all the love for the numbers they put up, the defense was just as crucial in keeping the Jets’ numbers as low as they were.
Over the course of the game, New York did not convert a single third down and had fewer plays, 32, than Chicago had first downs, 34.
Linebacker Devin Bush even said after the game that this was, “One of the easiest NFL games I ever played in. I’m not sore at all. I got bored at times,” which was one of the most honest, candid, yet downright disrespectful things an NFL player could say.
Chicago Bears linebacker Devin Bush (12) sacks New York Jets quarterback Geno Smith (7) in the third quarter of the game on Sunday, October 4, 2026, at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune).
Aside from a 58-yard deep ball from Geno Smith to Isaiah Williams late in the contest, it looked very easy for the Bears to stymie the Jets at every turn.
Even after two turnovers put New York in prime scoring position, Chicago’s defense held them to just two field goals.
Defensive ends Dayo Odeyingbo and Austin Booker joined Bush in the sack party, adding to an already stout defensive performance.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Another smooth operation for this unit as Santos nailed all three of his field goals and both of his extra points, and Tory Taylor didn’t need to punt once. An easy day at the office.
GAME BALL
Devin Bush: For securing four tackles and a huge sack that took the New York Jets out of scoring range.
THE FUTURE
If the Chicago Bears were a Power 4 football program, this would be considered their hate week. Next Sunday, they travel a few hours north to Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin, to take on the hated Packers.
This is not the usual strong and solid Green Bay Packers team of years past; they look very rough. Despite a 2-2 start, they have yet to truly assert themselves at any point and look ripe for a mauling at the hands of the Monsters of the Midway.
That being said, the Bears aren’t exactly squeaky clean either. They will still be without quarterback Caleb Williams, and Johnson must decide between the potentially fluky Keenum or the young, rough-around-the-edges Bagent.
Regardless, Chicago will need to bring their A-game to the oldest rivalry matchup in the NFL if they really want to give their fans a good reason to chant, “Green Bay sucks.”
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