Schedule The Bears' 2018 schedule was announced on April 19. The first two games took place in
prime time as the Bears played week one on
NBC Sunday Night Football and week two on
ESPN's
Monday Night Football. Weeks ten to twelve saw three consecutive games against NFC North opponents, marking the Bears' first three-game divisional stretch since 2007. The second match of the slate, week eleven against the Vikings, was initially scheduled for Sunday afternoon before being
flexed to
Sunday Night Football. The following week's game against the Lions was played on
Thanksgiving Day, making the Bears the first team since the
AFL–NFL merger in 1970 to play a Thursday afternoon game after playing on Sunday night. Through this stretch, they managed to win three division games in a 12-day span. The Bears' week seventeen game against the Vikings was flexed to 3:25 p.m. because of its impact on the playoffs. Chicago wore its navy blue jerseys in six of the eight home games, along with the away whites in all but one road game. For the week six game against the
Miami Dolphins and the week eleven matchup against the Vikings, the Bears wore orange jerseys for the first time since 2011. Week eight against the
New York Jets saw the use of the 1940s throwbacks.
Game summaries Week 1: at Green Bay Packers In the first game of the 2018 regular season, the Bears visited
Lambeau Field to take on the longtime rival
Green Bay Packers. Entering the game, the Packers led the all-time series 96–94–6, with the Packers having won all but three games since
2010. Leading up to the game, Matt Nagy announced the team would not have permanent
team captains and instead opt for a rotating weekly system consisting of three players (one from the offense, defense, and special teams apiece), which was previously used by Nagy in Kansas City. As such, Mitchell Trubisky, defensive end
Akiem Hicks, and running back/special teamer
Benny Cunningham were named week one's captains. After the Packers punted on the first drive, Chicago eventually scored on a two-yard touchdown run by Trubisky to cap off an 86-yard series. Chicago continued its momentum with Cody Parkey's 26-yard field goal after another Packers punt in the second quarter. During the quarter, Packers quarterback
Aaron Rodgers suffered a knee injury and was replaced by
DeShone Kizer, who lost a fumble to newly acquired linebacker Khalil Mack while inside the Bears' ten-yard line; Mack also intercepted Kizer's pass and returned it for a 27-yard touchdown to put the Bears up 17–0 at halftime, the team's biggest advantage at Lambeau during the
Brett Favre/Rodgers era. With the score, Green Bay was up 24–23 with 2:13 left in the game. In spite of the defeat, positives included Roquan Smith sacking Kizer on his first career NFL snap, fewer penalties than usual (five for 35 yards; in their last four games in Green Bay, the Bears averaged ten penalties for 106 yards), and a lack of turnovers allowed. Offensive lineman
Bobby Massie stated, "There's a lot of things we did well. Nobody gave us a chance in that game. Just corrections that need to be made. We've got to finish stronger and things won't be a problem."
Week 2: vs. Seattle Seahawks . Hoping to rebound from the loss in Green Bay, the Bears hosted the 0–1
Seattle Seahawks on
Monday Night Football in week two. In 17 all-time games between the two, Seattle led the series 11–6, including winning the last four regular season meetings. Despite the result of the Packers game, history showed optimism for the Seahawks matchup as the Bears were 7–1 in the first game after a loss to Rodgers at Lambeau Field. Although mobile Seahawks quarterback
Russell Wilson led the NFL in passing touchdowns in 2017, he struggled in week one against the Broncos as he threw two interceptions, was sacked six times, and had just five rushing yards. Furthermore, he lost receiver
Doug Baldwin to a knee injury, making the run game more crucial. With the exception of veteran safety
Earl Thomas, Seattle's defense was inexperienced and struggled against Denver; in his game preview,
Sports Illustrated writer Andy Benoit expected the Seahawks to suffer difficulties against a misdirection-based Bears offense. Predicting a Bears victory, Benoit added that while Wilson will have over 50 rushing yards, the Seattle offense will be restricted to below 300 total yards. Running back
Jordan Howard, nose tackle
Eddie Goldman, and tight end/special teams player
Ben Braunecker represented the Bears as team captains. After the Seahawks punted on the opening drive, the Bears once again scored on their first possession as Trubisky engineered a 96-yard drive that ended with a two-yard
shovel pass touchdown to Trey Burton. Despite the early success, the quarterback struggled in the second quarter as he was intercepted on two consecutive drives, both by
Shaquill Griffin, though the Seahawks could not capitalize as they were forced to punt on every ensuing series. On one drive, Wilson fumbled after Mack stripped him on third down. By halftime, both teams added field goals on their last drives (Parkey making a 25 yarder,
Sebastian Janikowski converting a 56 yarder on the final play of the first half). After a scoreless third quarter, Including the four sacks against Green Bay, the Bears had a league-high ten sacks after two games. "Our theme this game was to play all four quarters and finish. I'm so glad that this was a team win and we got that bad taste out of our mouth last week," Amukamara said. To begin the 2018 season, the Cardinals struggled mightily on offense, especially in the first half: across the first two quarters of both games, they were outscored 40–0, had an NFL-worst 96 rushing yards on 32 carries for an average of 3 yards, and never crossed the 50-yard line into opposing territory. In contrast, the Bears' first-half team had 27 points against just 3 points allowed, while the defense allowed 150 yards on 56 plays (average of 2.7 yards), the lowest in the league. On the opposite side, Arizona's defense saw the return of defensive end
Markus Golden from an ACL injury in 2017, who – along with
Chandler Jones – assisted the Cardinals in recording the most sacks in 2016. In Golden's absence, Jones had an NFL-high 17.5 sacks in 2017, a situation that
Chicago Sun-Times writer Mark Potash pointed out would prove a challenge for the Bears' tackles in their effort to protect Trubisky. Massie, Amukamara, and linebacker/special teamer
Sam Acho were named team captains; Massie and Acho were former Cardinals, while Amukamara is an Arizona native. In contrast to their first half woes in the first two games of 2018, the Cardinals opened the game by scoring on a five-play, 75-yard drive that ended with
Sam Bradford's 35-yard touchdown pass to
Ricky Seals-Jones. The Bears attempted to respond by driving to the Cardinals' 13-yard line, but Trubisky was sacked for a 15-yard loss and Parkey missed a 46-yard field goal wide right. On Chicago's next drive, Trubisky was sacked by
Robert Nkemdiche and fumbled, losing the ball to
Corey Peters. On the first play of the ensuing drive, Bradford threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to
David Johnson to make the score 14–0 after one quarter; Although regular starting quarterback
Jameis Winston was returning from a three-game suspension, the Buccaneers gave the start against the Bears to backup
Ryan Fitzpatrick, who excelled in the first three games as he threw for over 1,200 yards with 11 touchdowns and a 124.8 passer rating. He also threw for over 400 yards in all three games, becoming the first quarterback in NFL history to have such a streak. However, a poor showing against the
Pittsburgh Steelers in week three nearly resulted in his benching, implying he was "on a short leash" for the Chicago game. While the Bears defense had been successful so far, they were without cornerbacks Prince Amukamara and Marcus Cooper due to hamstring injuries, while Tampa Bay receivers
Mike Evans,
DeSean Jackson, and
Chris Godwin had a combined 63 catches for 850 yards and nine touchdowns in 2018. Burton, Jackson, and McManis were the Bears' captains. The Bears scored quickly as Trubisky recorded a 23-yard run that set up a 39-yard touchdown pass to Burton on the opening drive. After three drives ended in punts, Trubisky threw a 14-yard touchdown to Allen Robinson.
Chandler Catanzaro kicked a 30-yard field goal to start the second quarter, but Trubisky and the Bears answered with three straight unanswered touchdowns through the air of 9, 20, and 3 yards to
Tarik Cohen,
Josh Bellamy, and Taylor Gabriel. On Tampa Bay's final drive for the first half, despite a 42-yard completion to Jackson, Fitzpatrick was intercepted by Jackson. The Bears closed out the half with Parkey's 50-yard field goal. Fitzpatrick was pulled for Winston to start the second half, but Winston threw an interception of his own to Trevathan. Trubisky took advantage of the takeaway with his sixth touchdown pass of the game, another three-yard pass to Gabriel, making the score 45–3. Early in the fourth quarter, Winston threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to
Cameron Brate, though Parkey converted a 46-yard kick to increase the margin to 38 points. Mack eventually tipped Winston's pass and Aaron Lynch intercepted it; Daniel kneeled twice to end the game. At the break, the fourth-ranked defense led the league in sacks (18) and ranked second in turnovers forced (11), while the eight interceptions recorded (by seven different players) tied the Bears' totals across each season from 2015 to 2017. Along with the
Tennessee Titans, the Bears defense had yet to allow a rushing touchdown. During the week, the Bears placed Acho on injured reserve after he tore a
pectoral muscle in week four. To take his roster slot, the team signed offensive lineman
Bryan Witzmann on October 8; Witzmann started 13 games for the Chiefs in 2017 and had been with the Vikings until his release three days prior.
Week 6: at Miami Dolphins Donning the orange jerseys, the Bears visited Miami to play the 3–2
Dolphins, in the first of four consecutive games against the
AFC East. In 12 all-time games, the Dolphins led the series 8–4, including winning their latest meeting in 2014, though the Bears won the last game in Miami in 2010. Hours before the game, the Dolphins announced starting quarterback
Ryan Tannehill would miss the contest with a shoulder injury and was replaced by
Brock Osweiler. Osweiler won both of his career starts against the Bears with the
Denver Broncos and
Houston Texans in 2015 and 2016, respectively. The Dolphins were also playing sans defensive end
Cameron Wake; with Miller and Amukamara returning from their injuries, Lorin Cox described the game as having "the potential to go quite poorly for Miami." Cohen, Trevathan, and Bellamy were the team captains. After two drives that ended with punts, the Dolphins capitalized on two Bears penalties as Osweiler threw a five-yard touchdown pass to
Nick O'Leary. The Bears' next drive ended when Cohen was stopped on fourth and one. In the second quarter, the Bears attempted to score from the Dolphins' one-yard line, but Howard fumbled after bumping into Burton and
Kiko Alonso recovered. On the ensuing drive, however, Osweiler's deep pass was intercepted by Fuller. Trubisky kneeled to end the half with the Bears trailing 7–0. Jackson attributed the defense's struggles to the weather and various errors; he commented, "This wasn't Chicago Bears-style defense we're used to playing. We knew it was going to be hot, we knew it was going to be a tough one. We made a lot of mistakes that we've got to come in and correct." Patriots quarterback
Tom Brady excelled against the blitz (passer rating of 138.4 under such circumstances) but his rating dropped to 87.2 when pressured, a situation that Stankevitz argued would be crucial for the Bears defense.
USA Today Bryan Perez added Brady's passer rating fell when he held onto the ball for longer than 2.5 seconds, so forcing him to bide his time before throwing was another factor of importance. Besides Brady, New England's offense also featured a rushing attack led by rookie
Sony Michel, who entered the game with the third-most first down conversions in the league. On the other hand, the Patriots were without tight end
Rob Gronkowski, who was sidelined with ankle and back injuries. For the Bears offense, scoring in the red zone was crucial, especially as the Patriots defense was allowing 68 percent of red zone drives to end in touchdowns. The Patriots scored on the opening drive that saw Brady complete all but one of his passes and every rushing attempt go for at least five yards. After two punts, Parkey converted a 46-yard field goal. On the ensuing kickoff,
Nick Kwiatkoski knocked the ball out of
Cordarrelle Patterson's hands and DeAndre Houston-Carson recovered the fumble. Five plays into the drive and on third down, A series later, Michel was pulled to the ground by Bilal Nichols and fumbled, with Nichols recovering the loose ball; Michel subsequently exited the game with a knee injury. Howard scored on a two-yard run to increase the Bears' advantage to ten points. Now on a two-game losing streak that dropped them to 3–3, the Bears fell from first to third in the NFC, tied with the Lions. The Jets were led by rookie quarterback
Sam Darnold and running back
Isaiah Crowell, who was averaging 5.7 yards per carry. Entering the game, Darnold led the league in interceptions with ten and had lost much of his receiving corps to injury, a predicament that Stankevitz pointed out could be exploited by the Bears defense even with Mack out with ankle issues; the game was the first that Mack missed in his NFL career. For the Bears offense, Robinson did not play due to a nagging groin injury. As Trubisky struggled under pressure, Stankevitz expressed the need to protect him from
Todd Bowles' blitzes; Trubisky's 70.7 completion percentage dropped to 54.1 when blitzed. Nevertheless, Stankevitz predicted the Bears would record a "comfortable win" considering their advantages, especially with the help of playing at home. The Jets punted on the opening drive, followed by Parkey missing a 40-yard field goal wide right. After a second Jets punt, the Bears scored the first touchdown as Trubisky threw a screen to Cohen before the blitz could overwhelm him, enabling Cohen to run for the 70-yard touchdown. New York responded with
Jason Myers' 42-yard kick in the second quarter, which was followed by punts on every possession for the rest of the first half. Leno said, "We wanted to see what we could do after going down two games and we got a 'W'. We're just trying to build from that. We're a tough resilient team and we're just going to try to keep battling." On November 3, the Bears placed Long on injured reserve and promoted Mizzell from the practice squad to take his place. It was Long's third straight season plagued by long-term injury. In his place,
Eric Kush and Witzmann split duties at right guard.
Week 9: at Buffalo Bills In a rematch of the final preseason game, the Bears went to
New Era Field to play the 2–6 Bills; it was the Bears' first game in
Orchard Park, New York since a 33–27 loss in 2002, and although the Bears lost the latest meeting in 2014, they led the series 7–5. With starter
Josh Allen and backup
Derek Anderson out due to injuries, the Bills were forced to play third stringer
Nathan Peterman at quarterback. In seven career appearances and three starts, Peterman struggled mightily as he had just three touchdown passes against nine interceptions, a 45.7 completion percentage, and a passer rating of 31.4. Buffalo's offense was also unimpressive in 2018, failing to score a touchdown in its latest two games having just two in the last five; the Bills were the 13th NFL team since 1940 to have seven or fewer touchdowns in the first eight games of a season. Despite the Bills' offensive woes, Stankevitz noted the Bears should remain disciplined and avoid committing penalties or turnovers that would keep Buffalo in contention. The Bears defense entered the game having yet to allow a rushing touchdown in 2018. In the following quarter, Chicago scored 28 unanswered points starting with Howard's one-yard touchdown run. Over the Bills' next three possessions, the Bears recorded turnovers on each: Jackson stripped
Jason Croom and returned the fumble 65 yards for a touchdown, followed by Adrian Amos intercepting a tipped pass, and Leonard Floyd doing the same and scoring on a 19-yard pick-six. Howard added an 18-yard touchdown run late in the first half to put the Bears up 28–0 at halftime. Both teams traded field goals to start the second half; after a Bills punt, Trubisky was intercepted by
Tre'Davious White, though Buffalo could not capitalize and turned the ball over on downs. On the final play of the third quarter, Peterman was picked off by Fuller to set up Parkey's 45-yard field goal. On the Bills' ensuing drive, Peterman saw two sacks nullified by 15-yard penalties on Lynch and Smith for unsportsmanlike conduct and facemasking, respectively. A defensive pass interference penalty on Amukamara in the end zone pushed Buffalo's offense to Chicago's one-yard line, where Peterman scored the first rushing touchdown on the Bears defense of 2018. After recovering
Steven Hauschka's onside kick, the Bears responded with Trubisky's two-yard touchdown pass to Burton. The Bills reached the Bears' 31-yard line on their final drive before Peterman was sacked by
Roy Robertson-Harris on fourth down. Daniel kneeled thrice to end the game.
Week 10: vs. Detroit Lions Entering their week ten matchup, the
Bears–Lions rivalry was led by the former 97–74–5, though the 3–5 Lions had won nine of the last ten meetings. After missing the last two games with ankle issues, Mack returned to the team for the game, bolstering a defense that faced a Lions offense who traded away receiver
Golden Tate and was slow in improving its rushing attack with rookie
Kerryon Johnson. Lions quarterback
Matthew Stafford was also sacked ten times in the previous week's game against the Vikings. For the Bears offense, which got Robinson back from his groin injury, they played a Lions defensive unit that was allowing 357.1 passing yards and 142.5 rushing yards per game. Detroit also lost cornerback
Darius Slay to an injury. Stankevitz wrote the offense would capitalize on Slay missing the game and a strong defense to record "a comfortable win." Callahan, Michael Burton, and
Patrick Scales were team captains. After the Lions punted, the Bears scored again as Trubisky led a 91-yard series that culminated on a 36-yard touchdown throw to Robinson. In the second quarter, Trubisky threw a 45-yard touchdown pass to Miller, but Parkey once again had his PAT knock the left upright. Early in the fourth quarter, Stafford's deep pass was intercepted by Amukamara on the Bears' three-yard line, but the team was forced to punt. The Lions added two consecutive scores on Stafford's five- and thirteen-yard touchdowns to
Kenny Golladay and Johnson, though their two-point conversions failed to make the score 34–22. Cohen recovered the onside kick with 7:21 left in the game and the Bears drained the clock to 1:15 before punting. Detroit could not score as the game came to a close. The Bears took on a Vikings offense featuring new quarterback
Kirk Cousins, receivers
Adam Thielen, who had at least 100 receiving yards in eight of the first nine games of 2018, and
Stefon Diggs, who had at least 90 in four. In his pre-game strategy article for the week, Stankevitz wrote about recording key plays like takeaways and sacks to swing momentum in the Bears' favor. For the offense, it faced a Minnesota defense that was allowing 8.6 yards on third down; although the three teams that beat the Vikings struggled on third down against them, it was crucial to convert in such situations. Stankevitz also emphasized the need for the team on both sides to improve in the fourth quarter and to record a "'statement game' in which they prove they've arrived against a good team, or at least a team generally thought to be good." On Saturday, the team activated Adam Shaheen from injured reserve in exchange for Sims, who suffered a concussion against the Bills and was absent since; in accordance with the moves, James Stone was removed from the practice squad. Trubisky, Mack, and Cunningham were the team captains for the game. After a Vikings punt, the Bears scored first on Parkey's 33-yard field goal. The score was followed by two consecutive turnovers as Mack forced Vikings running back
Dalvin Cook to fumble, followed by Trubisky's pass for Gabriel being intercepted by
Anthony Harris. Trubisky rebounded from the error by throwing an 18-yard touchdown pass to Miller, followed by completing the two-point conversion to Bellamy; the decision to go for two over the safer extra point was influenced by Nagy's aggressive coaching style and his skepticism following Parkey's performance against the Lions. Parkey added a 41-yard field goal to put the Bears up 14–0, while Cousins' pass was picked off by Amos with ten seconds remaining in the first half. Late in the second half, Trubisky was intercepted again by Harris to set up
Dan Bailey's 36-yard field goal. Cohen then lost a fumble to
Jaleel Johnson that led to another 36-yarder by Bailey. the Bears scored on the ensuing conversion via a Trubisky pass to Shaheen. Minnesota later scored on the next drive with Cousins' 13-yard touchdown to
Aldrick Robinson, followed by a successful conversion on a throw to Thielen. With 2:48 left in the game, Parkey kicked his third field goal of the game, a 48-yard attempt. Two minutes later, Diggs caught a five-yard touchdown pass, but the Vikings failed to score on the conversion. The three missed the following week's game against the Lions as a result of their injuries.
Week 12: at Detroit Lions NFL on Thanksgiving Day Approximately 85 hours and three days after the Vikings game, a brief period dubbed a "mini-bye" by Nagy that only featured one practice and no film session, the Bears visited
Ford Field to play the Lions for the second time in three weeks. Part of the NFL's Thanksgiving Day tradition, it was the 17th meeting between the two on the holiday; the Bears were 17–15–2 in total games played on Thanksgiving. With Trubisky out due to his shoulder injury, Chicago started Daniel at quarterback, his first regular season start since 2014 and third of his career. While the Lions lost Johnson and receiver
Marvin Jones to injuries of their own, Slay returned to action for the game. Parkey, Robinson, and Amos were team captains. The scoreless first quarter saw five drives that ended with a punt. On the first play of the second quarter, Burton was stripped by
DeShawn Shead and
Jarrad Davis recovered the fumble, which set up
LeGarrette Blount's four-yard touchdown run. Parkey later kicked a 40-yard field goal, followed by Daniel leading a 65-yard drive that culminated with his ten-yard touchdown pass to Mizzell with 40 seconds left in the first half. On the two-point conversion, Daniel's pass to Robinson was out of reach, making the score 9–7 at halftime. After three punts to open the second half, Blount scored on another four-yard run to give the Lions the lead, which Daniel answered with an 82-yard possession that led to a 14-yard touchdown throw to Cohen. In the fourth quarter, Prater kicked a 20-yard field goal to tie the game at 16 apiece. When talking about his team, Nagy said, "There's a challenge every week and they accepted my challenge of going 3–0 in 12 days against three division opponents." Two days after the game, the Bears re-signed Franklin III to the practice squad.
Week 13: at New York Giants Trubisky remained out for the week thirteen game against the 3–8
New York Giants; although the Bears led the series 33–23–2, they had lost the last two games on the road. With Daniel leading the offense again, Stankevitz stressed the importance of avoiding turnovers, especially as the Giants averaged 30.8 points per game in those that they record at least two takeaways, compared to just 16 points if they do not. Chicago's defense was challenged by Giants receiver
Odell Beckham Jr., who Vic Fangio remarked could only be contained by "going to mass on Saturday night", and running back
Saquon Barkley, who Fangio described required all eleven players to stop. Nevertheless, quarterback
Eli Manning struggled when pressured, being sacked 38 times and throwing four interceptions under such circumstances. Stankevitz added for the Bears to continue excelling and to "be yourself", especially as the team lost in Miami after a bye week, while they entered the Giants game after a nine-day break. Daniel, Kwiatkoski, Amukamara, and Michael Burton were team captains. On the second play of the game, Daniel's pass to Cohen was underthrown and intercepted by
Alec Ogletree, who returned the pick eight yards for the touchdown. Later in the quarter, Daniel threw a two-yard touchdown pass to Shaheen to tie the game. A drive later, Fuller intercepted Manning's pass for Beckham, but Daniel was picked off by Ogletree again on the next series. In the second quarter, the Bears placed Hicks in at fullback for a fourth-and-goal at the one-yard line, where he scored on a one-yard run; the play was called "Freezer Left" in tribute to
William "The Refrigerator" Perry, the last Bears defensive lineman to score a rushing touchdown. In overtime, Rosas kicked a 44-yard field goal to put New York up, but Chicago could not answer as Daniel fumbled thrice before turning the ball over on downs. Chicago's second-ranked defense entered the game against Los Angeles' second-ranked offense led by quarterback
Jared Goff, who ranked fourth in passing yards (3,754), sixth in passing touchdowns (27), and fifth in passer rating (109.9). Rams running back
Todd Gurley led the league in rushing yards with 1,175 yards and 15 touchdowns. As a whole, Los Angeles was averaging 34.9 points and 439.9 per game, scoring at least 23 points in every game in 2018 and breaking the 30-point mark in all but two. With Trubisky back, the Bears' 20th-ranked offense faced a Rams defense that was ranked 18th in total defense and 19th in scoring, having allowed 30-point games on five occasions in 2018. Trubisky's first drive ended when he was intercepted by
Marcus Peters.
Greg Zuerlein kicked a 27-yard field goal to give the Rams the early lead, which the Bears answered with Parkey's 39-yard kick. In the second quarter, Goff was intercepted by Smith to set up Parkey's 31-yard field goal; after converting a fourth down situation on a fake punt, Zuerlein tied the game with his 50-yard kick. The first half ended with two interceptions as Trubisky was picked off by
Nickell Robey-Coleman, followed by Jackson picking off Goff on the last play of the half. On the second play of the second half, Goldman sacked Goff in the end zone for a safety, a play that Trubisky said "really set the tone for the second half." Chicago increased the lead on the ensuing drive on a trick play called "Santa's Sleigh": Trubisky faked the hand-off to Hicks before throwing a two-yard touchdown pass to
Bradley Sowell. After a punt by the Rams, Trubisky was intercepted by
John Johnson, but Fuller responded on the next play by intercepting Goff's pass, though the Bears eventually punted. In the fourth quarter, Zuerlein's 40-yard kick hit the right upright; Los Angeles' next drive resulted in a turnover on downs when Goff was sacked by Hicks. Parkey eventually missed a 38-yard field goal wide left. On fourth down, Goff was picked off for the fourth time as Amukamara recorded the takeaway. After the Bears punted with 25 seconds remaining,
Justin Davis ran for 19 yards to conclude the game. The game is the first in the
Super Bowl era in which the lone touchdown was scored by an offensive lineman. "Our play on defense, for me all I can say is, wow," Nagy said. "It was one that I haven't seen in a long, long time against such a powerful opponent."
Week 15: vs. Green Bay Packers The Bears' second game against the Packers took place in week fifteen, this time at home; the Bears' last victory over their rivals at Soldier Field came in 2010, Besides facing Rodgers, who entered the game with only one interception on the season, the Chicago defense was tasked with stopping running back
Aaron Jones, who was averaging 5.6 yards per carry, including 6.5 yards in wins. To stop Jones, Stankevitz highlighted 4.5 yards per attempt as a critical number as the Seahawks, Vikings, and Cardinals each restricted Jones to below that average in the Packers' losses to them, while two of the Bears' losses came in which an opposing running back went over it. Stankevitz also emphasized the importance of not playing conservatively when ahead as the strategy led to the Bears' defeat in week one; he wrote, "The Bears are a better team than the Packers, plain and simple. But until this franchise proves it can reliably beat Rodgers, who's won 16 of his 20 regular season meetings with the Bears, these rivalry games shouldn't be met with overconfidence." Howard, Fuller, and O'Donnell were the Bears' captains for the game. Punts wrapped up the first two drives of the game before Howard scored the first points on a nine-yard touchdown run. In the second quarter, Crosby kicked a 41-yard field goal, which the Bears answered on Trubisky's 12-yard touchdown pass to Cohen, who beat safety
Kentrell Brice to the end zone. Green Bay responded with 11 unanswered points to tie the game on Crosby's 43-yard field goal and
Jamaal Williams' ten-yard touchdown run that led to Rodgers' two-point conversion to Adams. Early in the fourth quarter, the Bears reached the Packers' 23-yard line before Cohen fumbled when he tried handing off the ball to Howard, with defensive end
Dean Lowry recovering the loose ball. The 49ers offense was led by rookie quarterback
Nick Mullens, who completed 63 percent of his throws for 1,021 yards, five touchdowns, two interceptions, and a 101.4 passer rating in his last three games; he also had five touchdowns against one interception for a rating of 113.8 against blitzing defenses. Defensively, San Francisco was described by Stankevitz as not making "lot of sense", especially as it forced just two interceptions in 2018 but allowed fewer than four plays of at least 20 yards; Stankevitz compared this to the 2017 Bears' defense, which struggled to record interceptions but did not allow major-yardage plays. Stankevitz wrote a victory was crucial in proving the Bears' competitiveness on the road and keeping them in contention for a first-round bye. Shaheen, Irving, and Robertson-Harris served as team captains; Robertson-Harris and Irving are from the
San Francisco Bay Area, with the latter also playing
college football at
San Jose State. A scoreless first quarter saw Parkey miss a 37-yard field goal (again) and punts on other drives. In the second quarter, 49ers kicker
Robbie Gould scored on three consecutive drives with field goals of 33, 30, and 23 yards; the second kick capitalized on a botched Trubisky fumble that was recovered by
DeForest Buckner. When the Bears were down 6–0, Trubisky was intercepted by
K'Waun Williams in the end zone, but a holding penalty on
Fred Warner nullified the turnover; Trubisky eventually threw a four-yard touchdown pass to Miller. After the 49ers punted to start the second half, Robinson lost a fumble to
Marcell Harris until review overturned the play. The Bears offense drove 90 yards and Howard capped off the series with a two-yard touchdown run. Later on the drive, Robinson had the ball punched from his hands by
Tarvarius Moore and recovered by the 49ers'
Greg Mabin. He also surpassed the 3,000 passing yards in a season mark, becoming the sixth quarterback in Bears history to accomplish the feat.
Week 17: at Minnesota Vikings In the final week of the regular season, the Bears played their second game against the 8–6–1 Vikings, who required a win to qualify for the playoffs. In his keys article, Stanketvitz stressed the need to minimize turnovers, especially in Minnesota. For the Bears' defense, he wrote the unit especially had to stop the run against a Vikings offense that recorded 320 combined rushing yards in their last two victories under new offensive coordinator
Kevin Stefanski; Minnesota running back
Dalvin Cook, who was limited to just 12 yards in week eleven, averaged over 100 yards and a touchdown in the two wins. 320 yards on the ground in wins over the Miami Dolphins and Detroit Lions. Stankevitz also noted Cousins struggled in a similar playoff-determining situation with the
2016 Washington Redskins, throwing two interceptions in a loss. Nevertheless, considering the importance of a win for the Vikings, Stankevitz predicted a Bears loss. The day before the game, Long was activated from IR and Bray was waived to allow roster space; Bray eventually returned to the practice squad, taking Beavers' place. Bush, Houston-Carson, and Sowell were team captains. The Vikings punted on the opening drive, which the Bears followed by scoring on Howard's six-yard touchdown run. After five consecutive series of punts, Howard scored again on a one-yard run, but Parkey missed the extra point. With 53 seconds remaining in the first half, Bailey kicked a 45-yard field goal to decrease the margin to ten points at halftime. Late in the third quarter, Diggs caught a two-yard touchdown pass from Cousins. The Bears responded with a 16-play drive that lasted a season-long 9:05 and saw the offense convert all four third-down situations; the possession culminated in Cohen's three-yard touchdown run. On the ensuing conversion, running a play dubbed "Lollipop" that saw Amukamara sprint along the line of scrimmage before the snap, Trubisky completed a throw to Kwiatkoski for two points. Parkey later kicked a 42-yard field goal to put the Bears up by 14 points. The game's final three drives resulted in turnovers on downs before Trubisky kneeled once to conclude the 24–10 win.
Standings Division Conference ==Postseason==