Bears beat Steelers 31-28, Is Chicago a title contender with Caleb Williams? | The Herd
The Chicago Bears beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-28 despite missing several starters on Defense. Colin Cowherd asks if the Bears are contenders under Ben Johnson and with Caleb Williams.
For the third consecutive season, the NFL is playing a game on Black Friday.
The Chicago Bears are taking on the Philadelphia Eagles on Friday at 3 p.m. ET at Lincoln Financial Field in a battle between two 8-3 teams. Amazon Prime Video will exclusively stream the broadcast, but fans will not need a subscription to watch the game.
Broadcasting legend Al Michaels will be the play-by-play announcer, Kirk Herbstreit will be the analyst, while Kaylee Hartung will be the sideline reporter.
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Caleb Williams of the Chicago Bears, left, and Jalen Hurts of the Philadelphia Eagles (David Berding/Getty Images;Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
The first Black Friday game was between Miami and the New York Jets, and the Dolphins won 34-13. Last year’s game on Black Friday was between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Las Vegas Raiders. The Chiefs won 19-17, becoming the first team to clinch a playoff berth in 2024.
The Bears come into the high-stakes NFC battle having won their last four games. Ben Johnson, in his first season as head coach, has helped Caleb Williams develop into a solid quarterback in his second year in the NFL.
In 11 games this season, the former No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft has completed 59.2% of his passes for 2,568 yards with 16 touchdowns and four interceptions, while rushing for 293 yards and three touchdowns.
In the Bears’ most recent win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 12, a game they won 31-28, Williams completed 19-of-35 passes for 239 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions.
Bears quarterback Caleb Williams walks off the field after Pittsburgh Steelers game in Chicago, on Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025. (Nam Huh/AP Photo)
The Eagles, on the other hand, are coming off a brutal loss, as they blew a 21-0 lead to the Dallas Cowboys when the offense sputtered after going up big early.
Running back Saquon Barkley, coming off a historically good season, has not been the same player this year. In the Eagles’ loss to the Cowboys, Barkley ran for just 22 yards on 10 carries and had a costly fumble.
The 28-year-old ran for 2,005 yards and 13 touchdowns last season in 16 games, averaging an astounding 125.3 yards per game with 5.8 yards per attempt. This season, Barkley is rushing for not even half and has many yards per game (62.2).
In 11 games, Barkley has 185 carries for 684 yards and four touchdowns.
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While the Eagles’ offense as a whole has not yet clicked under first-year offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo, the defense has been outstanding.
Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio’s unit has allowed the eighth-fewest points per game this season (20.5) and has kept the team in a lot of games. The Bears have scored the eighth-most points per game this season (26.3), setting up an exciting matchup between the two NFC contenders.
With both teams atop the NFC, this game has playoff implications when it comes to seeding.
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