This next Sunday will be much less stressful for the Chicagoland area. Expect copious amounts of bike riding, laughter, and butterfly chasing to occur in your area.

Why?

The Bears are on Bye. To this point, the Bears have provided high levels of stress to their fanbase for 3 out of their 4 weeks of play. But not on October 5th, thank goodness.

Frankly, this Bye couldn’t have come at a better time for the Bears themselves. With nagging injuries to players like Kyler Gordon, Grady Jarrett, Darnell Wright, and TJ Edwards to name a few, the Bears could be looking like a much stronger roster when they play the Commanders on 10/13.

So obviously, the most important thing for the Bears to do during their Bye is get healthy; but what else is important for the Bears to address? It’s unclear if this team is good enough to compete for a playoff spot, but they also haven’t gotten Bears fans to completely focus on Tankathon yet either.

What do the Bears need to do during their Bye to compete for a playoff spot?

I have a few items that need attention.

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1. Get better in the run game on both sides of the ball.

   • The Bears are currently 24th in the league in rushing the football. Their running backs are only averaging 62.3 yards per game, which is dreadful especially when you consider that 16 RBs average more that on their own.
   • The Bears are also dead last in the league in yards allowed on the ground with a whopping 164.5 yards per game. With running backs like Saquon Barkley, Derrick Henry, and Christian McCaffrey on the horizon, that has got to get cleaned up.

2. 

   Reduce the number of penalties down.

   • I suspect this will get better as the season progresses, but the Bears are 25th in the league in both penalties per game (8.5) and penalty yards per game with 69.5. That is immediately putting their offense and defense at a disadvantage. They need to work on that if they have any chance of competing this season.

3. Get your Tight Ends involved.

   • Entering the season, Cole Kmet and Colston Loveland were viewed as being an important part of Ben Johnson’s offense, with a vision of frequently using 12 and 13 personnel (including Durham Smythe).

     • To this point, Cole Kmet ranks 20th in the league among Tight Ends with 116 receiving yards. Meanwhile, Colston Loveland only has 43 yards to show for in the early going. Considering his draft status, one should expect him to become a bigger part of the offense as the season progresses.

4. Solidify the OL rotation.

   • The Bears found them in an interesting spot on Sunday, having Theo Benedet starting at RT in place of the injured Darnell Wright. After Braxton Jones’ apparent benching midway through the game, Benedet swapped to the left side with rookie Ozzy Trapilo slotting in on the right side.

     • If this is a permanent change, as Brad Biggs may be suggesting, then the Bears need to work hard to evaluate their rotation moving forward.
     • To this point, the trio of Thuney, Dalman, and Jackson has been very solid. Assuming that Wright is your starting RT, identifying your starting LT and subsequent swing tackle seems vital for this OL to gel moving forward.

None of these are going to be completely fixed by the time the Bears roll into DC to face the Commanders, but I think getting these four items cleaned up can go a long way towards a playoff push for the Beloved.