Chicago Bears fans have spent decades hearing national hosts apologize for Chicago football, normally the offense. Rich Eisen just did the opposite.
"Great game. Great to see him back. The league's better for him balling out. The Bears are a phenomenal team to watch because of their offense, words I don't think I've ever said out loud. And we'll see what happens how this operates in the cold weather. But they can also run it. My God, Roschon Johnson was running all over the place and coming out of the backfield. They're deep, and they're playable."Rich Eisen
Ever since that fateful team earned the Bears their Monsters of the Midway title back in 1985, the defense has been the standard. Even when the Bears returned to the Super Bowl with Lovie Smith at the helm, they boasted a top five defense. The '85 Bears prowess has since become something of legend, and not many teams have been able to stand up to it along the way.
Why Eisen's praise lands differently in Chicago
That's what makes Eisen's words so meaningful, and he even says so. Ever since Ben Johnson took the reins of the Bears before the 2025 season, the Bears have been looked upon in a different light.
The days of consistently wondering if the new quarterback is "the guy" is seemingly behind us, as Caleb Williams has stepped up for the Bears in a way that hasn't happened to this franchise in a long time. That's not to undermine the achievements of the respective quarterbacks along the way, but not many of them could really be considered franchise quarterbacks the way we've seen across the league over the years.
Williams returned after a three game stint on the sidelines while he rehabbed a hamstring injury, a position he's not accustomed to being in. Upon his return, Williams went 30/36 with 305 yards and a touchdown, and he's not leading the league in completion percentage among qualified quarterbacks. To be fair, due to his missed time, Williams does have a smaller sample size than most of the other quarterbacks in the league, but it's still impressive given his history of being inaccurate on short passes.
Eisen also names Roschon Johnson, the Bears third string running back who led the Bears in Week 6 against the Falcons in rushing yards. Johnson put together 51 yards across 13 carries, with a touchdown, his first since 2024. At present, the Chicago Bears still boast the most effective rushing game in the league, though Kenneth Walker has single-handedly placed the Kansas City chiefs directly behind them. Eisen's comments put this directly on display.
The last thing I'd like to talk about from Eisen's quote is his cold weather challenge. As the weather gets colder in the Windy City, Soldier field gets it particularly bad due to it's position directly on Lake Michigan.
The Bears have always built themselves for the worst Sundays of the year, and that's why Eisen's question matters more than his compliment. The Bears offense already showed it had trouble in the rain in Week 2 against the Minnesota Vikings, but the cold and snow can be a different beast.
Thursday night isn't January, but it's sure not summer anymore. The Bears should welcome the weather question, because a quarterback taking the easy throws and a run game that can lay down yards is exactly the answer that a Chicago team needs to have.
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