The bye week is usually a blessing in the NFL — a chance to get healthy, reset, and come out stronger. For the Chicago Bears, it’s been the opposite for over a decade. It’s been a momentum killer, plain and simple.

It’s actually pretty shocking: going back to the 2014 season — year two under Marc Trestman — the Bears are 1-10 coming off the bye. The lone win? Matt Eberflus stole one in 2023 against the Lions. In seven of those 11 games, the Bears scored 20 points or fewer. 

When most other teams are shot out of a cannon after getting extra rest, the Bears tend to come out flat. 

Fast forward to 2025, and Bears fans were begging for the bye week to arrive as early as possible. Normally, an early bye is a scheduling headache, but with the avalanche of injuries Chicago was dealing with, it felt like a life raft. 

Linebacker T.J. Edwards, cornerback Kyler Gordon, and edge rusher Austin Booker all now have a legitimate chance to suit up on Monday Night Football against the Washington Commanders because of the extra recovery time.

The fan base feels like the bye came at the perfect time — but let’s be honest — the organization hasn’t given them a single reason over the last decade to trust that sentiment.

Ben Johnson might be that reason.

If there’s one thing we learned from his time in Detroit, it’s that Ben Johnson can draw up a game plan with the best of them. And when you give him extra days to do it? He doesn’t just succeed — he unloads.

In 2023, Detroit came out of the bye and hung 533 total yards and 41 points in a 41–38 win. The following year, the Lions doubled down with 492 total yards and 47 points in a 47–9 post-bye blowout. 

That’s 1,025 yards and 88 points in Johnson’s last two games coming off the bye as a playcaller.

So yes — for once — Bears fans actually have a real reason to be excited about the offense heading into Monday night. Especially with Washington allowing 235 passing yards per game, ranking in the bottom 10 of the NFL.

The tension is already building. It feels like a must-win for Chicago, even if the standings say otherwise. Another offensive eruption out of a bye week would be more than a good sign — it would be another moment that signals what Bears fans have been desperate to believe:

The culture is changing. Caleb Williams is real. And Ben Johnson knows exactly what he’s doing.