The Chicago Bears return to Soldier Field on Sunday afternoon for the first time since September 21 for a date with the New Orleans Saints.

The homecoming comes with an opportunity to notch a fourth straight win and improve to 4-2 under first-year head coach Ben Johnson. And for the first time all season, the Bears enter a game as favorites.

The line has inched toward New Orleans as kickoff approaches, but Chicago still sits as a 3.5-point favorite. That’s unfamiliar territory for this group. This is a young team and a first-year staff — and being expected to win brings a different kind of pressure.

So, how do the Bears avoid the upset and take care of business? It comes down to three keys.

1. No Self-Inflicted Wounds

Yes, it sounds obvious. But sometimes the simplest truth is the one that matters most.

The Saints don’t do anything particularly well. They rank 27th in offensive EPA per play and 22nd defensively. They’re below average across the board, which is how you end up at 1-5.

Chicago has the advantage. But if the Bears lose this game, it’ll be because they beat themselves — penalties that kill drives, red-zone trips that turn into field goals, turnovers that flip momentum. New Orleans has a knack for hanging around late in games despite getting outplayed. If you give them life, they’ll drag you into a fourth-quarter coin flip.

The Bears need to be sharp in their operations and decision making. 

2. Keep D’Andre Swift Rolling

If there’s one thing New Orleans can point to over the last two weeks (a stretch where they’re 1-1 with a +6 point differential), it’s their run defense.

Two weeks ago, New York’s Cam Skattebo and Devin Singletary combined for just 79 yards on 21 carries. Last week, New England’s backfield managed little more than two yards per carry with 45 yards on 22 touches.

The Bears found something on the ground Monday night, finally getting D’Andre Swift rolling with 108 yards on just 14 carries. Ben Johnson’s offense is built to operate off the run — it keeps Caleb Williams clean, opens up play-action, and creates the explosives that have become this team’s identity. Swift set the tone in Washington. Chicago needs a repeat performance, or at least something close to it.

3. Special Teams Execution

Jake Moody drilled a game-winner last week and finished 4-for-5, but that box score hides an issue. One of those kicks was a low line drive that got blocked, and the kickoff unit was a mess — multiple returns past the 40 by Luke McCaffrey put the Bears’ defense in bad spots.

That’s how favorites get upset: giving away field position, handing out free points, and making life harder than it needs to be.

Moody will be kicking at Soldier Field for the first time in his career — in wet, windy conditions no less. The margin for error shrinks in games like this, and special teams can’t be the phase that cracks.

Chicago has earned the right to be favored, but they haven’t earned the right to relax. This isn’t a team that can stroll into Soldier Field and expect the result to take care of itself. They’re not built for that — not yet. But that’s what makes Sunday important.

Handle your business, avoid the self-inflicted mistakes that define bad teams, and suddenly 4-2 is  reality. And if the Bears get there, it'll be a sign that this young team is learning how to do something new in Chicago: win the games they’re supposed to win.