OLB Brian Burns
Burns continued his 2025 dominance with yet another strong showing this past weekend against the 49ers. The veteran outside linebacker picked up yet another sack, this time knocking the ball out of quarterback Mac Jones' hands, which Abdul Carter was able to recover. Burns also added a pass breakup to go with his four total tackles (two solo).
Heading into Week 10, Burns leads the NFL with his 11.0 sacks. He's picked up at least one sack in eight of nine games this season, including three games with multiple sacks. With eight games remaining, Burns is just 1.5 sacks behind his career-high of 12.5 set in his 2022 Pro Bowl campaign. He is also just three tackles for loss behind his high-mark of 17, which he set in both 2022 and 2024. The seventh-year linebacker spoke at the start of training camp about wanting to take his game to another level. It's safe to say he is doing just that.
"We've talked about Brian a bunch, even in OTAs and training camp and what he's done, just how he's practiced and the example that he provides for our football team," Daboll told the media Wednesday. "It's paying off in games. He's been productive. He's battling through - look, he gets chipped and banged, and he's one of our tougher guys and also one of our most productive guys, and he's done that really since he's been here. But I'd say even, we talked about it, I think, at length in training camp and things like that, he's showed up and he's showing up in the games for us."
The Bears have done a good job of protecting Caleb Williams this season. Through eight games, Williams has been sacked just 14 times, the sixth-lowest mark in the NFL. Not only that, but Williams' 3.24 average time to throw is the longest time to throw in a season since Next Gen Stats began tracking in 2016. The second-year quarterback has done a good job of getting rid of the ball quickly when he needs to, as well. Williams has completed 71.4 percent of his passes (65 of 91) for 491 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions for a passer rating of 98.7 when throwing in under 2.5 seconds. Since taking over as the starter in Week 4, left tackle Theo Benedet has allowed just one sack but 15 total pressures, including multiple pressures in every game. In last week's win over the Bengals, Benedet allowed five total pressures and was called for two penalties.
CB Cor'Dale Flott
Flott is in the midst of his best season in the NFL. The fourth-year cornerback has been on the field for 287 coverage snaps and allowed just 21 receptions for 246 yards and zero touchdowns. This has earned the young corner a passer rating when targeted of 62.6, well below his previous top mark of 90.0 set in 2024. Flott has also recorded seven passes defensed, which matches his previous career-high set last year, despite playing in six fewer games.
Flott put together perhaps the best game of his young NFL career in Week 7. Going up against the Broncos, Flott was targeted 10 times in coverage and allowed only two receptions for 19 yards. He earned a passer rating against of just 39.6, one week after recording a 16.7 mark in the first matchup against the Eagles. He was forced out of the Week 8 matchup in Philadelphia early with a concussion after taking some friendly fire from linebacker Bobby Okereke, which also sidelined him for last week's game against the 49ers. But Flott has been progressing through the concussion protocol throughout the week and should be good to go for Sunday's game in Chicago after practicing in full Thursday.
Cornerback Paulson Adebo has yet to practice after suffering a knee injury against the Broncos, putting him in risk of missing his third consecutive game. Adebo's absence would highlight the importance of Flott's return even more. The Bears have a talented wide receiver duo in Rome Odunze and DJ Moore, with both wideouts recording 30+ receptions and 400+ receiving yards through eight games. Odunze also leads the Bears with five receiving touchdowns. After not recording a catch in Week 9, Odunze figures to be a big part of Chicago's game plan on Sunday.