After routing the Eagles 27-7 Monday night, the Bears will look to register back-to-back wins and improve to 3-1 when they host the Jets Sunday at Soldier Field.
Quarterback Caleb Williams will miss his second straight game with a hamstring injury he sustained in Week 2 against the Vikings. The Bears have not yet announced whether Tyson Bagent or Case Keenum will start in his place.
The Jets (1-2) will play their third straight game against an NFC North opponent. After opening the season with a 23-10 win at Tennessee, they lost to the Packers 20-17 in overtime at home and to the Lions 31-24 in Detroit.
Sunday's head-coaching matchup features two former Lions coordinators under Dan Campbell in the Bears' Ben Johnson (offense) and the Jets' Aaron Glenn (defense), both of whom left Detroit following the 2024 season for their current positions.
Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen also knows Glenn well, having played in the same defensive backfield with him at Texas A&M (1992-93), coached him as a player with the Saints (2008) and coached with him in New Orleans (2016-20).
When the Bears have the ball
It will be strength-versus-strength when a potent Bears offense that ranked third in the NFL in total yards per game (408.0) entering Week 4 battles a stingy Jets defense that has yielded the second-fewest yards (258.3).
The Bears are equally confident in both of their reserve quarterbacks. When Williams was injured against the Vikings, Bagent replaced him but sustained a concussion. Because he was not cleared from concussion protocol until last Sunday, Keenum started against the Eagles and made the most of the opportunity. The 14-year NFL veteran threw for 247 yards, accounted for three touchdowns and posted a 110.8 passer rating while not being sacked or committing a turnover.
Bagent has also excelled when given a chance to play. He won two starts as a rookie in 2023, and although he has seen only limited regular-season action since Williams arrived in 2024, Bagent has posted preseason passer ratings of 119.9 in 2024, 106.6 in 2025 and 119.3 in 2026.
"Honestly, I feel really good about the whole [quarterback] room," Johnson said. "I don't know that there's a bad choice or a wrong choice. We're very, very fortunate that we've got guys that we believe in. It's not just the coaching staff. The whole team believes in everybody in that room. It's one of those things that you can't go wrong. You just want to make sure you're doing right by all the guys on the team and you're putting yourself in the best chance to win the ballgame. I'm looking forward to seeing what it looks like on Sunday."
Whoever starts at quarterback will be backed by a rushing attack that leads the NFL with an average of 184.3 yards per game. Last season, D'Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai were the league's only teammates to both rush for at least 750 yards; this year they are the only duo with at least 150 yards apiece through Week 3.
Swift ranks seventh in the NFL in rushing with 253 yards and three TDs on 54 carries, while Monangai has compiled 178 yards and one TD on 30 attempts.
Receiver Kalif Raymond is seventh in the league with 19 receptions for 214 yards and 1 TD, and his eight third-down catches are tied for the second most in the NFL.
The Jets defense is led by linebacker Demario Davis (23 tackles) and ends David Bailey (2.0 sacks) and Kingsley Enagbare (2.0 sacks). The unit has allowed the third-fewest passing yards per game (171.0) in the NFL but has not registered an interception since the 2024 season finale.
Key matchup: Bears right tackle Darnell Wright vs. Jets defensive end David Bailey
Wright has played at an elite level so far this season and will be challenged by an impressive rookie in Bailey. The No. 2 overall pick in the draft has been productive early in his career, registering 12 tackles, 2.0 sacks and three tackles-for-loss in his first three NFL games.
"He has got an excellent first step," Johnson said. "In general, their edge group is probably the quickest off the ball that we've seen so far. That's a collection. They've got three or four guys that they can roll through. Our tackles are going to have their work cut out for them, particularly in our drop-back pass game, just to make sure we can negate those guys. Sometimes it takes these young players a little bit to get going, and yet here [Bailey] is three games in and he's leading their team in pressures and quarterback hits, and you can see why, just because he's got this elite get-off. He's slippery. The future is really bright for that player."
When the Jets have the ball
After permitting 37 points and 478 yards in a Week 1 win over the Panthers, the Bears defense has completely flipped the script, limiting its last two opponents to nine and seven points and yielding just one TD in eight quarters. The Bears are the only NFL team to have multiple games with fewer than 10 points allowed; it's the first time they've accomplished the feat in back-to-back contests since 2012.
In Monday night's win over the Eagles, the defense generated three takeaways, held quarterback Jalen Hurts to a 64.2 passer rating and limited Philadelphia to a 22.2% success rate on third down (2 of 9). The unit permitted only 62 total yards in the second half, forcing three straight three-and-outs to begin the third period.
Johnson lauded the group effort, telling reporters after the win that he was trying to think about who had a monster game on defense but concluded, 'It's hard to say just one guy did. It felt like the whole unit that second half, they were flying around. And they were playing together as one, which was awesome to see."
Despite playing this season without several players who helped the Bears top the NFL with 33 takeaways last year, the defense is producing them at the same rate with six takeaways in three games, tied for the third most in the league.
On Sunday, they'll face a Jets offense that has committed just one turnover (on a lost fumble) in three games, tied for the fewest in the NFL. In addition, they are one of only four teams that have not thrown an interception.
Veteran quarterback Geno Smith has completed a league-best 75.5% of his passes for 783 yards with four TDs and a 110.0 passer rating that ranks fourth in the NFL. His top target is star receiver Garrett Wilson, who is fifth in the league with 21 receptions for 243 yards and 2 TDs.
Rookie tight end Kenyon Sadiq, the 16th pick in this year's draft, has caught 12 passes for 143 yards and one TD in his first three NFL games. Last Sunday against the Lions, he had seven receptions for 105 yards and one TD.
The Bears also have an impressive rookie first-round pick in safety Dillon Thieneman, who leads the defense with 23 tackles and registered his first career interception in Monday night's win over the Eagles.
"The closer we can get him to the ball, the more playmaking opportunities will come his way," Johnson said. "That's certainly what showed up on tape in Oregon, and I think 'DA' (Allen) is doing a great job putting him in those spots, and he's capitalizing on it. I mean, this is a guy that eats, sleeps, breathes football all the time. He's always the last guy out there on the practice field doing extra, and you can tell it's adding up each and every week."
Key matchup: Bears linebacker Devin Bush vs. Jets tight end Kenyon Sadiq
The Bears added speed to their defense when they signed Bush in free agency and they'll need it Sunday when they face Sadiq, whom Johnson described as an "incredible athlete." Said the Bears coach: "He's a matchup nightmare … He runs like a receiver, and then when the ball's in his hands, he can leap over guys, he can run through guys. The vertical passing game is real with him at the tight end position."
