Good morning, Bears fans!
One more day until we’re one month away from being one month away! 👏
Not a whole lot going on with the beloved unless you’re into heavy machinery, but Bears By 7 isn’t stopping. Make sure you’re forwarding this a friend so we all hit the 2026 ground running. (Subscribe here if this is your first time reading!)
01 Stadium News
Soil Testing In Hammond
Are we having fun yet? The Bears confirmed they’re testing the ground at Wolf Lake Terminals, a spot on the other side of I-90 from Lost Marsh Golf Course in Hammond. I still don’t really understand how the logistics of that site will work, particularly if they put it on both side of an interstate running through swampland. Then again, I’m not sure the Bears do, either.
02 NFC North
Lions Cut Terrion Arnold
One minute Arnold was being hit with a $1 million bond by a Florida judge for eight felony counts of robbery and kidnapping, the next he was a former member of the Detroit Lions. Drafted with the 24th pick in the 2024 draft, Arnold started 22 games at corner over the past two seasons.
03 NFL Honors
Montez Sweat Lands in Top 100
The Bears DE landed at No. 91 on the NFL’s Top 100 Players, a list voted on by other players. It’s the second time Sweat has received the honor during his career. The league is currently announcing two players a day … where will Caleb Williams and Joe Thuney land?
7️⃣5️⃣ Days Until The Season Opener
🎂Bears Birthdays: Josh Beekman (43)
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How Ben Beat The Packers
Even though we’re in the middle of the NFL’s dog days of summer, it doesn’t mean there isn’t still high-level football content being produced.
Football Digest dropped a 14-minute dissection on the Bears’ playoff comeback against the Packers on Sunday and it’s worth every single minute of your time.
Not only will you understand exactly how Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams dug their way out of that 21-3 hole, it’ll leave you convinced the Bears have a strong edge in almost any coaching matchup.
(As if you had any doubt.)
Three TL;DR takeaways from the video:
The Packers Had A Good Defensive Game Plan. And it succeeded early. Behind defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley (now head coach of the Dolphins), the Packers defense consistently rotated into disguised Cover 2 and Cover 3 looks. For three quarters, the Packers were able to stop Williams, choking out open looks and batting his passes down at the line.
Ben Made Adjustments, Jeff Hafley Didn’t. The Packers’ early success made their coaches a little too comfortable and Johnson took advantage. Knowing the looks that were now coming, Johnson responding by introducing a lot of motion and loading one side of his formations. The approach caused plenty of confusion for the Packers defense while also forcing them to reveal their hand. Once Johnson started getting weird, the Packers had no answers.
The Bears Players Executed. The team met the moment, plain and simple. While Johnson’s approach created openings against a tough Packers look, it was still on Caleb to find Rome Odunze on that legendary 4th-and-8 … or D’Andre Swift to find daylight in the flat against a defender mismatch.
Seriously, spend some time today catching up with the video. It might make you even more impatient for the season … but it’ll also teach you a thing or two on why Ben Johnson and the Bears are never out of any game.
Kevin Schroeder with a good look at the entire Bears stadium saga, from beginning to … well, wherever we are now. (Good Fit Goes)
Sean Hammond on Zavion Thomas’ chances of making a big impact during his rookie season. (Chicago Tribune)
Brendan Sugrue’s 10 takeaways from the offseason. (Bears Wire)
Cody Williams with a Josh Sweat trade proposal. (Da Windy City)
I’m not going to pretend there weren’t years when a blank Bears jersey would’ve made the most sense, but c’mon Ed Sheeran …
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