National media voices often do their best to condense a team into a single storyline, but the truth is that the NFL is just too complicated for that. Those narratives typically don't reflect what's actually happening because they're usually one-sided.
Stephen A. Smith's recent comments on ESPN's "First Take" about the Chicago Bears' defense fall directly into that category. His assessment leaned heavily on rankings without considering how much context those rankings require or that they're based on averages.
"I'm looking at the Chicago Bears defense ranked 27th total defense, 25th scoring defense, 28th against the rush, 26th in the red zone,” he said. “You got a division crown on the line. That’s the defense you going up against?”
What the numbers say about the Bears' defense
On the surface, those numbers sound definitive. But they don't truly reflect how the Bears have evolved throughout the season. Defenses aren't static. Young players settle in, schemes need adjusting, and the tape often tells us a different story.
Throughout the season, Dennis Allen's defense has been defined by its ability to win situational football and its incredible knack for taking the ball away. Smith only acknowledged this briefly before moving on.
“Yes, they’re opportunistic, and they can create turnovers,” he admitted, “But you can run on them, you definitely can run on them.”
Creating turnovers is a critical piece of the game, and it's the responsibility of both offense and defense to keep the opponent's offense off the field. Turnover creation can strongly indicate winning in the NFL, and it's been an essential part of the Bears' identity in 2025.
Smith also framed the matchup as if Green Bay should automatically impose its will because of where Chicago sits numerically. "You can't show up if you're Jordan Love? What the hell am I paying you for? Show up!" he said, as though this battle was already decided.
But Bears-Packers games don't behave like a standard NFL matchup; they're something more. The Packers have had the advantage for most of the Aaron Rodgers era in Green Bay, and that success has followed chiefly Love as well. Love is currently boasting a 3-1 record against the Bears, something Chicago is eager to reverse.
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The Bears' chances in this matchup aren't dictated by the stats Smith read out. They hinge on how well Chicago continues to play its brand of disciplined, opportunistic football. The kind of football that doesn't always show up on the stat sheet, but makes a difference on the field.