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Bears make full use of 11-day break from Thursday to Monday

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Mike Florio and Chris Simms examine everything that went into the Bears’ statement win over the Patriots in Week 7, including how Chicago displayed its ability to self-scout and make adjustments.

After playing on Thursday night to launch Week Six, the Chicago Bears had 11 days to get ready for their Week Seven game. And they made the most of their extended mini-bye.

Despite the problems inherent to short-week football, plenty of players like the reward on the back end. Usually, it’s a 10-day break between games. This year, there’s a trend.

In 2022, five teams that play on Thursday night don’t play until the following Monday. It’s the longest a team can go between games without officially having a week off.

The Bears obviously made the most of the extra time. They self-scouted. They decided to finally embrace the running skills of quarterback Justin Fields, unleashing him with designed runs. As Chris Simms mentioned on Tuesday’s PFT Live, it also appeared that coach Matt Eberflus -- a defensive expert -- was more involved in the offense, regularly speaking to coordinator Luke Getsy.

Amazingly and unexpectedly, it worked. The Bears, by all appearances, maximized every minute in an effort to make 2-4 into 3-4 and not 2-5, beating the Patriots in their own building by 19 points.

The extra time didn’t work for the Broncos between Week Five and Week Six; they lost to the Chargers in overtime after 11 days between games. Over the next six weeks, three more teams get the benefit of the extended post-Thursday window.

The Ravens play on Thursday night to start Week Eight, and then on the following Monday night. The Patriots play on consecutive Thursdays (Week 12 and 13) before wrapping up Week 14 on Monday night. And the Rams play on Thursday in Week 14, before having 11 days off until the following Monday.

It’s a real benefit, an opportunity to spend extra time preparing how to attack the next opponent while also shoring up any weaknesses in their own schemes and strategies.

It arguably amounts to a competitive advantage, one that only five teams that play on Thursday night this year will enjoy. It’s possibly significant enough to require the league to consider whether all teams that play on Thursday night should get at most a 10-day break between games.