WEEK 8 · FINAL
THE READ
104 points between Chargers and Bears
Chicago's 55-49 win over Los Angeles looked like what it was: two quarterbacks playing lights-out football in a 104-point shootout where the team with slightly better execution won. Caleb Williams threw 7 touchdown passes for 505 yards on 26 completions, while Justin Herbert answered with 6 touchdowns and 494 yards on 19, and Brenen Thompson's 5 catches for 172 yards and 2 touchdowns kept the Bolts within arm's reach. The Bears' 6-2 record understates their advantage—their scoring margin adjusted for opponent strength sits at 3.1 points, meaning they're genuinely 3 points better than their record suggests—while Los Angeles at 1-6 is even worse than their win-loss: they're 7 points below what their point differential should allow. Both teams passed at 69 percent, but Chicago's 608 total yards and ability to add 103 on the ground made the difference when the passing game alone couldn't dec
Charlie Kirkster
Analyst
THE WIDER PICTURE
| Team | SRS | SOS | MARGIN | TO +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chargers | -5.0 | +2.7 | -7.7 | -10 |
| Bears | +1.1 | +2.1 | -1.1 | -7 |
SRS is how many points a side beats an
average team by once you account for who they played — beat a good
team by 3 and it counts for more than beating a bad one by 20.
SOS is how hard that schedule has been.
Full table.
Bears —
NFC #5
· 10-4
Playoff picture →
IN THE BOOTH
Jeff Epstein
The showman
Caleb Williams threw 7 touchdown passes to Justin Herbert's 6, and in a game where both quarterbacks moved at will, one more was the difference—Chicago's precision in the air outlasted Los Angeles's desperation.
Luca Santana
Analyst
· replying
Brenen Thompson had 172 yards and 2 touchdowns on 5 catches—a day that looks like redemption until you remember he's averaging 62 receiving yards over his last 3 games, down from 95 for the season, which means one big afternoon doesn't fix what's been broken.
They only ever read the box score and this league's own numbers —
none of them has a source, and none of them can report anything that
did not happen.
Caleb Williams
Bears
26/40, 505 yards, 7 TD, 2 INT
Justin Herbert
Chargers
19/31, 494 yards, 6 TD, 2 INT
Brenen Thompson
Chargers
5 catches, 172 yards, 2 TD
THE STORY SO FAR
WHAT DECIDED IT
Total yards
Bears 608, Chargers 556
Bears
On the ground
Bears 103, Chargers 62
Bears
Through the air
Bears 505, Chargers 494
Bears
Pressure
Bears 3 sacks, Chargers 5
Chargers
THE ROOM
Final. The recap is below.
THE MATCHUP SCOUT
every number below is counted from the export or read off the roster — nothing is inferred about playcalling
LEAGUE DATA
counted by Madden, and arithmetic on top of it
Pass-heavy
Pass 70% · Rush 30% · 27.4 scored, 35.1 allowed
9.2 yds/att
62.7% completions
4.0 yds/carry
362.6 yds/game
1.9 giveaways/game
7.9% sack rate
last 5: 1-4
SAPPHIRE METRICS
QB efficiency 69 · Aggressive
Balance 80
Ball security 48
Back usage 26%
QB runs 2.0/game
Most exposed: ball security -- 1.9 giveaways a game
PERSONNEL
off the roster — unit averages, best starters only
QB 92
WR 88
TE 80
RB 85
OL 86
DL 84
LB 80
DB 86
Best: Derwin James Jr SS 93
Fastest: Brenen Thompson WR 97 SPD
6 at star dev or better
YOUR NOTEBOOK
what you wrote about them — private, and never a Sapphire statistic
Sign in as a member of this league to keep private scouting notes on your opponents.
LEAGUE DATA
counted by Madden, and arithmetic on top of it
Pass-heavy
Pass 62% · Rush 38% · 33.9 scored, 35.0 allowed
9.1 yds/att
65.3% completions
4.9 yds/carry
434.9 yds/game
1.8 giveaways/game
8.2% sack rate
last 5: 3-2
SAPPHIRE METRICS
QB efficiency 71 · Aggressive
Balance 88
Ball security 50
Back usage 29%
QB runs 5.6/game
Most exposed: pressure -- sacked on 8.2% of dropbacks
PERSONNEL
off the roster — unit averages, best starters only
QB 99
WR 88
TE 92
RB 87
OL 81
DL 85
LB 82
DB 87
Best: Caleb Williams QB 99
Fastest: Zavion Thomas WR 96 SPD
6 at star dev or better
YOUR NOTEBOOK
what you wrote about them — private, and never a Sapphire statistic
Sign in as a member of this league to keep private scouting notes on your opponents.
HOW THEY PLAY
the man, not the franchise — only weeks the record attributes to him, this season
24kbannd
Bears · his last 8 games
Balanced
Runs the quarterback
Pass / run60% / 40%
Points for / against31.8 — 36.2
Margin-4.5
Giveaways a game1.8
Sacks taken7.5% of dropbacks
Lead backZach Charbonnet · 13.1/g
Top targetZavion Thomas · 32%
QB carries5.4 a game
SD
Chargers · his last 8 games
Throws it
One target
Pass / run67% / 33%
Points for / against29.5 — 34.6
Margin-5.1
Giveaways a game1.4
Sacks taken5.0% of dropbacks
Lead backKeaton Mitchell · 11.5/g
Top targetQuentin Johnston · 41%
QB carries2.5 a game
Counted from the weeks each man actually held his team — so a franchise that changed hands is not credited to whoever has it now. Nothing above is a playcall: the export does not carry those, and neither does this.
THE SERIES
SD against 24kbannd — the men, not the teams
24kbannd leads it 1-0.
24kbannd won the last one.
1 meeting
avg 49.0 — 55.0
biggest: 6 pts to 24kbannd
S2 · week 8
SD 49 — 55 24kbannd
24KBANND
Only meetings Sapphire can attribute to both men are counted — a Madden export never says who owned a team last season, so the series starts where the record does.
MATCHUP ADVANTAGES
unit averages against each other — inside three points is a push
Chargers receivers vs Bears secondary
88 v 87
EVEN
Bears receivers vs Chargers secondary
88 v 86
EVEN
Chargers line vs Bears front
86 v 85
EVEN
Bears line vs Chargers front
81 v 84
CHARGERS
Chargers backs vs Bears run defence
85 v 85
EVEN
Bears backs vs Chargers run defence
87 v 83
BEARS
Chargers passer vs Bears secondary
92 v 87
CHARGERS
Bears passer vs Chargers secondary
99 v 86
BEARS
TOP PERFORMERS
🎬
The Game Recapthis game as an episode -- the score, the stars, the numbers that decided it -- and a video you can post ›
BOX SCORE
CHARGERS
BEARS
CHARGERS
BEARS
CHARGERS
BEARS
CHARGERS
BEARS
CHARGERS
| PLAYER | C/ATT | YDS | TD | INT | SCK | LNG | RTG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Justin Herbert QB | 19/31 | 494 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 86 | 117.9 |
BEARS
| PLAYER | C/ATT | YDS | TD | INT | SCK | LNG | RTG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caleb Williams QB | 26/40 | 505 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 65 | 127 |
CHARGERS
| PLAYER | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | BTK | YAC | LNG | FUM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keaton Mitchell HB | 11 | 58 | 5.3 | 0 | 6 | 19 | 28 | 0 |
| Justin Herbert QB | 2 | 3 | 1.5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Kimani Vidal HB | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Brenen Thompson WR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
BEARS
| PLAYER | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | BTK | YAC | LNG | FUM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zach Charbonnet HB | 11 | 69 | 6.3 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 18 | 0 |
| Caleb Williams QB | 5 | 27 | 5.4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 0 |
| D'Andre Swift HB | 2 | 7 | 3.5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 0 |
CHARGERS
| PLAYER | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | YAC | DRP | LNG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brenen Thompson WR | 5 | 172 | 34.4 | 2 | 96 | 1 | 86 |
| Quentin Johnston WR | 4 | 137 | 34.2 | 2 | 65 | 0 | 53 |
| Mack Hollins TE | 5 | 89 | 17.8 | 1 | 34 | 0 | 37 |
| Keaton Mitchell HB | 4 | 83 | 20.8 | 1 | 59 | 1 | 40 |
| Ladd McConkey WR | 1 | 13 | 13 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 13 |
BEARS
| PLAYER | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | YAC | DRP | LNG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rome Odunze WR | 8 | 193 | 24.1 | 1 | 87 | 1 | 57 |
| Zavion Thomas WR | 7 | 171 | 24.4 | 3 | 62 | 1 | 65 |
| Luther Burden III WR | 3 | 47 | 15.7 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 22 |
| D'Andre Swift HB | 3 | 41 | 13.7 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 23 |
| Colston Loveland TE | 3 | 33 | 11 | 2 | 15 | 2 | 19 |
| Zach Charbonnet HB | 2 | 20 | 10 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 10 |
CHARGERS
| PLAYER | TKL | SCK | INT | PD | FF | CMP ALW | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cam Hart FS | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tarheeb Still CB | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Daiyan Henley MIKE | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tuli Tuipulotu DT | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jack Jones CB | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Decamerion Richardson CB | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nick Barrett DT | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Colin Simmons LEDG | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Genesis Smith SS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Marte Mapu SAM | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Akheem Mesidor REDG | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Derwin James Jr SS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| VJ Payne FS | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Christian Gray CB | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
BEARS
| PLAYER | TKL | SCK | INT | PD | FF | CMP ALW | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dylan Stewart LEDG | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dillon Thieneman FS | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kyler Gordon SS | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ashton Hampton CB | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cam Lewis SS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Isaiah Bolden CB | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ruben Hyppolite II WILL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Johnathan Edwards CB | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tyrique Stevenson CB | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kobe King WILL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Devin Bush MIKE | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Matayo Uigalelei DT | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jordan Battle SS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
RECENT FORM
Chargers
L
10–42 vs Jaguars
WK 6
L
7–24 vs Raiders
WK 5
L
33–41 vs Cowboys
WK 4
Bears
W
31–20 vs Lions
WK 7
W
65–43 vs Chiefs
WK 6
W
25–12 vs Packers
WK 5
TEAM STATS
| Chargers | Bears | |
|---|---|---|
| 556 | TOTAL YARDS | 608 |
| 494 | PASSING YARDS | 505 |
| 62 | RUSHING YARDS | 103 |
| 3 | SACKS ALLOWED | 5 |
| 5 | SACKS MADE | 3 |
| 2 | GIVEAWAYS | 2 |
| 2 | TAKEAWAYS | 2 |
Bold is the side that won that line. Giveaways come off a team's own offensive rows and takeaways off its own defensive rows — two separate payloads, so they need not tie out against each other.
ALL-TIME HEAD-TO-HEAD
0
CHARGERS
—
1
BEARS