The Chicago Bears return home Sunday to begin a busy holiday week. They’ll host the Pittsburgh Steelers at Soldier Field to start a six-day stretch where they’ll play two games.

Chicago is riding high heading into Sunday’s game. The Bears are 7-3 after winning their third straight game in the final minutes against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 11. Now they unexpectedly sit alone atop the NFC North standings with seven games left to go in the regular season.

But things are about to get much harder starting Sunday. Five of the Bears’ last six opponents this year have winning records. Pittsburgh (6-4) is first up and the Steelers might be coming back to Soldier Field with old Bears nemesis quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

Sunday afternoon’s game kicks off at noon on CBS. Here are the top five storylines to watch.

Airing it out

Quarterback Caleb Williams and the Bears offense haven’t built momentum passing the ball over the past two week despite coming away with a couple wins. They’ll have a good chance to fix that Sunday.

Pittsburgh has the worst passing defense in the league this season despite it’s talented pass rush (more on that group later). The Steelers have given up a league-worst 261.7 passing yards per game and the third-most passing yards, 2,617, in 10 games. They have intercepted nine passes, which is tied for eighth.

Williams has tried to build consistency throughout the game passing the ball instead of relying on last-minute magic. He’s averaging 232.9 passing yards per game and has thrown multiple touchdowns in a game three times this season. But Chicago has struggled to move the ball at times, especially in the middle part of games.

Williams has shown an ability to air the ball out like he did against the Dallas Cowboys and Cincinnati Bengals. Sunday should be another opportunity to do that.

“It’s a great challenge for us,” Williams said. “We’re excited to go out there and compete against them and be able to show who we are.”

Aaron Rodgers’ final encore?

Bears fans might see their rival one last time Sunday.

Rodgers’ status for Sunday’s game remains up in the air after he broke the wrist in his non-throwing hand last week. He returned to practice during the week after missing Wednesday’s practice and Pittsburgh ruled him questionable for Sunday’s game. Backup quarterback Mason Rudolph, who came in and threw for 127 yards and a touchdown Sunday, would start in place of an injured Rodgers.

Sunday will mark the third time the Bears will have uncertainty at which quarterback they’re playing. They faced the same uncertainty earlier against the Baltimore Ravens and Bengals.

But Rodgers and Bears fans likely want one last word in the rivalry. Rodgers has owned the rivalry throughout his time with the Green Bay Packers, holding a 24-5 overall record against the Bears in his career. The Bears are preparing both for Rodgers and Steelers’ offensive coordinator Arthur Smith’s offense.

“It’s a little bit of all of it,” Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen said. “There’s a little uncertainty in terms of what [Rodgers’] availability is going to be. So, in particular, you’re studying the scheme. And then you’re preparing for the scheme. Yet, you understand how each quarterback likes to operate. There’s plenty of tape Mason Rudolph and obviously plenty of tape on Aaron too. So, we spent a lot of time on it.”

Protecting Caleb Williams

The Bears’ offensive line has done a good job of protecting Williams as Chicago has won seven of it last eight games. The unit will be tested against a talented Steelers’ pass rush Sunday.

Pittsburgh has one of the best pass rushes in the NFL. The Steelers rank third in sacks (33), second in quarterback hits (42), fifth in quarterback pressures (103) and 11th in quarterback hurries (28). The unit has blitzed on 30.7% of their defensive snaps, which is fourth in the league.

The Steelers can pressure from different points of the line. Linebackers T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith have what Johnson called the quickest first steps in the league. They’ve had 11.5 sacks in 17 combined games. Linebacker Nick Herbig leads the team with six sacks while defensive tackles Keeanu Benton and Derrick Harmon push though the middle of the line.

Highsmith was limited with a pectoral injury toward the end of the week, which could limit the pressure. But there will be plenty of things to worry about both for Johnson and the Bears line.

“It’s a physical unit,” Johnson said. “They do a great job in the inside, clogging it up and not allowing you to get them off the line of scrimmage. And then those guys on the edge, I think they do a phenomenal job and put a lot of stress on the quarterback. So we got to be very disciplined in the depth of the pocket. From a quarterback perspective, make sure we’re not getting too deep, because they can run around tackle in a hurry. It doesn’t matter who you are in this league, they’re darn good players.”

Don’t let the run game get going

While most of the attention Sunday will be whether the Rodgers will play, the Bears will be dealing with their own injury questions.

Chicago might play without its starting set of linebackers. Tremaine Edmunds, T.J. Edwards and Noah Sewell all missed practice.

That could leave a big hole in the Bears’ run defense. Chicago allowed 169 and 115 rushing yards, respectively, over the past two games without Edwards. Missing either or both Edmunds and Sewell as well could make it harder for the Bears to stop the run.

The Bears might be catching a break. Pittsburgh running back Jaylen Warren has been limited with an ankle injury. The Steelers are also averaging the fourth-lowest rushing yards per game (88.2). But Chicago will want to limit the run as much as possible.

Ben Johnson vs. Mike Tomlin

Johnson will get another chance to scheme opposite an accomplished coach during his first season with the Bears on Sunday.

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin continued Pittsburgh’s culture of winning ever since he took over in 2007 for Pro Football Hall of Hame coach Bill Cowher. Pittsburgh has won a Super Bowl, reached the playoffs 12 times and never had a losing record during Tomlin’s tenure.

“It’s a great challenge for us. We’re excited to go out there and compete against them and be able to show who we are.”

—  Caleb Williams, Bears quarterback

While Johnson has been impressed by the consistent winning, there’s more to Tomlin that the record. Johnson was impressed with the culture that Tomlin built over nearly two decades that still resonates with players today.

“It’s absolutely incredible to think he’s been a head coach as long as he has and just keeps churning out wins,” Johnson said. “He sets the bar very high, and nothing but respect for him, how he goes about his business. He holds his players accountable.”