The Chicago Bears had the kind of 2025 season that makes you believe in turnarounds. After six straight years without a winning record and three last-place finishes in the NFC North, they flipped everything. Caleb Williams and first-year head coach Ben Johnson turned late-game heroics into a division title and a Wild Card win over the Packers.
But here’s the thing about magic. It doesn’t always carry over.
Williams was incredible when it mattered most. He beat the Bengals, Giants, Vikings and Steelers in consecutive weeks on comebacks. Then he went into Philadelphia and knocked off the defending Super Bowl champs. The Bears took the division. They beat Green Bay twice, including a 31-27 thriller in the playoffs. For a franchise that had been a punchline, it was validation.
That doesn’t mean it’s sustainable. And there are two problems that look like they could wreck Chicago’s Super Bowl hopes before they even get started.
The Accuracy Problem Nobody Wants to Talk About
Williams completed 58.1 percent of his passes last season. That ranked 34th among quarterbacks who started multiple games. Behind Justin Fields. Behind Kirk Cousins. Behind Cam Ward. And nowhere close to the league leaders like Drake Maye (72.0 percent), Brock Purdy (69.4) or Josh Allen (69.3).
His numbers look fine on paper — 3,942 yards, 27 touchdowns, only 7 interceptions — but accuracy is the foundation. You can’t rely on fourth-quarter miracles every week. At some point, you need to hit routine throws consistently. Williams made up for it with clutch plays, but that’s not a formula you want to bet a season on.
The pressure is on him to improve the basics. Because the hero ball routine? It works until it doesn’t.
The Defense Lost Its Best Players and the Numbers Were Already Misleading
The Bears led the NFL in takeaways last year with 33. That’s impressive. But they also gave up 361.8 yards per game, which ranked 29th in the league. Turnover luck is real, and it’s not always repeatable.
Now the defense has to replace two starting safeties. Kevin Byard (7 interceptions, 93 tackles) signed with the Patriots. Jaquan Brisker (93 tackles, 8 passes defensed) joined the Steelers. They’re being replaced by Coby Bryant, who was with Seattle, and rookie Dillon Thieneman. That’s a lot of pressure on two unproven guys.
Linebacker Tremaine Edmunds, the team’s leading tackler with 112 stops, is also gone. He’s heading to the Giants. So the Bears lost their top tackler and their two best safeties in one offseason.
Defensive coordinator Dennis Allen has to figure out how to keep this unit functional. But with new faces at key spots and a defense that was already vulnerable outside of takeaways, that’s a tough ask.
The Bears had a magical 2025. But magical seasons don’t just repeat themselves. Williams needs to get more consistent, and the defense needs to prove it can hold up without forcing turnovers every week. Right now, both of those are open questions. And in the NFC, that’s usually enough to end a Super Bowl run before it really starts.
Leave a Comment