For 31 teams around the league, the season will end in some form of disappointment. That sentiment was shared by the Chicago Bears’ fans, at least in the moment of losing in the NFC Divisional Round. Once the emotions of an overtime loss wore off and it was easier to zoom out, it’s not difficult to see the progress made over the course of just one season.
From 2022 through 2024, the Bears combined to win 15 games. In Year 1 of Ben Johnson, the Bears won 12 games, including their first playoff win in 15 years. Following yet another active offseason, not many gave them a chance to go from worst-to-first, but that’s precisely what they were able to accomplish. Even if Johnson and players have echoed the sentiment that they did not reach their goals in 2025, there was plenty to like about Year 1 of what should be an extended competitive window.
Before we completely shut the door on our 2025 Season In Review series, let’s take a deeper dive into our 10 positives for the Bears’ 2025 campaign.
1. No Matter How You Cut It, The Bears Arrived A Year Early And Don’t Appear To Be Going Anywhere Any Time Soon.
Outside of folks in Chicago, I can’t recall many giving them a real chance to win the NFC North in 2025, yet that’s exactly what they did. Their 0-2 start wasn’t exactly promising, but after head coach Ben Johnson called out his team’s practice habits following an embarrassing 52-21 loss at Detroit against Johnson’s former squad, his young team responded in a big way. Over the next 13 games, the Bears went on an 11-2 tear, which ultimately won them the division.
Even for the most optimistic of fans, many would have taken an over .500 finish, while challenging for a Wild Card spot heading into the latter portion of December. Instead, they had an exciting season with eight total comeback wins, an NFC North title, and their first playoff victory since 2010.
For a team that couldn’t buy a win in the three previous seasons, their ability to find ways to win games in the most unlikely of scenarios was something that nobody could have seen coming. Obviously, they’ll need to find ways to win games in more convincing ways, but don’t discount the valuable experience gained from overcoming the adversity of a thrill-ride season.
Each offseason brings plenty of change, and this one will be no different for Chicago. With that said, all 11 offensive starters are under contract, and the core of their roster is still young. They’ll have some critical decisions to make on pending free agents, but for the first time in a while, Bears fans won’t be learning a half-roster of new names next September. There’s something to be said for continuity, especially for a locker room that felt like it had a special bond.
2. Quarterback Caleb Williams’ Year 2 Development Might Not Have Been Linear, But Man, Was It Promising, Especially In The Second Half Of The Season.
No matter what the organization might say, the primary objective in hiring Johnson was to get their former No. 1 overall pick back on track. Much was made about finding a “leader of men”, but once Johnson was hired, much of the focus turned to Williams and how to get him back on track. It started with the messaging that he needed to “get comfortable being uncomfortable”, but quickly transformed into loading his plate up during the offseason program and in training camp.
There were many moments throughout training camp and the early part of the season where doubt crept into fans’ minds. After all, we had all seen the same sad story pan out back-to-back times with the failed development of both Mitchell Trubisky and Justin Fields. We would spend the entire offseason hyping both quarterbacks, using numbers and reasons why they were due for a breakout. Then, when it came time to deliver, that breakout never came.
For Williams, Year 1 went about as poorly as possible. Not only did he have his fair share of struggles on the field, but he also went through two play-callers and two head coaches before December. If that wasn’t bad enough, both Jayden Daniels and Bo Nix made the playoffs in their rookie years. Hell, Daniels got all the way to the NFC Championship game while posting some of the best numbers we’ve ever seen from a rookie quarterback.
Couple last year’s happenings with a rocky start to the regular season, and it would have been easy (and predictable) to give up on the young quarterback. Following a Week 3 breakout performance against the Dallas Cowboys, a sense of relief filled the air, even if his inconsistencies would persist. It wasn’t until the Bengals game in Week 9 that it felt like things started to “click”. Although his numbers still left something to be desired, he was playing with a new sense of quiet confidence.
Going back to Week 1 and comparing his overall command of the offense, comfort in the pocket, and confidence in his throws to what he did in late December and into the playoffs was a night-and-day experience. All of those late-game comebacks and time on task in Johnson’s complex offense finally started to pay off when the lights continued to get brighter.
During the regular season, Williams finished with a franchise-best 3,942 passing yards, 31 total touchdowns, and just seven turnovers. Outside of some inconsistencies that will plague most young quarterbacks throughout a 17-game season, the most “concerning” aspect of his game was his lack of prolonged bouts of inaccuracy. That said, no matter how much he struggled in a game, once the fourth quarter came along, the team’s second-year quarterback was at his best.
While there’s still plenty of growth for Williams to achieve, it’s hard to deny that he’s just beginning to scratch the surface of what he’s capable of accomplishing at the highest level in the game. For better or for worse, the expectations in Year 3 will be monumental, and if there’s one thing he’s proved time and time again, it’s that Caleb Williams embraces the spotlight and plays his best in those moments.
3. The Rookie Class Has Legitimate Star Power from Colston Loveland, to Luther Burden III, And Even Their Seventh-Round Running Back.
To say that things started as great as they ended would be a lie. It was easy to question why the Bears spent their two highest picks in last April’s draft on a pair of “luxury” players. Sure, they had fixed the interior of their offensive line, but with a needed talent infusion all over the roster, was adding two pass catchers the smartest investment of high-round draft capital? It was a fair question to ask, both in the moment and early in the season.
Over the first two months of the season, Loveland and Burden combined for 24 catches, 287 receiving yards, and one touchdown. All the while, Tyler Warren, the 13th overall selection (after Loveland), had 37 receptions for 492 receiving yards and three touchdowns. The best lesson to be taken away from all of this? Don’t judge rookies two months into the season!
When all was said and done, Loveland finished as the team’s leading pass catcher with 713 yards, to go along with a tie for the team lead in touchdowns. Burden finished slightly off that pace with 652 receiving yards, two touchdowns, and one of the highest yards per route run in the league. By the time the playoffs rolled around, both rookies had established themselves as top targets in a Top 10 offense.
Moving down the list, second-round offensive tackle Ozzy Trapilo stalled in camp during the competition at left tackle, but impressed the coaching staff so much that he took over as the starter on the left side for the final handful of games during the regular season. A torn patellar tendon cut his promising season short on Wild Card weekend, and it’s fair to wonder how long it’ll take for him to get back healthy and ready to play. Seventh-round rookie running back Kyle Monangai came out of a promising class as one of the last players taken at his position. Despite that, he finished Top 5 in multiple categories for rookie runners and established himself as a valid 1B option to D’Andre Swift in the Bears’ backfield.
It wasn’t all sunshine and roses, of course. Fellow second-round pick Shemar Turner was lost mid-season with a torn ACL, and linebacker Ruben Hyppolite struggled to stay healthy. When he was on the field, it wasn’t great, and fifth-round cornerback Zah Frazier missed his entire rookie campaign due to something yet to be disclosed.
In any class, there will always be hits and misses, but finding four starting quality players, a developmental guard with Luke Newman, and the possibility that Turner might still turn into something is about as good as any team can ask for in an eight-player class.
4. Ben Johnson Lived Up To His Billing (And More) In Year 1.
Heading into the team’s extensive search last year, it was rumored that they wanted a “leader of men” type of candidate. That led many to speculate that a strong-willed, defensive-minded choice might be the Bears’ preference. Much had been made about Johnson’s play-calling ability, but there were questions about his ability to lead and be a true head coach.
It didn’t take long– his opening press conference to be exact– for everyone to see that he was more than capable of leading a locker room. The “mad scientist” reputation was built purely on hearsay, not based on anything known from his time in Detroit. Johnson didn’t shy away from high expectations, nor did he avoid the long-standing rivalry with the Green Bay Packers.
Despite their 0-2 start, Johnson maintained his confidence in the roster and what they were building. It seemed like once they got the monkey off their back with a Week 3 win, it all started to come together, even if it wasn’t pretty. Not only did they win the NFC North for the first time in seven years, but they won a playoff game for the first time in 15 years. For reference, the organization had been through four head coaches between Lovie Smith and Johnson.
Although Johnson ended up with just one first-place vote for Coach of the Year, his ability to not only turn the building’s culture around but also find immediate success for a team that had not experienced a winning record in seven seasons is worth far more than that. While many would rest on the laurels of an impressive debut, Johnson’s message at the end-of-year press conference was that of a coach who “gets it.” When asked what they could build on in 2026, his answer was blunt: “There is no building off of this. We’re back to square one. Back at the bottom again.”
Shocking the league in Year 1 is a great accomplishment, but following that up with back-to-back winning seasons is something the Bears haven’t done since 2005 and 2006. Even if multiple curses felt like they were “broken” coming out of 2025, there’s plenty more work to be done to realize sustained success for the long term.
5. Resource Flexibility (Look Deeper Than The Surface Cap Numbers)
Heading into the acquisition period that starts in a little under a month, the Bears are in better shape than meets the eye. Over the last handful of offseasons, fans have enjoyed inflated cap numbers that have ultimately led to active free-agent periods and plenty of action in the early rounds of the draft. Thanks to their 11-6 record and Wild Card Round victory, they’ll be selecting No. 25 overall. The good news is that outside of missing their sixth-round selections, they’ll have a full allotment of draft picks at their disposal. If we’ve learned anything in recent seasons, it’s that draft position can help, but good teams find talent no matter where they find themselves in the overall draft order.
The bigger focus for most fans comes in free agency and their overall cap number. Although the NFL hasn’t officially set the 2026 figure, it gave teams a focused ballpark estimate of $301.2 to $305.7 million. Using Over The Cap’s projected figure of $303.5 million, the Bears currently sit around $5.3 million over the cap, and $9.493 million over if you factor in their draft class. Comparatively, this appears to be an alarming number, but when zooming out, it’s not nearly as bad as it seems.
First, the Bears have some flexibility to clear space with simple cuts. Without getting into too much detail, names like Tremaine Edmunds, Cole Kmet, and D’Andre Swift could (and I emphasize the word could) be players that net them a combined $30.87 million in savings. While nobody should expect all three to be released, this is simply to give people an idea of how quickly they could clear space with a trio of releases. They could also extend/restructure some of these deals, with Kmet and Swift being the most sensible options. Although the savings would go down, it would also allow them to avoid creating additional holes heading into the offseason.
Like most contending teams, the bulk of the Bears’ cap savings will likely come from restructures. Late in the last offseason, general manager Ryan Poles executed a simple restructure on Jaylon Johnson’s deal, netting the team close to $10 million in “quick” savings. Don’t be surprised to see Poles and the front office lean more into this philosophy moving forward. For reference, they have $85.919 million available to them in “simple restructure” scenarios and an additional $61.551 million if they choose the “maximum restructure” route. It’s worth keeping in mind that these are grand totals and will change if they make cuts or extend players to lower cap hits. The larger point to understand through all of this is that this is a team with plenty of flexibility, and while restructuring existing contracts is technically considered “kicking the can down the road,” it’s a necessary evil in today’s NFL, and something the Bears have avoided doing in Poles’ first four offseasons. Barring another highly expensive offseason, their flexibility for 2027 will remain an asset heading into next year.
6. Following An Aggressive Offseason Approach, The Bears Finally Have A Top 5 Offensive Line
10 to 15 years ago, the New Orleans Saints were among the very few teams in the league that placed more value on the interior of their offensive line than on their tackles. Now, that’s not to say that they didn’t value the tackle position, but their focus was putting together the best starting three on the inside that they could. It worked out well, especially with a shorter quarterback under center in Drew Brees.
With that in mind, this is not me saying the Bears intentionally used a similar approach last offseason. Still, it’s notable that they relied on three new starters on the interior to help them go from one of the worst offensive lines in football to one of the best. On paper, Poles had his work cut out for him, especially with such a thin free agent market. Instead of relying on a single avenue, he executed two low-cost trades and landed the best free-agent center on the market.
Johnson cautioned that it would take time for this new unit to gel, and he was right. The early going was a bit shaky,y but as the unit continued to grow together, so did their quarterback under center. When zooming out on the season as a whole, the numbers and overall production are hard to argue with. Joe Thuney, who was acquired for a fourth-round pick, won the first-ever Protect of the Year award and was the only starting lineman on the roster not to give up a sack. Jonah Jackson had a resurgent year, and Drew Dalman was named to his first Pro Bowl in five NFL seasons.
Even better was that former No. 10 overall pick Darnell Wright took a sizable step forward and was named as a second-team All-Pro in his third year in the league. The only position that saw any sort of flux over their 19 games was left tackle. Even then, it never hampered their entire unit. In a perfect world, Ozzy Trapilo wouldn’t have ruptured his patellar and would be ready to build on a promising Year 1. Unfortunately, that is highly unlikely, so the team must get creative this offseason. Despite all of that, there should be little concern heading into 2026 with this group, which is something we haven’t been able to say in over a decade.
7. It Turns Out The Running Game Didn’t Need An Expensive Free Agent Or High-Round Pick To Be Effective
Call it scheme or credit the offensive line. No matter how you cut it, the Bears’ rushing attack performed much better than expected in 2025.
After struggling to find consistency early in the year with any part of their offense, once the offensive line started to settle in, so did the run game. Heading into the season, many believed that a featured backfield of D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai would yield a bottom-of-the-league result. Instead, they finished the season ranked third in rushing yards per game at an impressive 144.5 total.
Swift finished with a career-high 1,087 yards, while averaging 4.9 yards per carry, which was good for the 10th-best of all running backs with over 100 touches. Monangai, a seventh-round rookie, ranked fifth among rookie runners with 783 rushing yards, while averaging 4.6 yards per carry.
If we learned anything from last offseason, don’t rule out changes at any position on offense. Although it would be logical, and probably the most financially savvy choice, it’s worth keeping in mind that Johnson is going into just his second offseason as the team’s head coach. Tweaks will continue to be made on the offensive side of the ball, and running back shouldn’t be considered safe. That said, there should be no concerns about this duo if they decide to run it back in 2026.
8. Despite The Defensive Struggles, They Still Led The League In Takeaways And Finished Middle Of The Road In Red Zone Success
Make no mistake about it- The defense needs great improvements, especially in the trenches. With that said, what they were able to accomplish considering their injury issues in the secondary and a lack of consistent pressure from the front four.
In many ways, their top-level coaching showed up in a big way. Players like Nahshon Wright and D’Marco Jackson had career years, and once the secondary was healthy, they played considerably better over the final few games of the season. Wright was very boom or bust, but any time a player comes up with five interceptions in 16 starts, it’s a great sign that coaching made a big difference. On top of his five interceptions, Wright also had two forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries.
Speaking of takeaways, 32-year-old veteran Kevin Byard led the league in interceptions for the second time in his career with seven. It’s always impressive when any player leads the league in interceptions, but to do it in the 10th year of your career and have it come eight years in between the first time you’ve done it makes it that much more impressive.
It is worth noting that as the competition got stiffer, the defense’s ability to force takeaways went down, but that’s somewhat typical with almost any team. In the end, they led the league in takeaways overall and proved quite advantageous when it came to flipping the field and giving their offense more opportunities to possess the football.
In a perfect world, they’ll be healthier at cornerback next year, and they’ll be able to improve their defensive line enough in the offense to take a big step forward in 2026. If not, they’ll once again be relying on takeaways to help keep themselves above water on the defensive side of the ball.
9. No Matter The Final Result, Getting To The Playoffs Must Be Viewed As A Net-Positive
For 31 teams around the league, the season always ends in some form of disappointment. Take the New England Patriots, for example. They defied all odds, made it to the Super Bowl, but were completely dominated. Heading into the game, many Patriots fans would have told themselves that, no matter what happened, the season had been a success. Still, the emotions of living in the moment can make even the most level-headed fans a bit irrational. In 60 minutes of game time, the disappointment of that final loss (no matter how close or bad the game was) can trick fans into believing there should be an extra level of disappointment heading into the offseason.
In reality, teams like the Bears, Patriots, and Jacksonville Jaguars all defied even the loftiest of preseason expectations. No matter how the final game looked or how it felt in that moment, that one game doesn’t erase 17-plus games of pure jubilation and the progress that came with it.
In Chicago, the disappointment of an overtime loss might have lingered, but it’s time to set our focus toward the offseason. Realistically, the Bears likely weren’t going to beat the Seahawks in Seattle to get to the Super Bowl. So, even if their season had been extended by one more week, the end feeling would have been close to the same. Now, we get to focus on how the front office will improve the roster. The team’s holes were clear, but it also felt apparent that the Bears are close to being considered Super Bowl contenders.
What happens in the coming months will absolutely play a role in how the 2026 season goes. Winning the division and hosting a playoff game will no longer be good enough. The hope of getting to the big game and winning it will be the primary goal. That’s what happens when a team defies expectations a year too early. The next season has higher stakes. If anything, fans should embrace that. The time for the Bears to stay on track and win a Super Bowl is now.
10. If The Bears Could Win 11 Games And The NFC North With A Bottom-10 Defense In Year 1, Imagine What They Could Be Capable After Another Offseason Of Additions
Which brings us to our final point: a recap of 10 positives for 2025. Following an 11-win season and their first playoff victory in 15 years, the stakes only rise from here. It’s up to Poles, Johnson, and the front office to make the necessary preparations heading into an offseason where resources will be there, but certainly more limited. As both men alluded to in their end-of-season press conference, maintaining a winning team can be more difficult than building one.
Heading into the acquisition period, their needs are clear. The defensive line will be the primary focus, but there are also plenty of questions at linebacker and in the secondary (especially safety). How the team handles its in-house decisions will surely dictate its moves in both free agency and the draft. Despite a negative cap figure on the surface, the Bears are far from “strapped for cash” when it comes to cap fluidity.
The bigger focus should not be on a busy offseason where close to half the 53-man roster is churned over. Instead, it should focus on improving weaknesses while still maintaining a relatively young roster. The balance of impact between free agency and the draft is challenging, but for a team like the Bears, they can’t become overly reliant on free agency. Instead of their typical shotgun approach that sees 20-25 new players land on the roster, they’ll need to focus on quality over quantity. The primary focus needs to be on adding impact players to an already established core.
While fans shouldn’t rule out an impact addition or two on the offensive side of the ball, the team’s Bottom 10-ranked defense needs to be the priority. While it all starts up front, don’t be surprised to see the team get creative in how they retool this unit. Dennis Allen didn’t get many “toys” in Year 1, and he’ll surely want to focus on getting the right personnel on the roster to be able to maximize his scheme effectively.
Buckle up, Bears fans. This offseason might lack the drama we’ve seen over the last four years, but there’s still plenty on the line. If they push the right buttons, it’s easy to see a clear path to becoming a Super Bowl contender. With cautionary tales like the Washington Commanders at the forefront of everyone’s minds, the roadmap to success should lay out a clear path forward for 2026.