Sizing Up the Vikings’ Rivals: The Bears
“Bear Down” is the calling card of the team’s fans from “The Windy City”. The Bears faithful are a group that is deeply invested in their team and its rich history.
Over the last few decades, the team has had more downs than ups, with a quarterback rotation to rival only a few other teams in the league. Eighteen years ago, they made it to the Super Bowl, where they lost to the Colts, and in the 2010 season, they lost in the NFC Championship game to the Packers. It has been a struggle since only winning the division in 2018 before falling back into the lower half of the NFC North for the last six years.
Sizing Up the Vikings’ Rivals: The Bears
They have made several trades and been near the top of the draft, but they should have hit paydirt by now, but their selection of quarterbacks has proven to be their Achilles’ heel time and again. Last year, they once again dived into the quarterback pool after just three years with the number 11 overall pick, Justin Fields, and picked up Caleb Williams first overall, who shined at times and may have a brighter future.
However, there were some questions about his personality and whether he would be a strong leader. Fellow rookie Jayden Daniels, picked by Washington with the next pick, tore it up in his rookie season, got the Commanders to the NFC Championship game, and has some wondering if the Bears missed the mark again. If Williams can keep growing, he could be another star quarterback not only in the NFC but in all of the NFL.
The Bears’ GM, Ryan Poles, has done a fair job keeping the salary cap under control without the burden of a large star quarterback’s salary hindering their free agency. Most of their finances are tied up in Montez Sweat, DJ Moore, Jaylon Johnson, Tremaine Edwards, and newly acquired offensive lineman Joe Thuney. Great core pieces to build around, as well as Williams.
With this year’s free agency and draft, that’s exactly what the Bears did to improve their chances of competing with their division rivals. They also made a big coaching hire by sniping Ben Johnson from the Detroit Lions to further construct a winning team.
New Head Coach
When teams sit at the top of the draft several years in a row, like the Bears, and at the bottom of the division, the guy that gets the most blame, right or wrong, is the head coach. Since 2013, the Bears have not had a coach with more than 4 years in the job.
Matt Eberflus was the latest victim of the chopping block and was fired in December of the 2024 season. This opened the door for them to hire the Lions’ offensive coordinator, Ben Johnson, to get the team back to the top of the division or at least into the playoffs. Johnson is known for his creative mind when it comes to play calling. He was putting together calls that ensured the Lions offense stayed on the field as they attempted several 4th downs the last few seasons, instead of kicking field goals or punting regardless of the yardage or field position.
Johnson was highly sought after by teams due to his ingenuity. The test will be to see if he can carry that over into being a head coach, or if he will struggle as others have. Some coaches are just made to be coordinators in the NFL and can’t handle the job as top dog, or other aspects of the team bring them down, such as poor roster management by general managers, or a slew of injury bugs to top players.
His offensive coordinator is Declan Doyle, and it will remain to be seen whether he calls plays or merely helps Johnson with the game plan. The new defensive coordinator is former Saints’ head coach Dennis Allen. He is getting an upgrade in players from what he was working with as a head coach in New Orleans, and could get the defense going in the right direction to complement the offense.
Free Agency
The Bears did a great job in free agency on both sides of the ball. They shored up the offensive line by snatching up the best center on the market in the Falcons’ Drew Dalman. He’s a steady blocker in both the pass and run games. Dalman will be a great anchor for their line.
They also traded for the aforementioned Thuney from the Chiefs for a 2026 4th-round pick and Jonah Jackson from the Rams for a 5th-round pick this year. These are the types of players that make a young NFL quarterback’s life much easier on gameday. They also signed Minneapolis Miracle quarterback Case Keenum as a backup and veteran presence to help guide their young QB. The Bears’ free agency focused on spending on the trenches and not much on skill position players.
On the defensive side, they plucked Grady Jarrett from the Falcons and Dayo Odeyingbo from the Colts to make a more formidable defensive line. Along with extending Kyler Gordon and T.J. Edwards, they made the defense better before they even got to the draft.
2025 Draft
The Monsters of the Midway went after skill positions in the draft to add to Williams’ arsenal of targets. To team up with Moore, Rome Odunze, and Cole Kmet, they add arguably the best tight end in this year’s draft in Coleston Loveland.
They followed that pick with Luther Burden III in the 2nd round. These two picks will also help out Williams with the skills they bring to the table. Both skilled pass catchers can stretch the field from their respective positions. They let Keenan Allen go after one year, with the team letting the reliable wideout hit free agency. They could always bring him back later, but the team may be looking to go in a younger direction centered around their young quarterback.
The Bears then had two more 2nd round picks, where they added offensive lineman Ozzy Trapilo and defensive lineman Shemar Turner, putting some youth into the trenches they nourished in free agency. While Trapilo may be more of a depth piece at first, I think Turner will be part of the defensive line rotation immediately. He could make some noise in his rookie year if Allen puts an aggressive attack out on the field. Their next impact player may be their 7th rounder, Kyle Monangai.
The running back depth was very deep in this year’s draft, and Monangai may be a key counterpart to D’Andre Swift in the backfield. This could be the one-two punch similar to what Johnson had in Detroit in the backfield that kept teams guessing.
Final Analysis
While the Bears definitely upgraded in all the key areas, there will be several questions this first year. Why? There are a lot of new elements that have to be brought together to find their meshing points.
For instance, Williams could have a sophomore slump, which is common in the NFL, as other teams get the book on players after their first year. Add to that a new coaching staff that has to implement new strategies and concepts to get the team on board with how they run things. It may take a season for them all to gel into a cohesive unit. Injuries are always possible for key players and can derail an entire season.
Frankly, you never know how a rookie — no matter how high up the boards they were drafted — will respond to the NFL’s bright lights. Finally, the NFC North is a tough division with the Lions, Packers, and Vikings all providing challenges to the new look Bears. This year, they might struggle or shoot to the top as they put some key pieces in place to challenge all three teams.
Until they are on the field showing everything they’ve put together, I think Bears fans should temper their immediate excitement but be very hopeful for the next few years.
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