There are high expectations for the Chicago Bears heading into the 2025 season following an impactful offseason highlighted by first-year head coach Ben Johnson.

The Bears made moves to improve on all sides — offense, defense and coaching — including the hiring of Johnson, revamping the entire interior offensive line, shoring up the defensive line and continuing to build around quarterback Caleb Williams with more weapons. While the pieces are in place, it won’t be an easy task with the second-most difficult strength of schedule in 2025.

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NFL.com analyst and noted Bears superfan Adam Rank predicted every NFL team’s record for the 2025 season, which included Chicago. And, in true Rank fashion, he was very high on the Bears, including predicting a playoff run in Johnson’s first season as head coach.

Bears 2025 game-by-game picks by Adam Rank

Week 4: at Las Vegas Raiders – WIN (3-1)

Week 6: at Washington Commanders – WIN (4-1)

Week 11: at Minnesota Vikings – LOSS (5-5)

Week 16: vs. Green Bay Packers – WIN (9-6)

Week 18: vs. Detroit Lions – WIN (11-6)

Rank predicts Bears make playoff run

Rank has Chicago getting off to a quick 4-1 start before running into a rough stretch where they lose four of five games to the Saints, Ravens, Bengals and Vikings. But the Bears finish the season on a five-game winning streak, which includes key division wins over the Lions and Packers (x2). Rank predicts Chicago will go 11-6 in Ben Johnson’s first season as head coach, which is good enough to end the franchise’s four-year playoff slump.

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Where does Rank put the rest of the NFC North?

In Rank’s predictions, the Bears not only make the playoffs but win the division in Johnson’s debut season as head coach with an 11-6 record. As for the rest of the NFC North, Rank has the Green Bay Packers finishing behind Chicago at 9-8 (after getting swept by the Bears) and the Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings bringing up the rear at 8-9. In all, Chicago goes 4-2 in the division.

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This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: Bears picks: Adam Rank predicts playoff run for Chicago in 2025