Hello, Chicago Bears fans! I’m here with a Good, Better, Best review of the 2025 season of the Chicago Bears. What was good…what got better…and what was the best at the end of the season? In many ways, this Chicago Bears team exceeded expectations. Let’s document what Matt Nagy might have called the “Whys” of the Bears’ success in the 2025 season.

GOOD

Montez Sweat

In 2024, many questioned whether Montez Sweat could earn the contract that Ryan Poles awarded him. He finished the season with only 5.5 sacks. Additionally, he only had 12 solo tackles and 14 assists. This is not the profile of a DE1 in the NFL. In 2024, Sweat doubled all of his 2024 stats – he posted 31 solo tackles, 17 assists, and 10 sacks on the season. The Bears’ overall pass rush remains a question mark, but in 2025, Sweat put up the numbers you would hope for a number one defensive end on your d-line with 53 tackles, 13 tackles for loss, 10 sacks, 17 QB hits, 6 passes defended, 3 forced fumbles, and 1 fumble recovery.

Kevin Byard

Kevin Byard has long been recognized as an elite safety, but many thought perhaps his days of elite takeways were in the past. Byard had other thoughts for the 2025 season. While Byard was not as prolific in the tackling department in 2025, he more than made up for it with interceptions. Byard led the league with seven interceptions this season, more than making up for a drop off in tackles and passes defended.

Ben’s Game Management

After having experienced the utter nadir of game management featured by Matt Eberflus, it was a welcome sight to witness the Ben Johnson approach to managing games. He didn’t always make the right call, but his strategic approach to fourth quarter management led to the Bears winning a league-leading comebacks in the last quarter of the game.

BETTER

Caleb Williams Sack Rate

In 2024 the overwhelming thesis about Caleb was that he was overrated as the first overall pick. The primary stat oriented against him was his sack rate on the season. Caleb’s sack rate in 2024 was 10.8%. Caleb took a league leading 68 sacks in 2024, leading many analysts to argue he was a bust. Others, on the other hand, argued sack rate was something that could be improved – both by the QB and by the offensive line in front of him. In 2025, Caleb cut that sack rate by more than 50% – reducing his sack rate to 4.05%. Was this a function of Caleb getting the ball out more quickly? No – his time to throw in 2024 was 3.03 while his time to throw in 2025 was 3.20. What changed was Caleb’s protection up front and his elite escapability.

The Bears Rushing Attack

The Bears in 2024, despite having been productive in the run game in previous seasons, had a significant drop off. They were only 25th in total rushing yards, and they were the 4th worst in the league in terms of yards per carry. In the first few games of the 2025 season, it looked like that pattern would continue. But after the bye week, Ben Johnson’s rushing attack found its identity. The Bears climbed to third in the league in rushing yards (2456) and were also third in yards per carry (4.9). Behind a revitalized Swift and the rookie, Kyle Monangai, the Bears rushing attack dominated the NFC and was a big part of their campaign to claim the NFC North.

Finishing Games

The Bears in 2024 had many painful losses in the last minutes of the regular season games. This culminated with the epic and awful loss to the Lions on Thanksgiving Day, where Matt Eberflus’ mismanagement of the last minutes of the game cost the Bears a victory. This was in the wake of the horrific Hail Mary lost to the Washington Commanders. The Bears in 2025 flipped this script. In 2025, the Bears secured a historic six victories while trailing in the final two minutes. This included the amazing kick block by Josh Blackwell against the Raiders, the insane catch and run by Colston Loveland against the Bengals to secure a last minute win, and perhaps most significantly, the beautiful deep pass by Caleb Williams to DJ Moore to defeat the Green Bay Packers in Chicago – a victory that helped secure their NFC North championship.

BEST

The Bears Offensive Line

The Chicago Bears offensive line in 2024, like it had been in many years in the past, was a serious liability for the team. Outside of Darnell Wright, the line had significant weaknesses both in terms of pass protection and run blocking. Ryan Poles committed to changing that in the 2025 offseason – he traded a 4th round pick for Joe Thuney, and he traded for Jonah Jackson from the Rams. In addition, he added Drew Dalton to be the center. All three of those players rate in the top 10 of NFL offensive linemen at their position. PFF rated the Bears the 4th overall offensive line in the 2025 season. This factor, perhaps more than any other, led to the Bears amazing season.

The Defense’s Takeaways

It’s difficult to predict takeaways for defenses from season to season. But whatever the dark magic the Bears have employed in the 2025 season, they are the undisputed takeaway kings on defense this year.

Colston Loveland’s rookie season

So many casual fans hated on the Bears for the Loveland pick, despite the reporting of NFL insiders that, once the Bears took Loveland, the calls to trade up in the 2025 NFL draft quieted. After the first few games of the season, many argued that the Bears had clearly made a mistake in Loveland over Tyler Warren, who was getting a lot of targets from Daniel Jones early on. But as the season progressed, and the Bears offense focused more on Loveland as Caleb’s best safety outlet, Loveland began to clearly move beyond Warren as the best TE in the rookie class of 2025. Loveland averaged more yards and first downs per route than either Trey McBride or Brock Bowers in 2025. Not only that, but in the game against the Detroit Lions, Loveland surpassed the legendary Mike Ditka in rookie passing yards, and he led the Bears in passing yards as a rookie. An amazing season for the young man.

The Outlook for the Chicago Bears

Vegas had the Bears pegged at less than nine victories for the 2025 season. The Bears have greatly exceeded those expectations in earning eleven wins and taking the NFC North crown. Whatever happens in the postseason game against the Green Bay Packers, the arrow for the Chicago Bears is pointing upwards. I can’t wait to see what comes next.