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No longer are the Chicago Bears the laughing stock of the NFL. What a difference a year makes, and we’re here for it.<\/p>\n
Ben Johnson and the Chicago Bears<\/a> are very early in the offseason, but somehow, things are already going their way. The team had a successful 2025-26 season<\/a>, rounding out the season in the playoffs and as the No. 1 team in the NFC North and an 11-6 record<\/a>. Of course, they lost to the Los Angeles Rams<\/a> in the divisional round of the playoffs and didn\u2019t make it to Super Bowl LX<\/a>, but that doesn\u2019t take away from their season.<\/p>\n Looking back on the 2025-26 season, sure, it hurts that the Bears went out the way they did and when they did. But, for first-year head coach Ben Johnson and second-year quarterback Caleb Williams<\/a>, it was an incredibly successful beginning.<\/p>\n Now, heading into the 2026-27 season, Johnson and the Bears are getting more good news in the form of the NFL<\/a> noticing that they, yes, are major contenders. No longer are the Bears the laughing stock of the NFL. What a difference a year makes.<\/p>\n Chicago Bears Get Glowing Review from the NFL\u2019s Official Website<\/p>\n It may seem too early to do power rankings for the 2026-27 season, but pretty much every outlet is doing them. NFL analyst Eric Edholm of the NFL\u2019s official website has hit picks out in a Tuesday, February 10 feature, and he\u2019s loving the Chicago Bears. What\u2019s not to love?<\/p>\n In the feature, Sobleski has the Bears ranked No. 7 in the league. He also says that they\u2019re making it super fun to watch football.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Bears made football fun again in Chicago,\u201d he says in the piece. \u201cFrom the team\u2019s poor recent history to the 0-2 start, things were pretty dark at one point. That\u2019s when the Caleb Williams-Ben Johnson magic<\/a> kicked in and delivered one thrilling finish after another.\u201d<\/p>\n He adds in the piece, \u201cEven the losses were entertaining and mostly encouraging. Yet the Bears still must realize their shortcomings. They will need to identify ways to fortify the defense and stabilize the offense for another big run in what should be a loaded NFC North once again.\u201d<\/p>\n Finally, Edholm adds that while \u201cthe foundation is in place,\u201d at the same time, \u201cthere\u2019s still more building to do.\u201d<\/p>\n So, what does that means? \u201cA few cuts might be necessary,\u201d he says, \u201cand that\u2019s assuming they can redo some contracts, but Chicago will likely have neither the cap space nor the draft ammunition to make blockbuster additions.\u201d<\/p>\n More Praise for the Chicago Bears<\/p>\n NFL analysts NFL analysts Gary Davenport, Kris Knox, Maurice Moton and Brent Sobleski of Bleacher Report also have a 2026 power rankings feature out<\/a>. Plus, they also have the Bears at No. 7.<\/p>\n In it, Sobleski gaves both Johnson and Williams kudos, saying that Johnson \u201cproved to be the right hire as Chicago Bears head coach\u201d and that the coach\u2019s \u201cpresence helped Caleb Williams begin the trek toward realizing his potential as an elite quarterback.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEverything else from the 2025 season was gravy for the team,\u201d Sobleski adds in the piece<\/a>. \u201cWilliams\u2019 talent was on full display, particularly late in games.\u201d<\/p>\n He continues, \u201cConsidering the franchise has essentially been searching for a legitimate franchise quarterback since Sid Luckman retired in 1950\u2014a stretch that is no exaggeration\u2014Williams\u2019 development became the driving force behind everything the organization did this past season and is already starting to be rewarded.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tAnne Erickson<\/a> is an award-winning reporter for Heavy Sports covering the NFL, NBA and college football. Anne Erickson has years of experience covering the NFL and additional sports, and her work has been published via ESPN, Fox Sports and more. She has interviewed some of the biggest names in sports, including Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff. Erickson also hosts several podcasts and is a Detroit-based radio host. More about Anne Erickson<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Bears\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty No longer are the Chicago Bears the laughing stock of the NFL. What a difference a year…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":748021,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2070],"tags":[374,692,391,2493,7,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-748020","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-bears","8":"tag-bears","9":"tag-chicago","10":"tag-chicago-bears","11":"tag-chicagobears","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116060413152557476","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/748020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=748020"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/748020\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/748021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=748020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=748020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=748020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}