Bears may see 2027 as true opening of contention window

The Chicago Bears changed their entire franchise when they hired Ben Johnson last season. No executives left the building; they just hired a new head coach after a disastrous season. From there, they started to build towards what they have today.

It wasn’t easy at first. The Bears had a hard training camp and started the 2025 season 0-2. In their first loss, they blew a multi-score lead to the Minnesota Vikings .

In the second, they were blown out by the Detroit Lions . Starting winless in the first two games against division rivals is never a great start. It’s very difficult to come back and win a division, but they did.

Not only did the Bears win the NFC North, which was a deep division overall, but they won their first playoff game over the Green Bay Packers -- the franchise's first in nearly two decades. Chicago lost in overtime of the divisional round to the Los Angeles Rams , which ended what turned out to be a charmed season where everything went right for the Bears. Sometimes, when teams have pop-up division-winning seasons like that, they overreact and think that they are ready to take the jump.