The Chicago Bears were one interception away from reaching the NFC Championship last month. They looked like a team gaining confidence with each passing minute. Sadly, they ran into an all-too-common reality check for new playoff arrivals. Turnovers will ruin your season. Three interceptions from Caleb Williams proved fatal in that game, sending the Bears home in overtime. Still, many feel the 2025 season was a mental breakthrough for the organization. They know they can hang with the best of the NFC now. All they need is one more strong push to get over the top.
If you believe in the football gods, it might be time to start thinking 2026 will be Chicago’s year. A wild trend is emerging. The Philadelphia Eagles won the Super Bowl in 2024. Now the Seattle Seahawks have done so this past season. What makes that so fascinating? Both of those teams lost the Super Bowl exactly 20 years prior. The Eagles fell in 2004 and the Seahawks in 2005. As we all know, the Bears tragically fell in Super Bowl XLI to the Indianapolis Colts in 2006.
Is it a coincidence that they just started becoming competitive the year before that anniversary? Talk about eerie.
The Chicago Bears will need some things to happen.
Above all, they will need a jump into productivity from their quarterback and head coach combination of Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson. In their first season, the two put together an unforgettable run, totaling 3,942 passing yards, 27 touchdowns, and 7 interceptions. However, Williams lacked efficiency, which hurt the Bears in the playoffs. That said, it’s reasonable to expect even better results in year two as Williams’ mastery of the offense improves. History shows that there is often a lot of magic in QB and head coach duos in their second year together.
🔥 Subscribe to the Untold Chicago YouTube channel to hear Chicago legends tell stories you’ve never seen in headlines — real moments, real experiences, straight from the athletes themselves.
| Quarterback-coach combo | Year | Result |
| Don Shula and Dan Marino | 1984 | Lost 38-16 |
| Bill Belichick and Tom Brady | 2001 | Won 20-17 |
| Bill Cowher and Ben Roethlisberger | 2005 | Won 21-10 |
| Jim Harbaugh and Colin Kaepernick | 2012 | Lost 34-31 |
| Pete Carroll and Russell Wilson | 2013 | Won 43-8 |
| Zac Taylor and Joe Burrow | 2021 | Lost 27-24 |
A 3-2 record is pretty solid in those situations. There is one problem, though. The three times the pairs won the championship, all had something in common. They had great defenses to lean on. New England was 6th in points allowed in 2001. Pittsburgh was 3rd in 2005. Seattle was 1st in 2013. Miami in 1984 was 7th, but that was misleading because it really started crumbling in the second half of the season. Cincinnati was 17th in 2021. The Chicago Bears were 23rd in 2025.
The Bears face good news and bad news on that front.
They have the first half of the equation figured out. Dennis Allen has already proven himself to be a top-quality defensive coordinator. What he got out of the Bears’ defense this season was impressive, considering the array of injuries it suffered, along with their well-established weakness. The hard part is giving it a strong enough infusion of talent to turn it from takeaway-reliant to an actual tough defense. The Chicago Bears won’t have the advantage of significant cap space or high draft picks to aid in that objective.
Poles must find a way to deliver. He’s shown he can find value on that side of the ball with later picks. Kyler Gordon was a 2nd round pick. Gervon Dexter was a 2nd round pick. Austin Booker was a 5th round pick. If he devotes the majority of his top draft choices to that side of the ball, the odds are favorable that he’ll come away with at least two good players.
That would position the Bears for a legitimate run.
