Chicago Bears end of year winners and losers

The Chicago Bears finished their season in a poor fashion after a second-half meltdown resulted in a 31-17 loss to the Minnesota Vikings on the road. The game had no implications of any playoffs, so it was a rough end to a disappointing season.

The loss to the Vikings was a perfect example of the Chicago Bears season this year.

Now that the end of the season is upon the Chicago Bears it is important to look back over the year to see which players and coaches stood out and which ones did not perform to expectations. Some players played their roles and did not stand out as winners nor as losers. There were many players who took a big leap and others who took steps back. It was a long season, and the Bears had some big injuries and Covid concerns to deal with, but it was still a letdown.

Another year of poor offensive execution and another step back taken by the defense has led the Bears to back end of the NFL rankings and fans are left wondering what is next. There is a lot of blame to go around for how this season played out, starting with Matt Nagy. It is likely Nagy will be gone in the coming days, so we will see what the next era of Bears football looks like.

Chicago Bears Winner: Darnell Mooney

What a year it was for the second year wideout Darnell Mooney. This kid went from being a fifth-round pick that was not given much attention to, to quickly becoming a key piece of the Bears offense. After a very solid rookie year, he came into his second year with high expectations to develop opposite Allen Robinson. It was seen from the get-go that Mooney was the main target for this offense, and he has jumped Robinson as the WR1 on this team.

With Robinson most likely gone after this year, Mooney will be the guy to build the offense around in terms of the receiving core. Mooney has shown he can be the main guy, but the Bears will want to bring in another stud to compliment him to give Justin Fields the weapons he needs.

Mooney, again only in his second year, finished this season with 81 receptions for 1,055 yards receiving and four touchdowns. He was able to hit the 1,000 yards mark with an excellent game against the Vikings to close out the season. Mooney deserves a lot of credit for continuing his success from last year and improving on it. He will be the main part of this offense for years to come.