The Chicago Bears did a complete 180 last season. After a dysfunctional 2024 campaign that surely did not meet expectations, the Bears got serious and brought in Ben Johnson as the next head coach, replacing Matt Eberflus.
It was a stellar move for Chicago, as the team quickly got sorted out and ended up capturing the NFC North title. To be frank, the 2025 season felt like a dream at times. It's clear, though, that another NFC North title and second-round playoff exit would not be enough.
Many are talking about a Super Bowl window being busted open beginning with this season, but that won't happen unless these three 2025 statistics are improved.
Chicago Bears must see a few statistical improvements to bust open 2026 Super Bowl window
Caleb Williams' completion percentage
Caleb Williams completed a modest 62.5 percent of his passes as a rookie, which was a solid number. However, things fell apart a bit in 2025, as he completed 58.1 percent of his passes, falling below that 60 percent threshold.
Williams did see statistical improvement in his passing touchdowns, touchdown percentage, yards per attempt, yards per completion, yards per game, passer rating, and QBR. All across the board, Williams was more efficient, but the completion percentage is arguably more important than anything I just listed.
The passing game is going to continue to top out in 2026 and beyond if Williams can't get it back up over 60 percent. While all of the advanced passing stats are fun to look at and valuable, completion percentage is definitely more of a slam-dunk indicator of passing efficiency.
The Bears did register 29 drops in 2025, according to Pro Football Reference, but Williams was simply off the mark with some of his throws in 2026. This has to get cleaned up if the offense hopes to take another step into stardom.
Rushing yards allowed per game
I am not sure how the Bears' defense was perceived by those outside of the fanbase in 2025. Outside of the turnovers, the unit was simply inefficient. In fact, the Bears allowed the sixth-most rushing yards in the NFL last year and also allowed the fourth-highest yards per carry.
Chicago simply can't allow over 130 yards per game on the ground in 2025. The NFL has seen a bit of a renaissance of the run game in recent years. As defenses have figured out how to take away the deep passing game, the run game has once again taken center stage.
You could get away with a passing defense being below-average if you have an above-average run defense. Dennis Allen has to figure out how to get this part of the defense improved. For some perspective, here is where some of the recent Super Bowl champions ranked in rushing defense:
2025: Seahawks, 3rd, 93 YPG
2024: Eagles, 4th, 101.8 YPG
2023: Chiefs, 16th, 113 YPG
2022: Chiefs, 8th, 107.7 YPG
2021: Rams, 5th, 95 YPG
The trend is obvious - Chicago needs a top-10 rushing defense in 2026.
Touchdown passes allowed
Chicago allowed the fourth-most touchdown passes in the NFL in 2025. Despite leading the league in interceptions with 23, the Bears still allowed an opposing passer rating of 91.4, so opposing offenses were able to throw on this unit.
Fortunately, even including the run defense, we have seen General Manager Ryan Poles go out and make some personnel changes. As fun and exciting as the 2025 season was, Chicago's defense as a whole ranked 23rd in points allowed per game, and this team only had a +26 point differential.
Even with Williams' completion percentage down, the Bears' offense ranked 9th in points per game, and if the unit again ranked 9th in 2026, that would be plenty good enough to win a Super Bowl, but as we can all see, the defense simply needs to improve across the board.
Read more: Bears' worst-case scenario on offense in 2026 would revive 2024 nightmare
There is simply no path in reality for the Bears to win it all with a below-average run defense and a secondary that allows over 30 touchdowns. These key statistics being improved, which does include Williams' completion percentage, would be plenty enough for a Super Bowl window to break open.
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