The Chicago Bears burst onto the scene in the 2025 NFL Season. While the NFC North did regress as a whole, the Bears still emerged as the best team with an 11-6 record. A huge reason for that was the much-improved offense headlined by Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams.
And while neither is perfect, Johnson helped this unit get inside the top-10 in points scored, and Williams really played a more efficient brand of football. He took much fewer sacks and was able to see improvements across the board. Sure, the completion percentage dipped, but there's nothing stopping him from getting that number up above 60 percent, and ideally closer to 65 percent or higher.
The Bears do have some questions, though, heading into 2026, and with the major loss of safety Coby Bryant, the defense was dealt a horrible blow at the wrong time, but on Tuesday, the team did get a sliver of good news thanks to a dysfunctional team in the division.
Chicago Bears have to love the Minnesota Vikings continually botching the QB position
The Minnesota Vikings continue to botch the quarterback room, as they announced veteran Kyler Murray as the starter, which could put an unofficial end to J.J. McCarthy's chances with the team to break through:
ESPN sources: the Vikings have named Kyler Murray their starting QB. pic.twitter.com/VBE4azfGoF
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 11, 2026
While Murray is the better QB right now, the Vikings would have a much clearer long-term path for success if they simply rode with McCarthy. McCarthy is still just 23 years old, and while he's only played 10 games in two seasons, he did go 6-4 as a starter last year and did have a small chunk of games playing well.
His youth is still a plus, but he did miss a ton of time on task with his season-ending injury in 2024. Sure, given that the Vikings probably have a 'win now' mandate, which is why they went to McCarthy, they have totally shut the door on any chance of McCarthy actually putting things together during the 2026 season.
Given the circumstances, there is reason to believe that McCarthy could have a higher ceiling in this league as a starting QB. In theory, more experience would help McCarthy develop into whatever his ceiling would be, and while Murray is by no means a bad QB, he's probably going to max out as a top-16 player at the position, which is what he's been his entire career.
If this current Vikings regime were in its first or second year together, there'd be a bigger reason to believe that McCarthy would be the starter. Still, given how urgent the stronger situation appears, they probably felt they had no choice but to go with the veteran.
And it's going to be yet another year with a new starting quarterback, and with that now being official, the Vikings are creeping closer and closer to QB dysfunction, and that's the one thing that will always prevent a team from making progress.
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The Bears have one of the better overall QB situations in the league, as Williams is a borderline star and will continue to be on his rookie deal for a little bit longer. The Bears Super Bowl window has busted open these past two seasons, and that's one thing the Vikings absolutely cannot say right now.
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