Chicago Bears fans aren't feeling great after their team blew a fourth quarter lead in Week 1 to kick off the 2025 regular season. The loss definitely hit home for the fans of this team, as it felt like a loss they've seen time and time again.
The difference this time around is that there were lofty expectations for this year's team to shed that ugly label that past teams have been unable to. Ben Johnson, the highly touted offensive coordinator of the Detroit Lions, took over the Bears head coaching job in the offseason and the expectation was that he was going to have Caleb Williams and the rest of this Chicago offense absolutely humming.
We didn't see that in Week 1 aside from the first drive of the game. Fans are naturally going to be worried about that given the history of this franchise but Kyle Brandt of Good Morning Football (and Chicago native) told Bears fans to stop thinking about the past failures and keep believing in what this team could accomplish.
"I just won't sit here and say 'Same old Bears'. I won't sit here and say 'I'm ready to get hurt again'. Frankly, it's pathetic and I think Chicagoans are better than that," Brandt said. "We are in a time right now guys when the Buffalo Bills once went 17 straight years without making the playoffs and are now the number one show in the sport. In your own division, Bears fans, the Detroit Lions were a landfill for 20 years and now they're one of the most important teams in the NFC. Things change, things turn around, do not jump off the ship after one game and a bunch of penalties. It's pathetic, it's beneath you. They will get this thing right, I choose to believe it, I think you should too."
Kyle Brandt tells Bears fans to stop living in the past and believe in the future
Brandt did say before that speech that he understands where the disappointment is coming from after the first game. He acknowledged that the Bears did not play well in their first game of the Ben Johnson era but he didn't want Bears fans falling into the same trap of "Same s***, different year".
For what it's worth, Brandt has a point here. He chose to point out how irrelevant the Bills and Lions were for a long period of time and how both of them are two of the best teams in the NFL now but there are plenty of other teams that he could have used as examples here.
One that comes to mind is the Kansas City Chiefs, who went over 20 years without a playoff win. Look at how far the Chiefs have come since then! The Bengals went over 30 years without a playoff win and reached the Super Bowl a few years ago. If success can happen for teams in those type of situations, then why can't the Bears, who have had playoff success, find themselves eventually righting the ship?
The Bears have taken the proper steps toward becoming a better football team, and that started with hiring Johnson. He wasn't going to turn the Bears offense around overnight, but it's one game, folks. There are 16 games remaining in the regular season and plenty of time for Johnson and the rest of the Bears squad to get this thing figured out.
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Bears fans might not want to hear what Kyle Brandt has to say after suffering a loss that looks similar to so many other past losses but it's an important message and one that every fan should listen to and take to heart.