If you had to wrap up the Chicago Bears 2025 NFL season in one sentence, how would you construct the right words to encapsulate everything that happened over the course of the year?
Incredible fourth-quarter comebacks, a defense that led the NFL in takeaways, a quarterback in Caleb Williams who delivered miraculous throws, and a team led by a first-year head coach in Ben Johnson who established a culture of physicality and belief. All of that and so much more played key parts in the Bears’ 2025 season.
It's not an easy task, but Bleacher Report's Brad Gagnon gave its best effort to come up with a one-sentence summary for each eliminated team. Here is the one sentence that Bleacher Report provided about the 2025 Chicago Bears:
“They've got their coach, their quarterback and plenty of talent around them, so it is hard to recall a time when there was this much optimism about Bears football.”
No Bears fans will argue against that sentence
This is a good job of summarizing what this past Bears season was all about.
Under first-year head coach Ben Johnson, the team won 11 games, clinched the NFC North, and advanced to the playoffs, where it defeated the Green Bay Packers. The offense finished No. 3 in the NFL in rushing, and Williams displayed he could be a point guard for Johnson's offense.
Gagnon mentioned the talent around the quarterback, and that is headlined by first-round pick tight end Colston Loveland, second-round pick Luther Burden III, and Rome Odunze, the No. 9 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Of course, the Bears still also have veterans in DJ Moore and Cole Kmet. And this Bears season wouldn't have been what it was without the revamped offensive line, which featured two All-Pros in Joe Thuney and Darnell Wright and two Pro Bowlers with Thuney and Drew Dalman.
Right guard Jonah Jackson didn't earn those honors, but was a stabilizing force for Wright all season.
When you put all that together, it has created “optimism about Bears football” and what this team can continue to do as the organization builds around Johnson and Williams.
Read more: Ben Johnson got honest about potentially losing members of Bears coaching staff
Johnson did say in the end-of-season news conference that the team would have to start from square one, and there would be no building on the 2025 season, which is valid. However, the fundamental building blocks were established, and that's why the team should be viewed as a contender going into the 2026 season.