The Chicago Bears are a major question mark heading into the 2025 season. The team went 5-12 last season, and though there have been significant improvements on both sides of the ball, nobody quite knows what the Bears will look like.
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Ben Johnson is a first-time head coach, and he is responsible for leading the team in a bounce-back year while also ensuring Caleb Williams takes his next step at the professional level. There is a ton of pressure on Johnson, especially given that he coaches a team in a very stacked division.
The Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings, and Green Bay Packers all made the playoffs in 2024, with the Bears on the outside looking in. It appears that might also be the case again in 2025.
NFL insider Pete Schrager joined "The Pat McAfee Show" to detail the odds that teams have to make the playoffs in 2025.
With a look at the NFC North specifically, Schrager predicted that the Lions, Vikings, and Packers will once again make the playoffs. For the Bears, he feels the opposite.
"I see a lot of people high on the Bears because of Ben Johnson, but I don't think the Bears are in that conversation just yet."
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Johnson is a new head coach, and oftentimes it takes at least one season for a new coach's system and way of leading can take hold. To be fair, Johnson has been a part of one of the best teams in the NFL in recent years.
Despite Johnson's experience with the Lions, he is also now leading a group of players that may or may not be as skilled, and it is his job to bring the best out of them.
The way that training camp has worked out for the Bears, it might be some rough sailing for the team initially. They do have an important matchup in Week 1 against the Vikings.
Should Williams and company click and get a big win against their divisional rivals, the noise surrounding the Bears might change dramatically.
For more on the Bears and NFL, head to Newsweek Sports.
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This story was originally published September 2, 2025 at 2:09 PM.