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While I’m not sure there is such a thing as a good loss, the Chicago Bears’ 30–27 overtime loss to the Minnesota Vikings might be as close as it gets. Bears’ QB, Caleb Williams looked fantastic, and head coach, Matt Eberflus again looked to be overmatched. I’ll talk more about that later.
The 2024 Bears’s season is toast, so it’s time to look forward to the 2025 season. There are some reasons to think things will be better. Here are five reasons why the Bears will better in 2025:
1: Caleb Williams is the real deal.
There was some discussion if Caleb Williams was a bust earlier in the year, but he’s quieted that talk in the last couple of weeks. Williams looks to be the best Bears’ QB in my lifetime.
That’s important, not only because great QB play is important, but also it makes the Bears’ head coaching more appealing. The Bears’ organization is one of the ineptest in the NFL, which could limit its appeal to top head coaching candidates. The appeal of having Caleb Williams as quarterback can overcome that.
2: The coaching staff has to be better.
At least I hope that’s the case. Eberflus is clearly a poor head coach. While he’s supposedly a defensive guru, the team’s defense repeatedly collapses in crunch time. His record in one score games as head coach is 5–18.
In addition, he’s swung and missed on a number of his coaching choices. The team has been the victim of poor coaching throughout his tenure. Hopefully, that will change next year.
3: The Bears’ draft position is strong for the 2025 draft.
Thanks to Eberflus, the Bears should have a good draft position. In addition to that, the Bears also own the Panthers second round draft pick. So, the Bears have plenty of capacity to take care of their needs.
4: They can finally address their needs on the offensive line.
Out of all their needs, the offensive line has been the most glaring. This should be the area addressed by at least two picks in the first three rounds of the draft.
5: Related to point two, the losing culture should be mitigated by the dismissal of Eberflus.
When the Bears are in a close game, which seems to be always, the expectation of fans is that they will find a way to lose. I expect it’s the same with the players.
That’s got to stop.
