Chicago Bears 2025-26 Season Recap: The Start of Something Special
The Chicago Bears 2025 season felt like a massive steppingstone for the future of the franchise, where the expectations have now reached title contention for years to come. Under their new leadership, the Bears combined a more modern offensive identity along with late-game heroics, a second-year quarterback emerging as a superstar, and a rookie class that made an instant impact. This was a season defined by historic comebacks, blistering confidence, and a belief amongst the fanbase that their team is no longer rebuilding – they’ve arrived.
The Ben Johnson Effect
At the center of this breakout season for the Bears was new head coach Ben Johnson. His arrival injected the team with a much-needed culture shift and a modernized offensive identity that is similar to the offense that he ran as the offensive coordinator with the Lions the past few years. This season, the Bears were statistically one of the league’s top offenses. They finished 6th in total yards per game, 10th in passing yards per game, 3rd in rush yards per game, and 9th in points per game.
But beyond the statistical things that he has done, Johnson has made an even bigger impact by giving this Bears team and its hungry fanbase renewed confidence and a competitive edge that will help set them up for long-term success.
Caleb Williams Has Arrived
Another area of impact that Ben Johnson has had on this team is with second-year quarterback Caleb Williams, who quickly became one of the most exciting QBs to watch in the NFL. This season, Williams finished with a franchise record 3,942 passing yards, 27 passing touchdowns, and only 7 interceptions. And while the bar was certainly very low, he had arguably the best statistical season ever as a Chicago Bears QB in the teams 100 plus years of existence.
But what made this season the most special for Williams was his clutch moments and leading the team to some of the most improbable comeback wins ever (that we’ll expand on further), which led to him earning the nickname “Iceman”.
The best part about all the success Williams had this year is that he is only going to get better with more experience.
The Cardiac Bears
As for the entire 2025 Bears team, they took us fans on the most mind-boggling emotional rollercoasters every week with all their comeback efforts. In just this season alone the Chicago Bears won the following games:
Week 6 vs. Washington Commanders (25–24) — Trailed by 8 points (24–16) late before a game-winning field goal.
Week 9 @ Cincinnati Bengals (47–42) — Trailed by 1 point (42–41) with under a minute remaining before Caleb Williams’ late touchdown pass to Colston Loveland.
Week 10 vs. New York Giants (24–20) — Trailed by 10 points (20–10) in the fourth quarter before rallying.
Week 11 @ Minnesota Vikings (19–17) — Trailed by 1 point (17–16) with under a minute left before kicking a game-winner as time expired.
Week 16 vs. Green Bay Packers (22–16, OT) — Trailed by 10 points (16–6) in the fourth quarter before forcing overtime and winning.
Wild Card Playoffs vs. Green Bay Packers (31–27) — Trailed by 18 points (21–3) at halftime and 15 points entering the fourth quarter, then scored 25 fourth-quarter points to win.
Sensational Rookie Class
Chicago also had one of the most successful rookie classes, especially on the offensive side of the ball. Their first-round pick, tight end Colston Loveland, needed very little time to become a top target for Caleb Williams. He finished the regular season with 58 catches, 713 yards, and six touchdowns, leading the team in each of those areas. I have no doubt that he will be a consensus top 5 tight end in the league as soon as next season. Wide receiver Luther Burden III also emerged as a playmaker, tallying 47 catches for 652 yards and two touchdowns, including several explosive games where he stretched defenses and made key third-down plays. On the ground, running back Kyle Monangai far outpaced his late-round draft status with 783 rushing yards and five touchdowns, averaging an impressive 4.6 yards per carry and providing a powerful complement to the Bears’ backfield. Up front, left tackle Ozzy Trapilo made his mark by stepping into the starting lineup when injuries hit the offensive line, starting seven games and helping stabilize protection for Caleb Williams as a young lineman acclimated to the NFL.
Collectively, this group was able to inject a ton of versatility into an offense that skyrocketed under their new leadership, giving the team not only a lot of depth, but multiple playmakers who played a crucial role in leading Chicago to an NFC North title.
What’s Next?
Now that their season is over following a heartbreaking overtime loss to the Rams in the Divisional round of the playoffs, the Bears have set their sights on next year. Their top offseason priority should be to build up their defense, especially their pass rush, so that they can further establish themselves as top Super Bowl contenders for 2026 and beyond.
