Chicago Bears
Chicago Bears 2026 Season Preview: The Surprise Is Over
Season opener: Sunday, Sept. 13 at Carolina Panthers, Bank of America Stadium
For the first time in a long time, the Bears enter a season with something other than hope. They enter it with expectations.
Ben Johnson’s first year in Chicago produced an 11-6 record, the franchise’s first NFC North title in seven seasons, and a wild-card win over Green Bay. That is a genuinely different starting point than the one this team has worked from for most of the last decade. The quarterback question is no longer the only question. The roster is deep enough that cutdown day was painful rather than obvious.
The flip side of a season like that is what it does to the following one. Nobody is going to be surprised by the Bears in 2026. Here is what actually matters between now and January.
Caleb Williams has to do it again, on purpose
Williams’ second season under Johnson was the leap the franchise was waiting for — a dramatic improvement over a lukewarm rookie year, and stretches where he looked like the player the No. 1 overall pick was supposed to produce. The 2026 version of the job is harder in a specific way: defenses now have a full year of tape on what Johnson’s offense wants to do, and they have an offseason to build answers for it.
The most-cited flaw from last season was a sluggish start-of-game offense. Chicago was at its best in the back half of games, which is a wonderful trait in a playoff run and a dangerous one over seventeen weeks. Scripted opening drives are exactly the sort of thing a second-year coach-quarterback pairing is supposed to fix.
The weapons are in place. Rome Odunze cleared his injury questions in camp. Colston Loveland led the team in receiving as a rookie and had a dominant summer, which is the kind of detail that usually precedes a breakout. If the offense stalls, it will not be for lack of targets.
The left tackle problem is real
Ozzy Trapilo broke out as a starter in 2025 and then ruptured a patella tendon in the wild-card win over the Packers. He got back on the field roughly seven months later — well ahead of what the team expected — which means he avoids the physically unable to perform list and occupies a roster spot while he works back to speed. That is good news with a delay attached.
Until he is ready, Braxton Jones is the favorite to hold the job, with Theo Benedet, Kiran Amegadjie and free-agent addition Jedrick Wills Jr. behind him. The Bears went into camp hoping this would be settled by now. It isn’t.
The interior has its own competition. Chicago traded for veteran Garrett Bradbury as a stopgap at center and drafted Iowa’s Logan Jones — the reigning Rimington Trophy winner — as the long-term answer. Whoever wins the job this fall, the succession plan is not subtle. On the right side, Darnell Wright is a second-team All-Pro and the least of anyone’s worries.
The defense’s numbers don’t agree with each other
Here is the strangest thing about the 2025 Bears: they led the NFL with 33 takeaways and 23 interceptions, and still finished 23rd in scoring defense, 29th in total defense and tied for 22nd in sacks.
That is a unit that survives on splash. Takeaways are wonderful and they are also the least stable stat in football year over year — a defense that gets off the field on turnovers one season and can’t generate pressure is a defense in danger of regression. General manager Ryan Poles clearly agreed, because that gap is what the offseason targeted.
Safety Coby Bryant was the headline defensive addition. Linebacker Devin Bush arrives after a 2025 in which he was the only player in the league with two pick-six returns, including a 97-yarder. The secondary is now crowded enough that versatile veterans are on the bubble — Jaylon Johnson still leads the cornerback room, with Tyrique Stevenson a significant contributor and Kyler Gordon’s return from PUP still without a firm timeline.
Whether any of that fixes the pass rush is the season’s biggest unanswered question.
What success looks like
A division title in year one was the surprise. Defending it is the job. The realistic markers:
- Early-game offense. If Chicago is still spotting opponents ten points and climbing back, the record won’t hold up over a full season.
- Trapilo’s return. The line stabilizes when he’s back. The stretch before that is the schedule’s real test.
- Pressure without gambling. The defense needs sacks, not just interceptions, or the takeaway number regresses and nothing replaces it.
- A road opener. Starting at Carolina is a manageable first assignment, but six of the first eight weeks set the tone for a division race that Green Bay, Detroit and Minnesota are all planning to win.
The Bears spent a decade being interesting. This is the first season in a while where the interesting part is whether they’re actually good.
Chicago Sports Wire tracks Bears news, schedules and game coverage all season. Check the Bears schedule for kickoff times and broadcast info.