I am not happy that the Bears lost in the playoffs, but I’m less sad than you might expect. Here are a number of reasons why:

  1. I believe we are seeing the next Walter Payton or Michael Jordan evolving in front of us. I don’t remember a QB for the Bears that had those other-worldly skills, but also stayed healthy for an entire season. And, if he’s not healthy, we never knew it by the level of his play. Is there work to do to become a world-beater? Of course, but Michael’s first few seasons weren’t championship seasons, either. (We did see some compelling foreshadowing, though…)
  2. Texting with my crew during games was a lot different this year. Way more celebratory, and sometimes gobsmacked by the excellent coaching decisions. Reviewing plays on Monday only verified what we thought we saw, which many have described as offensive genius. This style of coaching is new territory for us. At one point mid-season, I posited that I was not used to feeling like an average NFL fan, who had a semblance of hope that his team would play with basic competence. I was so used to double doinks and depleted timeouts at the end of games that I had been second guessing why I was still a fan.
  3. There was little hope last season, then the hope died, then there was a reminder that we still had a pretty good roster – maybe 70% solid – but needed coaching help. The interim coach provided the tiniest bit last January, as the Bears defeated the Packers (meaningless game) for the first time in forever. That gave hope that this new QB could be special.
  4. The hope this year was very different. It gave way to positive expectations, which again, was foreign territory. Even after the 13-3 season put up by the Matt Nagy Bears, the feeling was the same – which crack will eventually widen and submerge the ship? Not this year. I had an odd feeling that they might pull out a win each time. Only the one loss to the Lions at the beginning of the season was out of hand.
  5. If Ben Johnson was active in the draft, he and Ryan Poles did a masterful job of selecting impact players for the 2025 campaign. Poles had taken swings on defense in prior years (Eberflus being a defense guy), but this year we got strong offensive players. Along with the savvy offensive line signings in the off season, many of the questions were answered before the first game. And, where it was a miracle to see good o-line play in the past, it’s now expected. Still not perfect, but consistently better than average. That, in itself, changes outcomes on a more regular basis.
  6. Maybe the biggest thing was watching my favorite team trade blows with the strongest competitors and fare well. This last game could have tilted their way. They had done everything right to beat the Rams, but one play (at the worst possible time) broke. The Packers were the perennial (perineal?) bogeyman and the Rams were a better team than the Packers, and the Bears should have won both games. I’m not sure how they would have handled the Seahawks defense, but they made it pretty clear that they were not this far into the playoffs as a fluke.
  7. Probably the worst thing that happened all season was when the team announced that they might look into Northwest Indiana as a possible spot for the new stadium. Anything outside of the city of Chicago would be a shame, but moving to a different state (even if it is essentially the east side) might risk losing fans for the first time. Politically, I’m fine with a little tax money going to improving a site for the Bears, but I don’t blame Pritzker for not caving. Why set the precedent?

It’s a crazy place to be right now, considering that the Bears ended the year in position 7 on the NFL.com power rankings. I would argue that they were a stronger team than the Texans and should be number 6, but whatever. And, the draft is right around the corner, so another opportunity for Coach Johnson and GM Poles to find some later-round magic.

Yes, it’d be great to be rooting for the Bears this weekend, but for the first time in a while I’m not mad at them and can’t wait to see what 2026 has in store.