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Bleak 2025 prediction spells trouble for the Chicago Bears

Originally posted on Chicago Bears on SI | By Bryan Perez | Last updated Jun 22, 2025 7:39 PM ET

Despite several underachieving seasons in a row, the Chicago Bears will begin 2025 as one of the most interesting teams in the NFL. The schedule makers apparently agree, as the Bears will kick off their 2025 season on Monday Night Football against the division rival Minnesota Vikings.

Most of the excitement around this Bears team centers on the union of coach Ben Johnson and quarterback Caleb Williams. It's a head coach-quarterback tandem that has the upside to become one of the best tag teams in the NFL.

However, it's important to have realistic expectations as 2025 inches closer. Sure, Johnson and Williams have the potential to create fireworks together, but they may need a season of growth before the Bears are ready to compete for the playoffs again.

In a recent buy-or-sell projection of which teams will end their playoff drought in 2025, the Bears were a 'sell.'

Will the Chicago Bears make the playoffs in 2025?

"Williams and Johnson may still need some time to come together, and the same goes for that almost entirely new line," Bleacher Report's Brad Gagnon wrote. "They should improve on a five-win 2024 campaign, but it won't be enough in arguably the league’s toughest division."

The Chicago Bears haven't made the playoffs since 2020, when they lost to the New Orleans Saints in the NFC wild-card round. Matt Nagy was the coach at the time, and he was replaced after the 2021 season by Matt Eberflus, who progressively got worse in every year of his tenure.

The Bears have cycled through several starting quarterbacks during that time, too, including Mitch Trubisky, Nick Foles, Andy Dalton, Justin Fields, and now, Caleb Williams.

They've had two general managers as well: Ryan Pace and Ryan Poles.

Perhaps the biggest factor in the Bears' playoff drought has been the organizational dysfunction that accompanies instability at general manager, head coach, and starting quarterback, all of which appear to finally be settled now.

Common sense suggests the Chicago Bears need at least one year under Ben Johnson to take form, but who has time for common sense? This is the NFL -- the Not For Long league -- which demands instant results.

If there's any head coach and quarterback who can end the Bears' drought, it's the duo that's in town right now. And, yeah, it could happen this season, too.

This article first appeared on Chicago Bears on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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