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NFL analyst gives Chicago Bears strong chance to win the NFC North in 2025

Originally posted on Chicago Bears on SI
By Pete Martuneac | Last updated Jul 18, 2025 9:23 AM ET

Chicago Bears GM Ryan Poles famously quipped that the Bears were going to 'take the [NFC] North and never give it back' in his introductory press conference in 2022. Since then, the Bears have occupied last place in the North in every season. The Bears, and Poles especially, need a division title more than anyone else in the league.

That could be in the cards in 2025, according to one NFL analyst. Kevin Patra, a Senior News Writer at NFL.com, compiled a list of the eight teams that finished last place in their division last year and ranked them by likelihood to win their division this season. The Bears landed at No. 3 in his ranking.

Defending this choice, Patra writes, "Call it the Offseason of Caleb Williams. The Bears did everything they could to buffer their former No. 1 overall pick after a roller-coaster rookie season...the optimism for Williams entering Year 2 is rightfully palpable. The negatives might stand out from last season, but he still showed enough development and big-play ability despite awful surroundings, porous O-line, poor coaching staff, to believe he could catapult Chicago into the forefront of the division."

For the Bears, projecting their expectations in 2025 is remarkably easy, and that's because their success or failure hinges almost entirely on one man: Caleb Williams. If Williams lives up to his generational billing, then the Bears are instant contenders. If not, then yet another rebuild is already on the horizon.

However, the reason Patra has the Bears at No. 3 is because the NFC North is once again expected to be the toughest division in the NFL. "The darlings of the offseason wouldn't surprise anyone by climbing out of the NFC North cellar. The only thing keeping them from being higher on this list is the difficulty of the division," Patra writes, and it's a fair point. The Bears could show real growth this season, see Williams take a major step forward, and still finish second (or even third) in the division if the Lions, Vikings, and Packers all stay the same or get better.

The only teams Patra puts ahead of Chicago are the vaunted 49ers at No. 1, which makes sense, and the New England Patriots, a bizarre choice for the No. 2 team. His justification for putting them over Chicago seems entirely narrative driven, citing how cool it would be to see former Patriot Mike Vrabel guide his team back to the top of the AFC East, the spot it occupied for almost his entire playing career.

Yes, that would be very cool to see. But the Patriots just had a worse season than Chicago with a lesser quarterback, and hired a coach with less upside than Ben Johnson. Oh, and the Buffalo Bills have won the last five division titles with no signs of slowing down for as long as the reigning MVP Josh Allen is suiting up. The Patriots will be better this year (there's almost no room for them to get worse), but there's very little logic in making them more likely to win their division than the Bears.

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

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