Bears fans who fell in love with Ben Johnson this season and rightfully embraced him as the best head coach at Halas Hall since Mike Ditka just received a dose of reality — Ben Johnson did not make a lot of friends around the NFL this season.  That Johnson did not win the NFL Coach of the Year Award was not a big surprise — both the Patriots’ Mike Vrabel and the Seahawks’ Mike Macdonald are in the Super Bowl with teams that did not make the playoffs in 2024.  The upset was th

The Bulls beat the Heat in Miami without Josh Giddey, Nikola Vucivic, Coby White and Tre Jones — with footnote-to-be Yuki Kawamura making a difference in crunch time — then traded salary cap space (acquiring Dario Saric's expiring contract from the Kings) for two second-round draft picks in a lauded deal with the Cavaliers and Kings. It was the biggest double-barrelled good news night in Chicago since the Bears beat the Packers in the playoffs and the Cubs signed Alex Bregman

My first and only reaction to the Bears losing offensive coordinator Declan Doyle to the Ravens is: Next!. That's the beauty of following the Andy Reid/Sean McVay/Kyle Shanahan template — hiring a superior offensive designer/play-caller as your head coach — as the Bears look like they've done with Ben Johnson: You don't have to sweat the loss of an offensive coordinator like Declan Doyle. The Reids, McVays and Shanahans lose offensive coordinators all the time — Doug Pederson

Bill Belichick being denied first-ballot enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame is a travesty, of course. Belichick's credentials are indisputable — including eight Super Bowl championships, with six as a head coach. Let's put it this way: Belichick's record in the nine seasons between Super Bowl victories from 2005-13 would be first-ballot worthy — a 110-34 record (including an historic 16-0 season in 2007), eight playoff appearances (the only miss was an 11-5 season

Seven people who had the biggest impact on the Bears’ resurgence in 2025:  1. Ben Johnson  The rare authority figure who made everyone at Halas Hall better (with the possible exception of president Kevin Warren). Before hiring Johnson, general manager Ryan Poles acquired Nate Davis, Lucas Patrick and Ryan Bates outside of the draft to upgrade the offensive line. After hiring Johnson, he acquired Joe Thuney, Drew Dalman and Jonah Jackson. Caleb Williams went from a league-lead

Bears general manager Ryan Poles delivered in his fourth season in charge at Halas Hall. “Take the North” was a better podcast than a Bears rallying cry before the rejuvenating 2025 season, with the Bears winning the NFC North title for the first time since 2018.  Poles did not take much of a victory lap at his end-of-season press conference Wednesday — just the standard fare of thanking his bosses, chairman George McCaskey and president Kevin Warren, and head coach Ben Johns

Caleb Williams established himself as the Bears’ franchise quarterback in 2025 with more certainty than any Bears quarterback since Jay Cutler when he was acquired in a trade with the Broncos in 2009. And yet, let the record show that Williams ranked 22nd in the NFL in passer rating this season (90.1) and 34th in completion percentage (58.1%). His 3,942 passing yards were a ballyhooed Bears franchise record, but still just seventh overall in the NFL. In fact, his 231.9 yards

After a rejuvenating season that ended in a 20-17 overtime loss to the Rams in the divisional playoffs on Sunday at Soldier Field, the Bears will be a target of skeptics who have them pegged for a regression in 2026 — unlikely to sustain their uncanny knack for rallying in the fourth quarter to win.  That’s not a big surprise. I just didn’t expect Ben Johnson and Cole Kmet to be among those leaning that way, putting immediate brakes on the notion that this season was just t

The Ben Johnson Effect has been undeniable this season. The Bears beat the Packers twice in three tries — including the wild-card playoff game last week with a stunning fourth-quarter rally the Packers and Aaron Rodgers usually pull off against the Bears. The Bears' offense improved from 28th to ninth this season and won games despite allowing 23 or more points after going 0-25 when allowing 23 or more points in the Matt Eberflus era. The Bears, who didn't know how to win und

The Bears obviously haven’t run out of miracle finishes, but has Ben Johnson’s offense peaked?  As the Bears were recovering from an 0-2 start with eight victories in nine games, Johnson kept the big picture in focus — for the Bears to be playing their best football in December. And as the final month began, the Bears were living up to that.  After going down to the final play in a loss to the Packers at Lambeau Field on Dec. 7, the Bears responded with a convincing 31-3 vict

“Fuck the Packers”? There’s a new culture indeed at Halas Hall.  Bears chairman George McCaskey’s aversion to swearing is so strong that when “Hard Knocks” came to Halas Hall last preseason, the editors excluded any foul language from every segment.  It diluted the impact of the show and absolutely contradicted the “reality” aspect of “Hard Knocks” that made it what it is. But no matter. Respect for the McCaskeys trumped the reality foundation of the show’s format.  That’s h

I've covered Packers losses before — including a playoff loss to the Giants in 2012 after a 15-1 regular season, and the gut-wrenching overtime loss to the Seahawks in the NFC Championship Game in 2020 when Brandon Bostick stuck around to answer every question after botching an onside kick that could have clinched a berth in the Super Bowl. But I've never seen a Packers locker room clear out like Saturday night at Soldier Field. After coach Matt LaFleur talked to reporters in

Like Jay Cutler before him, former Bears cornerback Jerry Azumah provided a public service announcement for Bears fans this week on Twitter before the Bears’ wild-card playoff game against the Packers on Saturday at Soldier Field: “When the Bears Offense is on the field, please be quiet so they can work! That any Bears fans have to be reminded of this is an indictment of the Bears’ woeful history of offensive football, of course. But it’s also a positive sign. Under Ben Johns

Ben Johnson opened his tenure as the Bears’ head coach with a shot at Matt LaFleur and now has to back it up with the Bears’ playoff lives on the line. The football gods hear everything. Beating the Packers in the playoffs is the ultimate test of The Ben Johnson Effect. Johnson’s rejuvenating impact in his first season has been undeniable. The Bears were 11-5 in 2025 after going 3-14, 7-10 and 5-12 in three seasons under Matt Eberflus. Their offense improved from 28th to n

Seven players who made the biggest impact in the Bears' 19-16 loss to the Lions on Sunday at Soldier Field: 1. Amon-Ra St. Brown Ben Johnson's offense turned the 2021 fourth-round draft pick into a star, and Dennis Allen's defense solidified St. Brown's status as not only the best receiver in the family but one of the best in the NFL. St. Brown had 11 receptions for 139 yards Sunday, including nine receptions for 110 yards in the first half (including four catches for 60 yard

When Mike Ditka’s 1984 Bears played the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game, their 23-0 loss at Candlestick Park might not have seemed like a prelude to greatness — the Bears’ put up a fight in the first half but never really threatened with Steve Fuller at quarterback. But to Ditka it was a statement game. And he literally made it. “We will be back,” Ditka said confidently after that game.  Those Bears famously kept that promise, of course, and set a standard for success th

Seven players who made the biggest impact in the Bears' 42-38 loss to the 49ers on Sunday night at Levi's Stadium. 1. Brock Purdy Threw a pick-6 on the 49ers' first play from scrimmage but never flinched and — like J.J. McCarthy in Week 1 against the Bears — got off the mat and responded with a superior performance that almost made you forget he threw the pick-6 in the first place. Despite playing without tight end George Kittle and Pro Bowl left tackle Trent Williams (who wa

This week’s version of The Ben Johnson Effect: A year after the Bears were burned by the fickle finger of football fate with a Hail Mary loss to the Commanders that sent their season careening into unprecedented ignominy, they are just about even with the football gods.  The Bears earned their 22-16 overtime victory against the Packers on Sunday by making plays. But the one play that set it up was a mathematical fluke. Onside kicks had worked just five times in 48 tries (10.

Seven players who made the biggest impact in the Bears' 22-16 victory over the Packers on Saturday at Soldier Field: 1. Josh Blackwell Last season, Blackwell burned the Packers with a 94-yard punt return on the ol' Dave Toub decoy play in a 24-22 victory in Week 18 at Lambeau Field. The fourth-year pro from Duke inflicted a lot more pain with another key play Saturday night — recovering Cairo Santos' onside kick with 1:59 left in the fourth quarter. Without it, the Bears los

Bears-Packers rivalry stories never get old no matter how cliche they become — the history of the rivalry is that good. But this week's Bears-Packers game is particularly enticing. Not only are both teams battling for the NFC North title in Week 16 (a rarity in the series), but the head coaches have a frosty relationship and the teams are playing for the second time in three weeks, when memories of the previous game — including the cold postgame handshake between Ben Johnson