For the record, former Bears wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad has said he was not the inventor of the notion that Chicago "is where receivers go to die," — in response to blowback after he made that comment to Sports Illustrated's Peter King in 2008 upon his return to the Panthers after three seasons in Chicago. Muhammad said he was just referencing the sentiment that someone else brought up when he signed with the Bears in 2005. Whatever the reality, the comment has stuck throu

Enigmatic players aren't usually as likable as DJ Moore. Jay Cutler, Brandon Marshall and Martellus Bennett were productive players who couldn't hide their warts no matter how hard they tried (or didn't). Moore is everything you want in a player. He's a team guy. He's dependable — he's missed three games in eight seasons, none in the last five. He thrives in bad offenses — In his eight NFL seasons, Moore is sixth in receiving yards (8,213) despite never playing with a Pro Bow

Center Drew Dalman's sudden retirement at 27 on Tuesday shook the Bears' world and added one more hole to fill in an already busy offseason for general manager Ryan Poles. But it's way down on my list of Bears' offseason needs, behind anything on defense (edge rusher, tackle, linebacker, safety) and for one reason: Ben Johnson. Situations like this are why you hired Johnson. For years Bears fans have envied teams like the Packers, Rams and 49ers, among others, for their abili

Coming off a rejuvenating 11-6 season, with a promising, if not proven, franchise quarterback in place and still on his rookie contract, the Bears go into the 2026 offseason with the wind at their back. Still, the offseason is a quandary for general manager Ryan Poles, who has three sizable holes to fill at positions he spent significant capital on just last season: Edge rusher, defensive tackle and left tackle. You never have enough edge rushers, as the cliche goes, but defe

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