Players reveal playoff success fueled by top coaches and ownership, but defensive struggles and family treatment cast shadows.
It's almost time for March, which means the NFLPA report cards are out for all 32 NFL teams.
The 2025 season is one that Chicago Bears fans will look back on fondly for a number of reasons. The team reached the playoffs in the first year of Ben Johnson's reign as head coach. The Bears also won the NFC North for the first time since 2018.
Then, the Bears beat the Green Bay Packers not once, but twice in the same season. In Week 16, the Bears had to overcome a 16-6 deficit late in the fourth quarter. A field goal from Cairo Santos and a touchdown catch from undrafted rookie Jahdae Walker forced overtime.
The Bears went on to win in overtime, 22-16, after D.J. Moore caught the touchdown pass from Caleb Williams
In the postseason, they sent the Packers home after a 31-27 comeback win. It doesn't get much better than that for Bears fans.
The fans are pretty happy with how things went, but now it's time to get some feedback from the Bears players as well.
In terms of the overall grade that the Bears received from the NFLPA, they ranked 13th. Chicago got A's from the players in strength coaches, weight room, offensive coordinator, head coach, General Manager, team ownership, and nutritionist/dietician.
The team received B grades in food/dining area, locker room, training room, training staff, position coaches, special teams coordinator and team travel.
The lowest grades that the Bears got were C's. The Bears had Cs in the home game field, treatment of families, and the defensive coordinator.
It's clear that the stadium's pending relocation to Northwest Indiana was on the minds of the players. While the treatment of families is concerning, the grade that stands out is for defensive coordinator Dennis Allen.
The Bears didn't do a lot of things right on the defensive side of the ball in 2025. The one thing that they were good at was forcing turnovers, leading the league with 33. Outside of that, Chicago struggled to do much of anything else at a consistent rate.
The Bears allowed the 11th-most passing yards (239.4), sixth-most rushing yards (134.5) and 10th-most points per game (24.4) in the NFL.
Even though Montez Sweat finally broke the 10-sack barrier that has been plaguing this franchise since the days of Matt Nagy, the team still struggled in sacking the quarterback.
Chicago ranked 22nd in sacks last season with 35.
Although the fanbase is pretty happy with the Bears as a whole, it's clear that there are other areas the franchise needs to improve on heading into the 2026 season.