Watching the Rams push Seattle to the brink in the NFC Championship only underscored how close the Chicago Bears really were — and how painful that missed opportunity still feels.
I thought I was doing okay.
One week removed from the Chicago Bears losing in overtime to the Los Angeles Rams in the Divisional Round, I felt like I had done a pretty good job of moving on.
There was the initial wave of sadness. A brief state of denial.
As if it wasn’t possible for the magic to have run out. Surely, after the miraculous throw by Caleb Williams to force overtime — with the Bears sitting just 15 yards away from game-winning field goal range — this couldn’t be how it ended.
This wasn’t something we were used to seeing from this team. And it quickly became very difficult to swallow.
Not because there was ever a realistic expectation that the Bears were going to win the Super Bowl. I think it was more about the opportunity at hand. Expectations change. And the closer the Bears got, the more it started to feel like a legitimate possibility.
That’s especially true when you have the ball in overtime, at home, with a chance to punch your ticket to the NFC Championship Game.
And no — it doesn’t cloud how I view the 2025 season as a whole. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a city so genuinely joyous after a playoff loss.
But that’s because most Bears fans know this season isn’t the end of the story. There are more playoff games coming in the Ben Johnson–Caleb Williams era. Next year’s team should be even better equipped to handle the gauntlet that is the postseason.
Still, we have to acknowledge the opportunity that the 2025 Bears — an undeniably special group — had.
And watching the NFC Championship Game on Sunday between the Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams only made it sting a little more.
The Rams went toe-to-toe with Seattle. If not for a muffed punt in the second half that set the Seahawks up deep in the red zone, Los Angeles very well could have won that game.
The same Rams offense that was somewhat held in check by the Bears defense put up 27 points and 479 total yards in Seattle. Los Angeles outgained the Seahawks, but came up short on a fourth-down attempt inside the 10-yard line with under five minutes to play.
After a controversial first-down catch by Cooper Kupp, that was the ballgame.
Sam Darnold and the Seahawks are headed to Super Bowl LX, where they’ll meet the New England Patriots.
And yet, I couldn’t help but think…
If the Bears could take the Rams to overtime, and the Rams have now — three separate times — taken the Seahawks down to the final play of the game, then it’s not unreasonable to believe Chicago could have been right there too. Fighting to the final whistle. With a real chance to advance to the Super Bowl.
I’ll admit it: after the playoff loss, I made myself feel better by telling myself the Bears would have gotten smoked in Seattle anyway. Maybe some Bears fans can relate.
There was something comforting about that idea — telling myself this simply wasn’t their year, and that it wouldn’t have been even if Chicago had beaten the Rams.
But we saw, time and time again, throughout both the regular season and the postseason, that the Bears found a way to hang with anyone.
It’s foolish, I know. It only brings more pain. It only makes the “what ifs” harder to ignore every time a highlight from that loss pops up.
But maybe — just maybe — that’s not such a bad thing moving forward.
The Bears have so much room to grow. They have a quarterback on a rookie contract. They have an entire draft ahead of them to continue building the defense and refining an offense that already feels sustainable, without glaring holes.
Chicago doesn’t need a quarterback. Or a head coach. Or an offensive line. Or a defensive coordinator. That groundwork is already in place.
Now the focus can shift to adding defensive personnel and building a roster capable of dominating on both sides of the ball.
And seeing just how close they already are to the NFC’s best — and possibly the NFL’s best, with the Seahawks sitting as 3.5-point favorites in the Super Bowl — should fuel real optimism and legitimate Super Bowl expectations for next season.
In the short term, though, it’s a rabbit hole that leads nowhere but longing for a different ending.