The 2025 Chicago Bears: An imperfect team with an unshakable belief — and a habit of pulling off the impossible.
It’s getting harder and harder to find the right words for the 2025 Chicago Bears.
All of Chicago shut down on Saturday night, locked in on the biggest Bears game in at least seven years. Revenge against the Green Bay Packers. Control of the NFC North. A national stage. A home crowd desperate to believe again.
And for nearly 60 minutes, it looked like the Bears were going to let their fans down — once again.
But somehow, the team now immortalized as the Cardiac Bears pulled another rabbit out of the hat.
Cairo Santos drilled a field goal through swirling Chicago winds to make it a 16–9 game. The Bears then recovered an onside kick — only the fifth successful onside recovery in the NFL this season — and suddenly the ball was back in Caleb Williams’ hands with a chance to force overtime.
"The Iceman" lived up to his nickname.
Williams delivered a perfect strike to undrafted rookie wide receiver Jahdae Walker in the corner of the end zone on fourth down, tying the game and sending Soldier Field into chaos.
After the Bears defense forced a turnover on downs in overtime, Williams dropped a bomb into the arms of DJ Moore for a walk-off 46-yard touchdown. Bears win 22-16 in OT.
Bedlam in Chicago.
Nothing short of magical.
The FOX broadcast called it “one of the most improbable wins in regular-season history.” And that wasn’t hyperbole.
According to NFL Next Gen Stats, after botching the two-minute warning, the Bears had just a 0.5% chance to win. It ranks as the fifth-most improbable comeback in the Next Gen Stats era.
And yet… this is starting to feel routine.
The Bears now lead the NFL in fourth-quarter comebacks. Every week, it’s something new. A different hero. A different moment. A different reminder that this team simply refuses to go away.
Let’s not pretend this team is flawless.
The defensive line remains an issue. Pressure doesn’t come easily, and when it does, it doesn't end with a sack nearly enough. Chicago DBs have struggled in man coverage, forcing them into zone looks that allow opponents to nickel-and-dime their way down the field.
The Packers exploited that on Saturday night. For nearly 58 minutes, it was death by a thousand cuts — long drives, dominant time of possession, and enough frustration to test the patience of an entire city.
The wide receivers haven’t been perfect either. Drops have popped up all season. Slow starts have put the offense behind the eight ball more than once. They're penalized far too often, both before the snap and after the play with personal fouls.
These problems are real. They’re the reasons outsiders continue to doubt the Bears. They’re why the ceiling for this team still feels undefined.
And yet, no matter how messy it gets, someone always makes a play.
That’s the paradox of this team.
They are flawed. And somehow, they are magical. Every week, when the clock strikes zero, the final score renders all of those flaws irrelevant.
What we’re witnessing this season isn’t normal. It doesn’t happen everywhere. It takes culture. It takes belief. It takes a roster and coaching staff pulling in the same direction with almost a stubborn, borderline delusional level of confidence.
“I told the guys in the locker room, and I’ll reiterate it. This is a special group. I felt that early in the season,” said head coach Ben Johnson after the game. “You get some of those wins — the Raiders game, the Washington game — and you start feeling the belief coming.”
“This group — I’m talking about coaches and players combined — it’s rare. It really is. I can’t say enough good things about the people in this building.”
“They’re mentally tough. They’re physically tough. I know we’re going to fight you for 60 minutes. And in a game like that, even though the odds are against us this late, we’re going to keep on swinging.”
Johnson said many of the same things to his team in the locker room. “Where we are right now, what you guys are doing right now, it’s no fluke,” he added in his postgame speech.
And perhaps that’s the most dangerous thing about these Bears.
They don’t believe they're some fluke team playing above expectations. They don’t believe this is a team of destiny.
“Team of destiny? That’s the cool part about destiny — you’ve got to get to the end to know,” said quarterback Caleb Williams in his post game press conference.
No. The Bears believe they’re right where they’re supposed to be. They believe that they can play with anybody. And every week, they prove that to be true.
That’s the beautiful thing about football. Anything can happen on any given Sunday.
If you ask the pundits or the objective fan, the Bears are not “supposed” to be 11–4. But they are. And right now, they have as real a shot as anyone to make noise in the playoffs.
So all I can say — and all I can encourage Bears fans to do — is enjoy the ride. That’s exactly what it feels like this team is doing inside the building.
There will come a time in the offseason to dissect every flaw and argue about roster construction. Time to debate how this team takes the next step and becomes more dominant in 2026 so that every win doesn’t require last second heroics.
But not now.
Right now, the Bears are 11–4. They’re on the verge of clinching a playoff spot and NFC North title. And they’ve got a little bit of magic on their side. It's an imperfect team with an unshakable belief and a habit of pulling off the impossible.
And with all 53 players pushing in the same direction, there’s no telling how far this team can go.