Fresh off an NFC North title, Caleb Williams and a revamped roster defy critics by embracing a brutal slate of matchups against reigning playoff heavyweights and Super Bowl contenders.
Everything in the NFL must come with a price, and that's especially true for the Chicago Bears.
After reaching the Divisional Round and winning the NFC North for the first time since 2018, the Bears must now play a first-place schedule.
The Bears play the AFC East and NFC South this season, along with the Philadelphia Eagles, Jacksonville Jaguars and Seattle Seahawks. The Eagles, Jaguars and Seahawks were all in the playoffs last season.
Thanks to the Bears playing the AFC East, they will also see the New England Patriots and Buffalo Bills. The Patriots were just in the Super Bowl a few months ago, playing the Seahawks.
People are already beginning to doubt whether the Bears can match their 2026 success, including ESPN, which predicted they would be one of the least-improved teams.
Quarterback Caleb Williams is still extremely confident in his team. He spoke on a recent episode of "New Heights" and explained his confidence by citing the Bears' second-hardest schedule in the league last year.
Williams has the utmost faith in his teammates.
"We got a bunch of time games, so-called, you know, the hardest schedule," Williams said. "We had the second hardest last year. So, we're excited. We don't back down from no challenge. We want everybody to know that going to the playoffs and things like that is in our future, you know, in our present future and future coming up and it's going to be a consistent thing for us, but we obviously got to do the right things to put ourselves in those positions."
The Bears are a different looking team this year.
D.J. Moore, Kevin Byard, Jaquan Brisker, Tremaine Edmunds and Drew Dalman are all key starters from last year who are no longer with the franchise.
Coby Bryant, Devin Bush and Garrett Bradbury were the biggest moves the Bears made in free agency. Then, Chicago drafted Dillon Thieneman, Logan Jones, Sam Roush, Zavion Thomas, Malik Muhammad, Keyshaun Elliott and Jordan Van Den Berg in the 2026 NFL Draft.
One thing the Bears do have from last year is the same core of young players. Williams, Kyle Monangai, Rome Odunze, Luther Burden, Colston Loveland and Ozzy Trapilo are still around.
Plus, the Bears still have all of them on their rookie contracts for the next few years at the least.
It won't be easy for the Bears even to get close to achieving the same things they did a year ago, but we learned time and time again last season that it's not wise to bet against Ben Johnson.
