It’s Super Bowl week, and that obviously leads us to the Bears.
Say what?
How, you ask, can anyone make a connection between the lowly Bears and the biggest game of the season? And who is leading “us” to that connection? A blindfolded, direction-challenged guide?
Enough with your mockery. I have three questions today, class, as well as some answers that you might not recall requesting. People often tell me I seem to have all the answers. Sometimes I get the sneaking suspicion that those people are not being sincere when they say it.
Anyway, questions:
How close are the Bears to winning a Super Bowl?
Judging by the universal love that accompanied their hiring of Detroit offensive coordinator Ben Johnson as head coach, it apparently could happen as early as this week. Never underestimate the ardor of a fan base that can’t quit a franchise that went 5-12 this season and hasn’t won a playoff game since the 2010 season.
The short answer to the question is, “Not very.’’ A longer answer is, “Not very, and just how much have you had to drink to ask such a question?”
At least four things have to happen for a Super Bowl title to be more than a twinkle in team chairman George McCaskey’s eye:
• Johnson, the NFL’s latest J. Robert Oppenheimer, has to be the one to tease the excellence out of quarterback Caleb Williams — and quickly. That excellence is there, but this is the NFL, and it won’t emerge without good coaching.
• Johnson needs to break Williams’ habit of holding onto the ball too long. It might require a surgical team.
• General manager Ryan Poles has to get an offensive line to protect Williams. Please don’t tell me how highly an algorithm rated the Bears’ O-line in 2024, if any did. Williams was in a heap so often this season that it was surprising no one tried to plant a flag on him, a la Iwo Jima.
• Johnson has to prove to the team that he’s a leader, not just an offensive automaton who can remember plays he called in his backyard as a 5-year-old.
That’s a lot. Not insurmountable, but a massive challenge. And I haven’t even mentioned the defense, which gave up a ton of yards in 2024.
Now, the current if/then logic in Chicago goes like this: If Johnson was able to turn Jared Goff and the Lions’ offense into the monster it was the past three seasons, then he’ll be able to do the same with Williams. Easy there, champ. Goff already was an established quarterback with two 4,600-yard passing seasons under his belt when Johnson became the Lions OC in 2022. But his game took off under Johnson, and he improved in many offensive categories. It does follow that Johnson should be able to get more, a lot more, out of Williams than the Bears did in his rookie season.
How close are they to getting to the Super Bowl? Not very. Sensitive, uplifting addendum: And that’s OK!
How close are the Bears to winning the NFC North?
The snide answer would be “See Question 1.’’ It might also be the correct one.
The Bears have a tall wall to scale to get past the Lions (15 victories in 2024), Vikings (14) and Packers (11). All three have more complete teams.
The Bears will argue that the distance between them and the herd is smaller than most people think, that seven losses by six points or fewer suggest a team on the edge of something, possibly something big. That included a one-point loss to the Packers and three-point losses each to the Vikings and Lions. But if that truly had meaning, the Bears would have kept Matt Eberflus as their head coach.
So how close are they to a division title? You need binoculars to see it.
How close are the Bears to being a 9-8 team?
Finally, a sensible question. Going from five victories to nine would be a huge accomplishment. For inspiration, the Bears can look to the Chargers, who went 11-6 and made the playoffs this season under new coach Jim Harbaugh after finishing 5-12 the season before.
The Chargers have Justin Herbert, a quarterback who just finished his fifth year as a starter, not Williams, a quarterback coming off a rocky rookie season. But if you’re looking for reason to hope — and Bears fans always are — go ahead and bask in the knowledge that Herbert threw for 5,014 yards in his second season in the league. Can Williams raise his game that much in Johnson’s space-age offense? The talent seems to be there. Now, about the execution part.
How close are they to 9-8? It’s within reason.
My advice, Bears fans, is to rein in some of your enthusiasm. You have a quarterback whose arrow is still pointing up. You have a bright guy running the show who has never been a head coach before. This could get good. But if my memory is correct, you’ve heard that sort of thing before. So maybe wait and see?
Besides answers, I have a slogan you can tape to the wall.
Sobriety: Always an Option.
