The Chicago Bears had a season to remember in 2025 and it’s one that will continue into 2026 with postseason play coming up this weekend.

The Bears ended the regular season with an 11-6 record, winning the NFC North title, and clinching the No. 2 seed in the conference all in the first year under head coach Ben Johnson. Not bad for a team that finished 5-12 and last in the division just a year ago.

Chicago shattered many expectations the outside world had for this team entering the season and with the regular season behind us, there’s no better time to revisit some of those high expectations. Going into the season, we had five bold predictions for the offense and the defense, let’s go back and see if any of those predictions came true.

Chicago Bears 2025 Offensive Bold Predictions

1. Caleb Williams becomes the team’s first 4,000 yard passer

Status: Fail

While Caleb Williams didn’t reach the 4,000 yard mark, he certainly got close and had a shot to potentially do it in Week 18 had the offense started the game better than they did. Williams ended up finishing with 3,942 passing yards, but that number did break Erik Kramer’s 1995 record for the most single-season passing yards in Bears history. With how Williams has developed in this scheme, hitting 4,000 is inevitable and something he can shoot for in 2026.

History for @CALEBcsw ? pic.twitter.com/YO4egr3bCa

— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) January 4, 2026

2. Colston Loveland leads the team in receiving TDs

Status: Success

It was quite the rookie season for first-round tight end Colston Loveland, who more than lived up to expectations during his first year. Loveland showed big-time ability, made clutch plays, and had an incredible work ethic. All of that allowed Loveland to tie for the team-lead with six receiving touchdowns in 2025 while also leading the entire team with 58 receptions and 713 receiving yards.

3. Olamide Zaccheaus out-snaps Luther Burden III

Status: Success

This one got off to a fast start, as expected considering the injuries and time missed by Luther Burden III going into the season. It also helped that Olamide Zaccheaus was a trusted target during training camp. But, eventually Burden took over the WR3 role and never gave it back. By the end of the season, though, Zaccheaus finished with 580 offensive snaps while Burden had 402 offensive snaps, although it’s worth noting Burden made much better use of his limited opportunities.

4. Darnell Wright earns his first Pro Bowl selection

Status: Fail

Unfortunately, this one did not come to fruition this season, but Darnell Wright absolutely deserved it. The team’s right tackle allowed 19 pressures and three sacks on the season while playing through a torn UCL in his elbow and having a crazy flu game in Week 17. But, it wasn’t enough to sway voters away from the popular tackle choices in Penei Sewell, Tristan Wirfs, and Trent Williams.

5. Three different players make starts at LT

Status: Success

This one was fully a hunch seeing how the left tackle battle unfolded throughout the summer and into training camp and I was absolutely right, although I did mention Kiran Amegadjie as one of the tackles getting a start. Instead the three starters were Ozzy Trapilo (6 starts), Theo Benedet (7 starts), and Braxton Jones (4 starts), with Trapilo looking like the potential long-term answer at left tackle.

Chicago Bears 2025 Defensive Bold Predictions

1. Montez Sweat and Dayo Odeyingbo post career-highs in sacks

Status: Fail

This one was a little ambitious but that’s how everyone felt coming into the season with two highly-paid edge rushers. Montez Sweat, to his credit, turned in a pretty productive season finishing with 10.0 sacks, his second career double digit sack season but just behind his 2023 total of 12.5 sacks. As for Dayo Odeyingbo, he was disappointing as a pass rusher, totaling just 1.0 sack before suffering a torn Achilles in Week 9.

2. Dominique Robinson out-snaps Austin Booker

Status: Fail

Clearly, I had a hard time predicting how things would go off the edge. After Odeyingbo’s injury, the door opened for Austin Booker to take over the starting edge spot opposite Sweat after missing the first seven games with a knee injury. Booker finished with 521 defensive snaps while backup defensive end Dominique Robinson finished with 215 defensive snaps.

3. Jaquan Brisker starts all 17 games, earns contract extension

Status: Success, for now

I’m giving myself a passing grade for this one. Jaquan Brisker did in fact start all 17 games during his fourth season and it’s the first time in his career that he played every regular season game. He also played 99.9 percent of the defensive snaps. We’ll see if that level of availability was enough to earn a contract extension or if the Bears decide to let him walk in free agency.

Jaquan Brisker is having quite the game pic.twitter.com/9tSGWjIIQi

— Dave (@davebfr) January 5, 2026

4. T.J. Edwards finishes Top-5 in the NFL in tackles

Status: Fail

A common theme with this defense, outside of Brisker, was the sheer amount of injuries on that side of the ball. Something that ruined this prediction from coming to light. T.J. Edwards played just 10 games this season and finished the year with only 67 combined tackles. But, he somehow still finished Top-5 on the team in tackles.

5. Kyler Gordon, not Jaylon Johnson, receives Pro Bowl recognition

Status: Fail

Again, injuries suck, man. Kyler Gordon ended up playing just three games and 117 total snaps this season. When he was out there, the unit was noticeably better, but Gordon just couldn’t stay on the field. The same goes for Jaylon Johnson, who played only seven games and is still trying to work his way back to Pro Bowl caliber play.

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