Can Chicago Bears compete to win the NFC North in 2018?

How do the new and improved Chicago Bears stack up in the NFC North heading into 2018? Can they win the division?

If you can say anything for certain, it’s that the Chicago Bears have improved almost across the board over last season heading into 2018.

They’ve started building around their franchise quarterback Mitch Trubisky in every phase of their offense, priming him to make a monster jump in 2018.

He has the coaching from top to bottom, starting with young offensive boss Matt Nagy.

He has dynamic ball carriers in Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen behind him and a strong offensive line, bolstered by James Daniels, in front of him.

And he has a bevy of new receiving targets flanking him all over the field, starting with free agent acquisition Allen Robinson and spunky second-round pick Anthony Miller.

Also, their top-10 defense returns largely intact with a couple new faces that could shore up key positions.

Now, we have to figure out if that’s going to help answer the question that matters: can the Chicago Bears compete to make the playoffs sooner rather than later? Can they legitimately challenge to win the NFC North?

More so than probably any year since about 2013, the Bears might indeed have some prospects of doing just that. But don’t get too far ahead of your skis on that prediction.

For one thing, a lot of things have to go right, particularly maintaining health and Trubisky ascending to the next level.

And for another, a certain Super Bowl runner-up team and an all-time great quarterback still stand in their way.

So how will the NFC North standings shake out in 2018? Here’s a preliminary glance.